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Photo Courtesy of Sacred Dirt
Ascent Alaska
Youngsters explore God's creation during an Ascent Alaska outdoor event.
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Photo Courtesy of The Journey
Journey Banner
A banner announces the location of The Journey, a new United Methodist congregation in Crestview, a community in north Florida.
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Photo Courtesy of Jubilatte
Sabrina at Jubilatte
Sabrina Terrier Kirkpatrick is a volunteer barista at Jubilatte, a new faith community located at Tigard United Methodist Church in Portland, OR.
I am about to do a new thing. Now it springs forth! Isaiah 43:19
Around the United Methodist connection innovative leaders are experimenting with different ways to connect with the growing percentage of the population known as the “Nones” and “Spiritual but not Religious”. The Holy Spirit is guiding these leaders on a journey of mutuality and respect toward those who claim no religious affiliations.
They are discovering that what used to be effective strategies for starting churches no longer works well in this post-modern context. They are finding that post-moderns value small community, consensus, diversity and spiritual experiences. Young Adults are less interested in supporting programs that require a belief in a set of Truths and more interested in making a difference in the world.
The Leader’s task in this new way of being is to extend the realm of God through formational practices. The focus is not on creating a worship experience but rather on helping people to sacramentalize the world through collaboration and co-creation. They meet people where they are and listen deeply to where God is already at work. They convene conversations that invite people to dream about a preferred future. They engender a sense of belonging through story-telling and radical hospitality. They help to bring the gifts of those on the margins to the center. And most importantly they model a set of practices/rule of life that helps people to wake up to the ways of love and peace through Christ.
They are skilled in community organizing, mentoring, collaborating, facilitating, and deep listening. Their mystical sensibilities ground them in God’s grace which in turn allows them to be that Grace for others. They understand that the realm of God is within and all around us.
Many are willing and able to be bi-vocational and raise their own funds to support this work. They realize how important it is that these communities become self-sustaining and so they seek to mentor others who can replicate what they are practicing to the ends of the earth!
Here are a few examples of the kinds of innovative ministries unfolding in the United Methodist church.
- a boat ministry called Water’s Edge in Baltimore
- an outdoor recreation community called Ascent Alaska in Anchorage
- coffee shop ministries in Florida, Oregon and Texas
- a faith community in Seattle that forms around core actions – Valley and Mountain
- a bar and homeless ministry in Denver called Afterhours
- micro-missional communities in Kentucky, Southern California, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maine and Oregon.
These micro-missional communities are a new wine skin that God is blessing. I hope that the United Methodist Church will support and value this biblical work.
The Rev. Beth Ann Estock, a United Methodist elder in Portland, OR, currently serves as a coach and consultant at Epicenter Group for people starting new faith communities. She blogs at Sacred Dirt.