leaving trunk

In September of 2007, 4 friends moved into 49 York Street in Kingston, Ontario. Without much of a clue as to what we were doing, we wanted to live our faith in the way we had dreamed about. We wanted to show hospitality to the poor, we wanted to take Jesus at his word, we wanted to grow in the knowledge of ourselves, each other, and God. We wanted to see the Word come to life. We wanted our faith to influence everything we said and did. We wanted to put our money where our mouths were.

Now it is 2 and a half years later. People have come and gone. We've had fights, we've partied, we've prayed, we've tried our best. And now the The House Famous as we have known it will be coming to an end. This was not a decision we came to easily, or without any regrets. But things have changed, and this is simply the direction things are going. We have all changed and grown in many ways and it seems that we are being called to move on.

I'm not sure what to say here, or how to sum up everything we've done and accomplished. I know for sure that this blog can only explain so much, and it doesn't seem fair at all to try and do this community justice with just a few paragraphs. But in light of that...

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and followed this blog. Thanks to everyone who visited us, who slept on our couches and ate with us. Thanks for challenging us and for putting up with us. Thanks to Chris, Ian, Ben, Taylor, and Liz for committing to this wacky community and for believing in what we tried to do.

We will miss this place and what has been to us and done for us. But now is the time to face what's next, and wait for the next part of the journey God has planned for us.

Much love,

The House Famous
(Brendan, Andrew, Shannon, Todd, Chelsea, Noah, Jason, Victoria)

Calling all (possible) interns!

Hi Internet Party People,

The House Famous will have an opening in the new year. And we want YOU to move in and become one of our world-famous and world-class interns. If this is something that interests you, feel free to contact us.

There is a link to our internship document and commitments to the right ----->

The Movie of the Decade.

Hello ev'ryone.

If you weren't one of the privileged attendees of The House Famous Movie premier, you can now watch it in the comfort of your own home. Or possibly on an iPhone or something in some exotic locale...such as Westport...or East Saint Louis.

Anyway, enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/8121609

*The House Famous is nor responsible for any of the laugh-related injuries you are sure to experience during the watching of this film.

More of the newest House Famous member...

Here are a few more shots of Noah; he is growing well and getting used to life outside the womb. So far, Noah has just a few modes: sleep mode, awake-concerned mode, and awake-grumpy mode. But we have caught him smiling a few times, so we think he's secretly having a good time.

The newest edition to the House Famous...

Noah Patrick Stelmach
Born: Wednesday October 21st, 2009
At 4:40am
At KGH in Kingston, with the most Awesome Midwives ever (thank you Donna, Leesha and Terri)! After 27 hours of labour and a little help from a vacuum, Noah came into the world! He had a little trouble with breathing, so the lovely KGH staff got him cleared up, and within no time he was a happy camper. We are now at home and settling into life with a newborn, but Noah seems very easy and co-operative so far. Everyone is happy and excited!

And the Winner Is...

Well friends, family, loved ones and all those who attended, the premiere of "House Famous Movie Film" was a hit. We hope you all enjoyed the beverages, company and especially the hosts.
Okay, let's not forget about the film either. As promised the results.

Quick Note: The nominees are comprised of all those who received at least one vote in their category, the winner is the one with the most votes.

Best Actor Nominees.
Brendan
All
Black shirted Mormon
Todd
Jason

And the Winner is... Brendan!!!

Best Actress Nominees.
Victoria
Liz
All
Chelsea
Shannon

And the Winner is... Chelsea!!!

Best Scene Nominees.
Welcome, Intern (Intern shunning at dinner)
Cookies + Friends (Andrew wanting to bake with Brendan)
Fun and Games (Interviews about monopoly)
Kitchen to Go (Liz making a huge mess)
Respect Your Elders (a fight with mormons)

And the Winner is... Welcome, Intern!!!

Best Cameo Nominees
Liz
Mormons
Andrew
Van
Bunny

And the Winner is... Mormons!!!

