Greening Your Hood Through Intentional Community

One of the most sincere pastors I have ever met is Leroy Barber. According to his bio, Leroy has spent more than 20 years working to eradicate poverty, confront homelessness, and heal racism. As with most bios, this one doesn't fully portray Leroy's life and ministry. Leroy leads an intentional community in one of the poorest communities in Atlanta. The members of his church reside in the community where they work together to improve the lives of those in the community through restoration projects, maintaining a community garden, and petitioning the government for livability improvements. They have also founded Community Grounds, a neighborhood coffee shop that provides a gathering place for the children, seniors and teens in the community. In addition to these life commitments, Leroy is President of Mission Year, a national urban initiative that introduces 18-29 year old to communal living through year long commitments, and author of New Neighbor, a fantastic book that merges life principles with art.

Leroy spoke at Flourish Conference on what it means to "Green Your Hood," and I know he opened many ideas to a new way of living. He is not only a pastor's pastor, he is a an undeniable example of what it means to holistically follow Christ through sacrificial living and caring for all of creation.