Kingdom Economics: An Entrepreneurial Christian Community Providing Affordable Housing in Greater Chicago.

Abstract

The renewed role of faith-based organizations within the public sphere, and its conceptualization as a ‘postsecular’ move, have been recently highlighted in academic debate (Beaumont 2008; Beaumont & Baker 2011; Molendijk et al. 2010). This thesis engages with this debate to explore the taking up of responsibilities in affordable housing by an intentional Christian community, and its relation to neoliberal logics inherent to market functioning. It uses the questions raised in this debate to understand the positioning of the housing employees, who seek to balance being a landlord and being intrinsically affiliated with a Christian community. In order to explore their approach to affordable housing, four months of fieldwork and in-depth interviews were conducted at Reba Place Fellowship in Evanston, Greater Chicago. The main focus lies with the values that inform community life, and how its employees conduct business. Conceptions that are unique to their American Mennonite strand of Protestantism, such as Kingdom Economics, the importance of stability and proximity, intentionality and relationality, drive the Fellowship to invest their collective resources into the neighbourhood. Through these values that are inspired by the community, the employees reimagine how they participate in the market and relate to their tenants. It shows how they to maintain an utopian vision on property ownership as well landlord-tenant relations (Sargisson 2010; Williams et al. 2012).