The Knox House was founded in 2006 by three Whitworth University graduates with the guidance of their abbot, Gerald. Since then, six others have lived or currently live in the house, not to mention myriad visitors to our table for fellowship. We all work at least part-time, some of us are students, and we are all involved a variety of ministries in our city.

The Knox House is located in the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood of Spokane, Washington and draws its name from the nearby Knox Presbyterian Church. Though there is no official affiliation, the house has been been very involved with members of its congregation.

Send us an email via theknoxhouse at gmail dot com.

We are governed by a monastic rule loosely inspired by The Rule of St. Benedict. The first draft was written in 2006, and is currently be revised, but the current draft can be read below.

The Knox House Rule

We will be:

Biblical: It will be our aim to live all of life in submission to the authority of the Holy Scriptures. Through commitment to regular study, meditation, and discussion of the living and active word of God we will be transformed and guided by the words He inspired.

Prayerful: The reading of the Scriptures will also be coupled with an active life of prayer—both as individuals and as a community. We will devote two specific times each day to prayer, in addition to aiming for a life of constant prayer—before meals and sleep and throughout the day.

Holistic and Intentional: Though it is easy to section off our lives and live as Christians during only part of our time (or in certain spheres of life) and live the rest of life as though we have never even heard the gospel; we, however, consciously acknowledge and profess that Jesus Christ is Lord over every aspect of our lives. We reject the notion that our faith or any expressions thereof are merely private or permissible only in Church on Sundays or holidays. We further reject the notion that there is even one aspect of our lives which is free from the authority of our Lord. We will, therefore, out of gratitude and love, strive to offer ourselves wholly and completely to Him, seeking to know and do His will in all circumstances—whether in our private or public lives, our spiritual or physical endeavors, our economic or ecological decisions, whether at work, in school or at play.

Balanced: Though participating in many different activities and ministries, our goal is to avoid extremism. That is, we wish to avoid creating a rule which is either too easy or too difficult to fulfill. We intend to prevent specific causes from usurping the central focus of the ministry, overwork and stress, and lack of discipline or laziness.

The extremism we wish to avoid manifests itself in two forms:

1. Extremism within a principle—this occurs when a principle is either too rigorous or not rigorous enough. For example, we wish neither to be gluttons who eat more than we need nor to become ascetics who harm themselves by eating less than a healthy body requires.

2. Extremism between principles—this problem arises when too much emphasis is placed upon one aspect of life to the detriment of others. Prayer, study, work, ministry and play are all important; but, they are not equally important. Work and ministry should consume more time, yet without eliminating prayer, study and play. Play and relaxation must be guarded, but they cannot become the focus of our lives.

Simple: In a culture of greed and consumption we will seek to be faithful stewards of our money, time, resources, minds and talents.

A person living a simple life does not possess any item which is not useful for some legitimate, selfless purpose which benefits the whole world. Simplicity does not require that a person own only those things which are absolutely necessary for survival and ministry; rather, it requires us to cast off those things which are either not useful for the service of God or which tend to distract.

Just as possession of many things causes distraction, so too does the engagement in too many activities. For this reason, simplicity demands that we not entangle ourselves in too many activities. On the other hand, we will not waste our time.

Lastly, simplicity is ensured by cleanliness and orderliness. A clean and well-ordered living-space saves us from all the curses which come with clutter.

Disciplined: In order to use our time in a simple and intentional manner, we will outline and structure much of our lives. We do not do this out of a sense of freedom-stifling legalism, but to restrain our natural laziness and disorder.

To begin with, each member of the community will be committed to this endeavor for no less than one year. During this time every member of the household will be expected to have (or be actively seeking) a job in order not only to provide himself with food (as Paul said, "If a person will not work, he should not eat"), but also to provide the community with resources for outreach.

In order to keep ourselves strong in body, mind and spirit observance of the Sabbath will be required. At least one day a week will be a day of rest and relaxation: less rigor and structure will be imposed. In a sense, however, this day of non-action is possibly more of a spiritual discipline today in our workaholic, action-oriented society than some manner of work would be.

Accountable: It should be made quite clear that we do not intend to live out this disciplined life—or any individual aspect thereof, no matter how small—by our own individual efforts. Rather, we will be accountable to each other as individuals and to the abbot as well as the board of directors as both individuals and a unified community.

Every person will be accountable to each other, the abbot and the board of directors in regards to: 1) living the ethical life which God has called us to; 2) living up to the standards and specific requirements of this rule (e.g. maintaining simplicity by disclosing our financial transactions to the community for scrutiny).