Best Costume Nominees.
Brendan's Beard
Jason (without a shirt)
A sleepless goat shirt
a shirt
shannon (at breakfast)
Mormon
Van
Blankets
Todd's Beard
All beards
Andrew (as a chef)

And the Winner is... Jason (without a shirt)

Best Set Design Nominees
Pile of Blankets
Van
Kitchen
Monopoly
Dumpster

And the Winner is... The Dumpster

A Note. In the category "Best Score" there seemed to be some confusion, not only from the voting members but also the panel of judges who deal with such issues. In light of this matter, the Award for Best Score has gone to Hans Zimmer for The Dark Knight. Thank You

Finally we asked you the audience to tell us which descriptor you felt best suited the film. Some of you felt moved by it, many of you felt that it was appropriate to title the film "funniest we have ever seen, in our whole lives, ever!"
We thank you.
But more than any other word to be associated with the House Famous Movie Film, you the viewers elected the film be described as

Classic.

We couldn't agree more.

So there you have it, a list of the bests of House Famous Movie Film. The creators of the film would like to thank you all for your support and participation.

A Bountiful Harvest

Even though this past summer was not a super-ideal growing season, what with the cool temperatures and many days of rain; yet God provided us with so much food out of our little back yard garden. Here we are harvesting and dealing with the basil plants, which we turned into about 5 litres of pesto (mmmm, delicious fresh pesto will be so tasty in February!).

We were also blessed with MANY pounds of green and purple beans, tomatoes, peppers, carrots, kohlrabi, onions, snowpeas, zuchinni, lettuce, spinach and more cucumbers than you could shake a stick at.

As most of the plants are dying off now, we will spend part of this weekend putting the garden to bed for the winter. Although growing vegetables and herbs is a very normal and simple thing to do, it never ceases to amaze us how God takes the lifeless, seemlingly inactive little seeds and turns them into such a beautiful abundance. It's just one more illustration of what he's doing in the world: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."

We hope to be people involved in this mysterious growing of God's kingdom... In the meantime, we will dig in the dirt and plant the seeds we're given, waiting for further instructions.

...a little more House Famous retreat-related ridiculousness...

Them Changes

Hello. Sorry for the delay in posting but we've been rather busy here at HF headquarters. On September 1st we expanded (once again!) to an apartment 2 blocks away on 22 Vine Street, which we now affectionately refer to as the "22 Side". And then things got better. Last weekend we went on a retreat, this time to a very lovely cottage outside of Sydenham. We had an amazing time while there...perfect weather, camp fires, tomfoolery. You know, the usual retreat bidness. We now leave you with a little taste of our escape to the wilderness...

MAKE!

This week four House Famous members will be deeply entrenched at an arts camp called "make" at Rustle Church. Please be praying for us and the kids who have to put up with us! It would be nice if Jesus and His Spirit paid us a visit.

24 Hour Prayer @ House Famous

From 9:00 pm Sunday (August 2nd) to 9:00pm Monday (August 3rd) we're going to be praying. This little event will be taking place in the living room on the 49 side, feel free to stop by and pray with us if you'd like. You can stay as little or as long as you want! Also, feel free to leave prayer requests in the comment section below and we'll do our best to send them up.

We stumbled upon 24-hour prayer this past winter and seem to have only scratched the surface of this very long tradition, hopefully this weekend will be another step forward towards a deeper conversation with God. You can read this to learn more.

Baby Update

Here is a photographic update of how the baby is getting bigger:
BAM!
2 months and 2 weeks to go.
THAT IS SO SOON!!!!!!


Please donate freely to the "ChelseaStretchMarkRecoveryFund".

love
"Baby Oven" Stelmach

The Little Flowers of Winnipeg

Chelsea and I just returned from a cross country tour to see my brother's family, especially our new niece, Keziah. We were very pleased. He has a beautiful family that really refreshed us as we drove through our vast country.

On our travels we decided to connect with another New Monastic community in Winnipeg called the Little Flowers. Again, another refreshing time. I was immediately impressed by the diversity of their neighbourhood. Everyone seemed to be either of Asian or First Nations descent. It had an inner city energy that we don't experience much out here in the little Loyalist town of Kingston.

This community had much in common with ours. They, like us, are still in the formative stages of the community. They, like us, have an early 30's couple living with a bunch of folk in their early 20's. They also arose out of another organisation (YWAM Winnipeg), where we have our roots in Camp IAWAH. We were able to share some mutual joys and frustrations and forged out a the beginnings of a friendship I hope will last. We'll likely need each other down the road.

