A brief history

PART 1

In case you happened to hear about Ichthus through reading a book, or talking to some homeless guy who used to live in Pomona CA, and you could not find us-there is a reason for that! We are no longer there!

We landed in downtown Pomona around 1999 and the whole experience lasted about 3 or so years. We all began to gather in the Ollman's home and started dreaming of what each of us would like to see happen in this experience that lay before us. It was an opportunity to see what we were made if and to see how big we could think. As we were thinking big, gathering together in this wonderful experience, we forgot about using extreme caution when doing things like signing leases with the wrong landlord, and that is exactly what we did. Needless to say that did not go well and for the rest of our time it like a little black cloud in the distance that never quite went away. Note to new missional church endeavors: do not sign a lease with a local slumlord, strike a deal you cannot deliver on, have him deliver stolen goods to your construction site and watch in horror as your landlord and reputation get put into a police car in broad daylight! We recovered from that whole experience, got into a different space and went on to what I am going to write next.

We envisioned an art gallery space where we could gather for corporate worship, and where visual, musical, and performing artists could come showcase their work. Amongst ourselves we felt it was an "urban watering hole" of sorts. The area needed a place for expression, a place to get it out onto the wall, into the air, into each others minds. So we started Millennia Co-op. The Co-op ended up being many things (art gallery, JuiJitsu studio, mural painting company, etc), some of the ventures were for profit and some non-profit. I pity the fool who had to do our accounting. I am not sure who that was in the beginning but I am sure Ryan Smith picked up the torch somewhere along the way. It was amazing to see each other get behind the other person's dreams.

There were some uber-powerful things I experienced that I had never seen before; one of which was the empowerment that came from supporting each other and going places we could never have gone alone. The body of Christ contextualizes you when you let it. It empowers you when you pour yourself out like a drink offering. It cuts you to the core of your soul and strips you naked so everyone can see your bloody sores, your messy stinky problems, and you are not only tolerated but embraced in the midst of your mess. You are also shown the way to start cleaning some of the areas up in truth and love.

In the spirit of the Co-op I am going to try and get someone else to write part two...or maybe this will all stop here and float out there in the virtual abyss. I really have no idea. Maybe there is something one of you guys are already doing out there. Let me know, I would like to be a part of it.

Where is everyone?

I was sitting there reading "The Shaping of Things to Come" and it brought me to tears to read about my beloved community Ichthus. It is sad to me that there is no place in the physical or virtual world where we can hear from each other on where everyone has ended up and where they are in world now. I will be contacting everyone I know to send me whatever they have, thoughts, pictures, video, etc to post here...Maybe someone who really knows what they are doing can start and build an actual website and pick up the torch...?