After 9 months of going hard at it the ministry of Access has been chiseled and adjusted and honestly blessed by God’s hand as a unique spiritual formation initiative under the organizational banner of Mile High Ministries.
I wanted to update via blog post where we’ve currently landed with a mission statement. I’m so exhausted with all the word-smithing but it’s been a necessary aspect of shaping and communicating this endeavor with integrity. And with all the books read and experiences under my belt I continue to wade through the temptation and convenience of using insider language in which only us cool kids catch on. So, what I mean by integrity is allowing Access to be, well… accessible. Frankly, I look at some of my blog posts and wonder what I was thinking as I notice myself using cool language that came from a recent book I’ve read or words exchanged with a friend. Life and ministry is a continual process of living with integrity to who I really am. And I hear that’s kind of a big deal in our relating to God.
Anyway here’s where we’re at...
Access: A communal experience that combines both presence in hard places and honest spiritual formation.
Simple enough? And I actually feel confident I could describe what all of that means with some clarity. Why is it important to say "honest" spiritual formation? Well, I believe often times spiritual formation is practiced devoid of mission and presence with those Jesus spent much of his days among.
With the group we’re facilitating this fall we do this through a three-phase rhythm to the evening.
First hour: A theme is introduced that provokes awareness of the Gospel.
Second hour: An experience in engaging the unfamiliar (sometimes called the ‘Other’). This is either an hour in Network Coffee House or along Colfax Ave and we may even spend some time among the powers of Cherry Creek mall (gasp!).
Third hour: This is spent processing/praying through the external topics/experience in order to bring it into inner formation.
Last Tuesday evening was the first of eight nights together and Sam and I feel pretty good about it. We appreciate your prayer for this fall group!
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