Sanctuary - A New Vision for STAY

Sanctuary - refuge or safety from pursuit, persecution, or other danger. ~ Google search definition

Sanctuary ~ Dictionary.com

1. a sacred or holy place.
2. Judaism.
• the Biblical tabernacle or the Temple in Jerusalem.
• the holy of holies of these places of worship.
3. an especially holy place in a temple or church.
4. the part of a church around the altar; the chancel.
5. a church or other sacred place where fugitives were formerly entitled to immunity from arrest.
6. immunity afforded by refuge in such a place.
7. any place of refuge; asylum.

Early this year after returning from a busy finish of 2014 with the ministry activity around Christmas, I had an air of tiredness and worry about how STAY/Firebrandz would operate in 2015 in particular around the other leaders. Leaders were going through personal battles, competing commitments, changing lifestyles, lack of motivation, inactivity, overwork, interstate travel ... it seemed to me we did not have much fire anymore.

A year ago, STAY/Firebrandz was doing new and breakthrough activities, starting new ministries and growing to be able to see them bear fruit with the words 'STAY can do anything'... 

It was time for a new vision and a new direction for STAY/Firebrandz but what could it be?

I prayed and thought with the other leaders in STAY/Firebrandz over 2 months and at the last leader's meeting and to help form the vision, I asked each leader where they saw STAY was and should go. Most of the leaders had been in STAY/Firebrandz for at least a year and a half. The sharings that came out had a similar theme, mostly about what drew them to 'stay' at STAY. Similar words around safety, protected, trust and relationships were said often.

From listening to everyone, I was looking for a theme or word which bubbled up towards the end from which I shared at the end as my summary for the group and the word was 'Sanctuary'. It seemed to capture something of what everyone said and while I didn't know the full meaning of the word then, it was something that seemed to inspire thought and and excitement. This turned my tiredness into one of hope, that there was a new aim and direction for STAY/Firebrandz that would help transform the group in something we hope that is closer to what God wants us to be.

I had the fortunate of talking closely with a good friend from overseas while he was over from Singapore for work in Melbourne for 2 months and like me, he was a leader in a similar church young adults group. His group or community was around 15 years old and were undergoing a period of major transition to become more like a covenanted community such was the depth and growth of his group. On a retreat he hosted for myself and a few others, he shared one thing that stuck with me.

It was based on Henri Nouwen's idea of discipleship. Living as a disciple involves 3 disciplines:

1. Solitude
2. Community
3. Ministry

He quotes an example of this in In Luke 6:12-19 where Jesus spends the whole night in prayer, then calls the disciples, and then cures people of unclean spirits and disease. Community flows from Solitude and Ministry flows from Community. This other blog article (written by someone else) summarises the idea well:

http://thismortallife.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/nouwen-on-solitude-community-and.html

The idea struck me because I currently live the disciplines backwards and probably spend most of my time in Ministry. I have structured STAY around ministry and helped build STAY as a ministry. I hardly spend time with the community justifying it by my also busy out of ministry commitments and letting the other leaders with more time fulfill that task. Solitude time is also eaten away by ministry and the administration work which comes with leading STAY and also Friends of Refugees.

So for me, its time to refocus STAY/Firebrandz. Last year we spent our efforts building a ministry and now its time to build a community - to build a sanctuary.