Sunnehügel – Hospitality House

A short description of the concept, translated from the community´s website at www.sunnehuegel.org (in German only – die Gemeinschaft hat eine schön gestaltete Website auf deutsch: www.sunnehuegel.org, wo das untenstehend übersetzte Dokument nachgelesen werden kann).
“Our core community is not closed. Our house can comfortably accommodate up to seven adults (not including guests).
We are open to men and women, singles, couples or families who want to live with us and share our spirituality and commitment.

Our common task unites us: To receive people who are searching, or in emergency situations, as they are; to offer them a temporary home, and provide a framework of common daily routines and a rhythm on which new soil and new confidence can grow.
We also maintain a deliberately simple and ecological lifestyle; one that leaves room for individual needs and characteristics. We are not all the same, nor do we all have the same needs. But we orient ourselves on shared values, which we purposefully explore and test.
Common silence, prayer, and singing are other foundations of our life together. From our prayer times we find the strength and make us realize that our life is finite, and its essence is not from our hands. In maintaining the common spirituality we are aware of our individual religious biography just as we are aware of the common, Western-Christian culture and tradition. As a community we are not committed to any particular denomination.

“Forgoing the unnecessary to make space for the essential.”

We do not hold communal property. The association that we have formed for the operation of the house gives us free food and accommodation. In addition, each member of the core community generates its own financial basis from external (part-time) paid work.

We see our commitment as binding, but not a community for life. It is possible to share our commitment for a shorter or longer period of time, depending on the situation. In order for some commonality to grow (after a period of getting to know), a minimum duration of one year is useful to live as a member of the core community.

As a member of our core community, one does not need specific professional requirements. Certain craftiness and practical skills, but at least pleasure in everyday (handy) work is certainly helpful. Furthermore, an average mental capacity and the willingness to live together in an ever-changing community and with diverse people will suffice.
We see ourselves as a companionship in which we support each other wherever possible. We grow and mature through the challenges of our life together. We are also aware of our responsibility, which we take with respect to our guests. Therefore, we cannot accommodate people in acute crisis or upheaval in our core community, however, we like to offer them a place as a guest.”