A word from Ray – November

The Fellowship is family. Some of the most sustaining ministry relationships that I have are across the regions of The Fellowship. Speaking of finding the intimacy of family within the community we call The Fellowship, we are less than 2 weeks away from Advent. We are less than 40 days removed from Christmas, less than 50 days from the start of another year. You are probably working within your own context to figure out the hanging and the unhanging of the greens. You are trying to reimagine yet another Christmas Eve message while trying to offer a new way of retelling the beautiful incarnation message of the Gospel. Well, family, you are not alone at all. In the beauty of The Fellowship there is collegiality. Together we are praying for and hoping toward a beautiful new season of ministry ahead.

I recently read an article that started with these words:

“Covid broke a lot of churches.

It wasn’t the virus that did it. It was how members responded to the politics surrounding the pandemic. Our church survived, but some walked away angry that our church’s response didn’t match their political tribe’s. It always strikes me as deeply sad when Christians choose political loyalties over relationship with their brothers and sisters in Christ. The recent presidential election promises to present a similar challenge for churches. Polarization has reached a fever pitch, in the broader culture and in the church.”

One of the more beautiful things about The Fellowship is that we have identified together that which we believe. We have intentionally taken steps to figure out how to be an encouragement to one another, as directed in scripture, with the purpose of spurring each other on to the good deeds of the faith. This month’s election reminded me that we are red, blue and purple. I love the fact that all of our churches are not alike. Surely, we have governance in common and we hold to historical applications of scripture, but we are not all the same. Surely, our social feeds are reflections of our communities and the algorithm that supports this continues to be filled with points that align, but TFC is not a big bag of replicas. We are unique. Our calling is unique. Our application of our calling is unique. Our context is very unique.

A really cool part of the job that I get to do with you at The Fellowship is talking to folks “outside” of our tribe, who are wondering how they can find their way in. Oftentimes these conversations have a presumption that there is a hidden entrance or an entrance bar exam. I laugh as I share with them how easy it is to find their way in, while emphasizing the benefits of calling this group family. Just this week I was reminded of this as I talked with the program team while we planned for another amazing National Gathering. We intentionally were thinking of our TFC family who attend. We were prayerfully thinking of you!