Hospitable: We will use our home as a means for showing the love of Christ by creating a spiritual hub for the community around us and the servants of Christ at work in it. We do not aim merely to treat people well when they are in our home, but also to live and act in such a way as to make our house an inviting place.

In order to foster a sense of kinship and fellowship we will provide food, distributing it in three fashions: 1) food open for free access by everyone (whether members of our household or members of the broader community) such as sandwich stuff, cereal, etc; 2) Better meals held regularly around a table for friends from the community who are able to meet with us each week (perhaps even two or three times weekly); 3) Occasional barbeques or picnics as often as is reasonable.

We will set aside a bedroom for pre-approved guests and will provide them with food and other basic necessities while they are with us. Any visitor to the house—whether a passerby or long-term guest—will be expected to respect the manner of life laid out in this rule.

Communal: Understanding that God intends His Church to function in community, we will view ourselves not primarily as individuals living in the same house, but rather as a diverse and unified body engaging society in the name of Christ.

Without the support of a tight-knit community of believers, this ministry would fall apart. Thus, our community begins with the sharing of the common bond of Christ and the common mission of knowing Him and living out His gospel.

In living out the gospel of Christ we will have shared goals and efforts. Each of us will undoubtedly have to adjust our priorities somewhat so that we may all focus on this shared ministry.

In order to sustain this community, we will engage in various activities to support each other and the project as a whole. We will pool resources (setting aside money monthly for food, utilities, ministry work, etc), share meals, give honest encouragement and critique (being open to change direction as a community and providing all necessary support for such change), and we will meet weekly to reflect on activities, triumphs and struggles, focusing each session on encouragement and prayer.

However, it should also be noted here that we wish to maintain balance by creating a certain sense of distinctiveness. Every member of the community will work within a ministry—taking time to work in a program which other members are not engaged in.

In this way each member will bring something unique to the house as well as the broader community.

Outreaching: Spreading the love of Christ will take more than setting ourselves up as a city on a hill; we will need to be active in going out into the world with the Gospel. Our primary means of doing this will be by building meaningful relationships with the people in our neighborhood. We will hold one another accountable to be engaged in the larger community and intentional in our association with people in the area.

Ecclesial: This principles (meaning "churchly," but sounding far better) will outline the manner in which we relate to the Church.

We are called, as indeed all Christians are, to be active members in the universal Church of Christ and to spread the Kingdom of God on Earth. On the one hand this requires our involvement in the local expressions of the body—that is, in the congregation with which we actually meet every Sunday. This includes: 1) Regularly attending services, having fellowship and partaking of the Lord's Supper with a local congregation; 2) submission to the guidance and authority of those who exercise Christ's authority over us for our good—without the accountability gained from such submission, an autonomous group runs the risk of drifting away from its mission; 3) striving to edify the local church by offer ourselves in service to the congregation.

On the other hand, this requires that we have a meaningful connection with the Church as a catholic body. To this end we must: 1) First of all simply be aware of what is going on in the Church in other parts of the world; 2) Donating money, giving encouragement and offering prayer for the needs of the Church around the world—especially by sponsoring children in need and funding missionaries or Christian development workers.

Scholarly: We realize that much of our passion for ministry stems directly from what we have learned. We also, therefore, understand that further education will further equip us to know God and carry out His will. To this end we will set time apart for study. We will also study other texts, both together and individually, in the search of wisdom, knowledge, and truth.

Environmental: We believe that God has appointed mankind as stewards over His great creation. Man was the last creation of God, but we have also subjected all of creation to corruption by our failure to live appropriately. However, all life is valuable in God's sight and we will each one be called to account for our attitude and actions toward this world and all the plants and animals within it. We will, therefore, strive to treat all things with the utmost respect. We will live intentionally in a culture of environmental carelessness and will consciously approach our food, water, energy, chemical, and pollutant use with God's will placed above our own convenience. We will opt to spend more money (to whatever degree we are able) to buy products which are better for the environment, and opt to take more time in performing certain tasks (such as mowing the lawn without gas-powered lawnmowers).

Realizing that our bodies are also great parts of God's creation, we will grow, buy and prepare healthy food (to the greatest degree possible), as well as exercise regularly in order to care for the bodies which God has graciously provided.

Adaptable: Because we place the gospel above our own personal desires we will keep our principles, rule, and vision under scrutiny to guarantee that God's will is being carried out as well as possible by all members of the community: revising and expanding the rule. Though our personal lives, ministries, goals, or needs may change, we will not permit ourselves to amend any part of the rule on a whim. Each and every change must be approved by each member of the community and the abbot (should he opt to avail himself of this right). As in everything, this is to be approached with earnest.