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Welcome to PAPA Fest. It's not Woodstock. It's not Bonnaroo.

Although live music, dreadlocks, piercings and tattoos were abundant at a three-day festival in Greenback this weekend, the focus was on building Christian communities.

One of the event's organizers, Maryville native Shane Claiborne, described PAPA Fest as church -- church complete with camping, swimming, folk and punk bands and a circus.

"I think this is our vision of church," Claiborne said, then referenced Matthew 18:19, the Scripture in which Jesus says, "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am."

"It's a very visual expression of family and rebirth," Claiborne said, further describing PAPA Fest as "a gathering of family, which is at the center of our faith."

Inspired by a day-long celebration Claiborne organized with some college friends nearly 10 years ago, this weekend's festival is an event that he said he hoped could become an annual affair.

PAPA stands for People Against Poverty and Apathy, but Claiborne said that, by the festival's end, he hoped the event would reflect people being "about" something, rather than against it.

Another organizer, Melissa DeLong, of Camden, N.J., said people concerned with social justice and peacemaking inevitably have things they protest against, but added that PAPA Fest "is a way to celebrate the things we are for."

Recycling and composting were encouraged. Many festival-goers were vegetarian or vegan.

Before entering the site, a private farm in Greenback, participants had to sign a covenant pledging to interact with each other only with peace, respect and love.

PAPA Hours

A bartering economy substituted for paper U.S. currency during the event. Paul Glover, who helped found the Ithaca Hours bartering system in Ithaca, N.Y., in 1991, was among the festival-goers.

Ithaca Hours, a system in which participants trade volunteer work for goods and services, inspired the festival's currency, PAPA Hours, flower-marked patches representing volunteer hours and used in place of traditional money.

"It's much easier to have a faith than live it in the marketplace," Glover said. "Ithaca's trading system has made it much easier for people to help each other and enjoy abundance while respecting the environment and each other."

It was Glover's idea to connect PAPA participants and holders of PAPA Hours through the Internet so they can continue to use the currency with each other even after the festival ends.

The entire festival, in fact, was coordinated through volunteer efforts.

Claiborne said the festival was the culmination of about a year's worth of work by 30 people.

"And the incredible thing about it is we've done it with no paid staff," he said.

PAPA Fest was financed with a total budget of less than $10,000, he said.

`Protestifying'

Claiborne called the festival's approach "protestifying" -- or, "proclaiming alternatives," as opposed to just protesting injustice without offering any solutions.

Festival attendees could sign up for a variety of "classes" each day, with discussion-focused sessions in the morning and hands-on, how-to sessions at night -- "head learning and practical learning," DeLong called it.

Among the numerous morning offerings were discussions on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the theology of community, the new models of business, exploring economics of fair-trade coffee, Christian anarchism and more.

In the evenings, participants could sign up to learn anything from poi (Polynesian fire-spinning) to bicycle maintenance or vegetable canning.

Sustainability and self-sufficiency were frequent themes in the course offerings, and Claiborne said such "green" concerns are well suited to a Christian lifestyle, particularly since so much violence is directly tied to a scarcity of resources.

Trace Bundy, one of the many musicians performing at the festival, came to the Greenback farm from Boulder, Colo., and said he was particularly excited "about the conversations and learning process ... getting to hear people's ideas shared and lots of people with common interests."

Will Samson, who came to the festival from Lexington, Ky., said it was good to be able to connect to other people with similar ideas about living their faith.

"When you're doing something that's a little bit out there, it's nice to know you're not alone," he said. "I think that's particularly important for those of us who come from more traditional church communities."

Samson, Claiborne and DeLong, like the majority of PAPA Fest participants, are involved in intentional Christian communities or what is frequently referred to as the "new monasticism" movement.

New monasticism

In a September 2005 Christianity Today article that highlighted Claiborne and other new monasticists, author Rob Moll described intentional communities and the emerging new monasticism movement as such:

"Formed often independently by mostly young, single Christians, these communities are the latest wave of evangelicals who see in community life an answer to society's materialism and the church's complacency toward it. Rather than enjoy the benefits of middle-class life, these suburban evangelicals choose to move in with the poor."

Claiborne lives and works with The Simple Way, a community in Philadelphia, Pa.'s poorest neighborhood, and DeLong is with Camden House, a community in inner-city Camden, N.J.

"It's not just what we believe -- it's how we live," Claiborne said. "I really believe there's a reshaping within the church, within evangelical Christianity right now."

Pointing out that PAPA Fest was attended by Protestants, Catholics and Mennonites alike, he continued, "There's an intersection of the different streams of Christianity."

The diversity extended beyond denominational variety.

All age groups were represented, with a special tent set aside for children's activities, and participants came from "20 to 30 states," Claiborne estimated, and several foreign countries.

A total of 500 people were expected to attend the festival that officially began Friday and lasts through today.

"I think it was important to have something that celebrates life, creativity and the (positive) things people are doing," DeLong said.