Reflections from last week

Had coffee with Jason Makowski last Friday and a lot of satellite ministry stuff and my personal burden came up. It was encouraging to see how much of what I had to say resonated with Jason as he is someone who is a great brother and also a restless soul trying to sort out how his Christianity matters to the world around him. I sense that we are kindred spirits and it was great for me to be able to share what God has been doing in me with someone that gets it.

I think that's my biggest fear as we begin to look at what satellite ministry should look like; that people won't get it and see the value of it and, therefore, will not support it. We can't hope to engage in this kind of a ministry as a church without a sense of unity and purpose to it. If we do, we will have ineffective ministry carried out by a few people who will not have the time, energy and ability to carry it out.

I am envisioning the satellite becoming a place where need is encountered at a greater level than at the main campus. I am seeing us as a network where need can be communicated from the satellite to the main campus and we can partner in addressing that need. Frankly, Hanfield is too isolated right now. It is an oasis in the desert. It's not that there isn't need, we are just removed from so much of it that it becomes very difficult to learn of it by any other way than the individual telling us what the need is. Of course, this goes back to the lack of relationship and true "fellowship" (a term we've completely screwed up) that we currently have. But when you are not so isolated and you put yourself in a place where you can develop relationship and observe someone on a more regular basis, it is easier for you to see where a need might exist before the person even tells you. Then, in the context of relationship, you can ask about the need and if there is anything that you can do to help. I see the satellite as more localized (compared to the regional focus of Hanfield) ministry that allows that regular contact with the people that we are in the body with. I am praying that it begins in such a way that there is relationship established early on and we are able to get the care part right before it gets too difficult to care for one another in any deep, meaningful way.

Well, I'm off to coffee again. We'll see what thoughts are spurred on this time.