What happens when a bloke in black eye-liner meets Jesus, gets involved with a prayer movement and, inspired by Ancient Celts and Francis of Assisi, starts dreaming up new ways of living out the Sermon on the Mount? Punk Monk charts Andy Freeman’s remarkable journey from praying with punks and goths in a derelict pub, to planting contemporary, monastic communities committed to the ‘breathing in’ of prayer and the ‘breathing out’ of mission and compassion. The final chapter of Punk Monk speaks of the establishment of ‘greenhouses of shalom, intentional communities centred not on meetings or buildings but on a disciplined and delightful rhythm of prayer and focused outward on those who are poor materially and spiritually.’ Fourteen years after its publication, we are excited to see the continual unfolding of this vision. There are currently over 51 Boiler Rooms - although now for ease and clarity of communication, we simply call them 24-7 Communities. They have spread across North America, UK, Europe and beyond, and their numbers continue to grow: for example, the Greater Ontario House of Prayer (GO-HOP) in Hamilton, Canada; the 24-7 community called Navah (‘bring home, make beautiful’) in Kansas City, USA; the Manor House community in the foothills of the Bernese Oberland, in the German-speaking part of Switzerland; Tree of Life, based in Manenberg, Cape Town, South Africa; and in the UK, the Guildford Boiler Room began with a handful of people passionate to pray for the town and feeling called to start a 24-7 Prayer expression in their locality. It has since grown into “Emmaus Road - a multi-congregational church that breathes in with a thrice daily online prayer rhythm, and breathes out in all manner of missional and transformational ministry.” There are many other 24-7 Communities! These communities come in all shapes and sizes, but if you slice any one of them down the middle and look inside, you will likely see the three principles and six practices that are outlined in this book embodied in some way, shape, or form. Although our thinking, theology and praxis continue to develop as our family of communities expands, the contents of Punk Monk have provided a helpful starting point for communities that seek to grow in prayer, mission & justice. This is an informal in-house edition of Punk Monk. With all of the developments in our thinking and praxis and all the new stories to tell, it’s about time to write another book. Watch this space!