Jamie, the pastor of our their community is looking for a couple to join their work in the inner city of Winnipeg. You can find them at http://www.littleflowers.ca/

Freedom Sold!!!

Yet another successful freedom sale was had at the House Famous this weekend. Despite rain cutting our yard sale short, we were able to raise $505.05 for the new Joseph Street Supportive Housing Complex (final product envisioned above). This will help furnish One and a half units of the 24 unit building, which is great, but work still needs to be done.

NeXt Church will be collecting donations over the next few weeks to attempt to raise funds for a few more units. So... if you're interested in investing in a program that actually helps people get off the streets and stay housed, think about giving to this project!

Freedom Sale 2!!!!!!

It's that time of year again! Saturday June 20th we will be performing the sequel to last year's very successful FREEDOM SALE. Last year we were able to raise over $500 for the Crisis Pregnancy Centre.

This year we hope to raise funds for Home Base Housing's new Joseph Street Complex. They have built a 24 unit building for the purpose of providing supportive housing to previously homeless people in Kingston. Since we work a lot with homeless folk in this town, we want to be supportive of good ideas like this that make an honest attempt to bring an end to homelessness in our city. Check it out here.

All money raised by the sale will go toward this project!

This is a great chance to "Free" yourself from any unnecessary clutter around your home and donate useful stuff to our glorified yardsale!

We are looking for things like: housewares, kitchen gadgets and tools, clothing, books, DVDs, CDs, books, and anything else hanging around your house that might have some value to someone else. We would love to sell your stuff. Bring it by 49 or 51 York Street sometime before the 20th.

And come and buy stuff too!

summer skin.

House Famous wishes you a frank and productive summer.

My hometown is in Cornwall, Ontario. I used to hate this town, and couldn't wait to get away and find greener pastures. Recently, however, I've come to understand that it has a special place in my heart that can move me deeply in an instant. A story I read today on cbc.ca was one of those moments.

Today, at the border a blockade was set up by people from Akwesasne First Nation, shutting the border crossing at Cornwall. The blockade was set up to protest the arming of Customs Officers at the border with 9 mm handguns. As a Christian who has been thinking a lot about peacemaking, this situation appalls me.

First of all, I am always against arming people for the sake of "security". In the end guns will always make things less secure by adding tension to already tense situations.

Secondly, arming guards on land our country has designated as Mohawk Territory feels an awful lot like an armed occupation. If Canada has taken any steps forward in reversing colonialism, this is definitely a step backwards.

Christians need to speak up in situations like these. Below are some articles and a petition. Pray and consider whether you should take action.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/NoGunsForCBSA/index.html
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2009/06/01/akwesasne-guards-border-guns001.html
http://www.akwesasne.ca/news/PR052909a.html

RETREAT!!!!

The House Famous got away for a bit this weekend...

We retreated to a safe place north of the city to relax, refocus and get to know each other better. It was a blessing and a tonne of fun. When the eight of us get together we have a blast. And Jesus teaches us stuff. Here is a video of some of our celebration.

How do I join this fascinating community?

Since we started, we've had a number of people ask how they could get involved or join our community. This winter (a year and a half later... we never said we were swift!) we finally nailed down how someone would go about it: INTERNSHIPS! There is a document link on the right of the blog that tells about our internships, so if you're interested check it out. Right now we have 3 interns going through the process and one member has already graduated, so you would be following in the footsteps of great men and women!

Conditions are Perfect...

Last weekend we planted our garden. This is the second year we've had a garden and as such, it is our most ambitious attempt yet. This is the year we learn to share with our landlord Stan. He always fills a garden, that's larger than ours, with roma tomatoes and hot peppers. For some reason last year I thought we should grow our own tomatoes. Some of ours rotted on the vine and he gave away tonnes to neighbours and friends. This year, we swung a deal. We'll grow cucumbers in our garden (which Stan loves, but for some reason doesn't grow) and he'll grow the tomatoes in his. And we'll share. What a concept!

This year we planted cucumbers, zuchinis, sage, thyme, basil, oregano, cilantro, parsley, onions, carrots, Kol Rabi, spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, fennel, romain and great lakes lettuce (which grow in smashed televisions), and the plant we're most proud of: eggplant! So far we've kept the weeds back, the seeds watered, and have had lots of help. It's up to God now!