Giving and receiving gifts is one of the most joyful things in the world. Even before Iona House started, the co-founders began dreaming about what it might look like to cultivate a place shaped from the ground up by giving and generosity. At Iona House, we are cultivating a distinctive place to reimagine all of life in reference to Christ. This reimagining includes the topic of money which influences so much of life.

Our Vision: Generosity

Our vision for operating Iona House emerges from a theology of generosity. It starts with God, who is the ultimate gift-giver. He is the source of all good gifts. His gifts include all of creation, our very existence, and perhaps most of all, the life, death, and resurrection of Christ on our behalf. Everywhere you look in the Scriptures we see God giving: guidance, care, provision, protection, deliverance, grace, forgiveness, hope, healing, and more.

God is the giver, but it’s clear in the Scriptures that giving is not intended to be a one-way street. Relationships of love always involve a response. Although God needs nothing from us, He desires our response of gratitude and delight in Him. He desires us to extend to others the generosity we have received from Him. The result of all of this is an ever-increasing circle of joy and connectedness.

Our Way of Operating

Building on this theology of generosity, we have made it our aim to offer the entire ministry of Iona House as a gift. In all that we do we are seeking merely to respond to, and echo, the generosity of God and extend what we have received to others. We do this from a posture of humility and faith recognizing that we are vulnerable and not self-sufficient. Practically speaking it might be helpful to know that there is no wealthy person or foundation backing Iona House; only the faithful generosity of a growing community of gift-giving partners that we call the ARBOR community. We have seen immense amounts of sacrificial generosity bring us to the point where we are today. What a joyful adventure it has been. All glory to God!

Thus we do not charge a fee for participation in our retreats, activities, and services; instead we invite each person to receive what is offered as a gift with gratitude to God and, if they are so moved, to become a participant in the economy of giving that makes Iona House possible. This often looks like the gift of money to support this ministry (one time gifts and/or joining our ARBOR community that partners through regular giving). But it can also include the gift of time and/or talent in serving, the gift of a useful item or service, a commitment to pray and intercede for Iona House, and a willingness connect others who can help support the ministry. The net result of all of this is the emergence and building up of a joyful community of mutual interdependence. We don’t have any illusions that we can “self-sustain”. We can’t. And self-sustaining isn’t the point. A joyful, faith-filled community praising God and exhibiting the gospel is the point.

We often clarify that no matter how wealthy a person is, they cannot “pay” for what we offer. It’s not for sale. Similar to the gospel in Christ, you can’t earn it or buy it. It is a gift. You cannot pay for it, but you CAN give in response (or “pay it forward”). It may sound like semantics, but there is a distinct difference between “paying” and “giving”.

Although we offer our ministry as a gift, we do have boundaries and expectations. We expect people who come to Iona House to engage in the ongoing rhythm of life that is transpiring to the degree that they’re able and to enter our community as a participant. We are not merely a place like a VRBO, B&B, or AirBnB; we are a community of Christian contemplation. That being said, we warmly welcome people who are not professing Christians to visit, participate as they’re able, and get a taste of the Christian tradition.

For some, this gift-model described above may evoke a degree of anxiety or raise questions:

• Is it really a gift… or will there be pressure in the form of guilt to pay up or donate? Our goal is to operate without inducing guilt. We believe generosity is fueled best by relational connectedness, gratitude, joy, and inspiration… not guilt. You won’t be guilted or pressured into giving at Iona House. That’s not our culture / ethos.

• Won’t people take advantage of this generosity and “use” Iona House? It’s certainly possible. Because Iona House is a relational organization, we are able to express healthy boundaries and retain the right to not extend a gift to someone in the future who has abused a previous gift. But our experience thus far has been that people love to give and that it is a joyful thing to both give and receive a gift.

• Wouldn’t it be simpler to just charge people what it costs to operate Iona House? Actually it wouldn’t. We have a very difficult time boiling everything down to fee-for-service cost basis because that’s not how we operate. Whether we have 250 people come for a retreat in a month or 10 people, the costs for us are only marginally different (cleaning costs, laundry, etc.). The overall costs of staffing, insurance, animals, agriculture, utilities, maintenance, repairs / upkeep, and operations (which are the bulk of our ongoing costs) are going to be the same. Currently those costs total about $30,000 a month / $350k a year. What we are doing is similar in many ways to how a church operates. Just as churches don’t charge per-seat / per-service, we don’t charge per-activity either. It’s helpful to point out, again, that Iona House is not merely a “Christian airbnb” or a conference center. It is a community that has a vibrant ongoing life of prayer, activity, and local involvement that includes overnight guests but is not limited to such. Thus, although each retreat or activity costs us something, it’s not easily quantified and actually feels crass to attempt to do so.

• I feel stressed by all of this. I feel like I should give and I wish someone would just tell me what I should give. How do I know what is enough? Well, we certainly don’t want you to feel stressed. A gift is meant to do the opposite: to elicit gratitude and connectedness. For those who would like some guidance, the rule of thumb is give whatever gift would bring you joy. Don’t give anything beyond that.