Appeal: Intentional communities, a home for our movement

The Rye House

We’re writing to share some big news, a new vision for Call To Action’s role in the movement for church reform. CTA recently purchased the “Rye House,” a Catholic Worker house in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We bought the Rye House in order to create a model for future intentional communities where people of all generations and abilities can give themselves to local, liberative Catholicism. The purchase was made possible through the incredible generosity of Barb Sadler, a long-time CTA member and donor who sold us the house at a fraction of the market cost, and a major legacy gift from Fr. Mike Tauke which gave us the ability to finance the purchase. 

We know that our Catholic reform movement needs bold new visions to change our church. Conferences to educate and build awareness, while still necessary, will not get it done alone. And as the memories of Vatican II fade, we need to develop models and structures that will ground new generations in justice-centered Catholicism. 

Intentional communities cultivate the kinds of virtues we value in the church reform movement: sharing, equality, contemplation and prayer, simplicity, creativity, patience, and faith. As we build our new intentional community, we also draw inspiration from religious communities, the Catholic Worker movement, and people-of-color-led activism that centers mutual aid.

We hear young adults from around the country describe their desire to make deep commitments to the church reform movement and to tie their faith to the needs of their local communities. Visions of intentional living communities emerge over and over. The Rye House is one way of listening to the wisdom of our growing community of young people. 

Original Rye House community (featuring Zach!)

The Rye House, which is pictured above, was founded in 2011. The community has provided radical hospitality to homeless LGBTQ youth of color in the Twin Cities; served weekly open meals with the neighborhood; co-organized dozens of direct actions; begun a neighborhood farm; and held many round table discussions.

We will continue pieces of their previous efforts, and are working with local organizers to make the Rye House a hub for activism and action. Mutual aid — people helping each other meet their own needs while empowering their communities — will be central to the Rye House. The house will also host progressive Catholics who need a new church, a place to worship, celebrate, eat, and build our movement.

To grow this intentional community, we need your support. 

Intentional communities appear throughout CTA’s history. Our co-founders, Dan and Sheila Daley, lived in an intentional community in Chicago through the early years of CTA. In the early 1990s, a group of CTA Catholics started an intentional community in California. 

Barb Sadler (L), Rye House donor!

Many of our members are current or former religious — people who’ve experienced all the joys and challenges of intentional community. Many of our young adults have lived in co-ops, communal farms, Catholic Worker houses, or year-of-service homes. Our members have always looked to intentional communities for spiritual sustenance, connection and companionship, and economic stability in uncertain times. 

By investing in this intentional community, we are honoring our roots, building our future, and heeding the signs of our time. We’re now building young-adult grassroots leadership through this year’s Local and People of Color Re/Generation cohorts. With intentional community houses, we can do even more: we can make homes for our movement. 

Please donate to support all our programs, including this first step in our vision to sustain progressive Catholics for years to come. Will you give $25, $50, $100 or whatever you can afford?

In prayer and solidarity, 

Zach Johnson and Tamar Yager, Executive and Associate Directors

PS:  The Rye House project was made possible and by a legacy gift from Fr. Mike Tauke, a discount on the house from Barbara Sadler, and a community of monthly donors. We can ensure resources are available for all our programs when we know what gifts we are receiving.  Will you help us with a monthly sustaining donation of $7, $15, $25 or more?