Experiencing and exploring a spirituality of friendship
Last week, from Monday (6/15) to Thursday, 35 of us were together at the Carmelite Spiritual Center in Darien, IL for our annual gathering. We had three hopes for our time together: to experience friendship across difference and division, to explore the friendship work of Jesus, and to be formed in the virtue of Jesus-shaped friendship.
God met those hopes – and us as a community of friends – in significant ways: In the unfamiliar beauty of morning matins prayer at Holy Transfiguration Antiochan Orthodox Church. In sharing our stories over meals and in the evenings. In learning more about the spirituality of friendship through the history of intentional Christian communities. In moving toward others, in spite of our own discomfort and the pain & sadness of church separations. And in discovering the joy of going deeper into what it means to be “the friends of the friends of Jesus.”
I’m still discerning all of the work of the Holy Spirit over those four days, but two broad themes have stood out. First, I saw a growing connectedness with one another and a group of people who were an embodiment of “love greater than division.” Second, I think we received greater clarity about our unique calling as The Initiative. As someone expressed it during the sharing time on the last morning: “We are being called in this particular moment to take on a certain shape of love in order to meet a certain need in the Body of Christ.” Amen!
We’ve already got next year’s dates reserved at the Carmelite Center: Monday, June 28th to Thursday, July 1st 2027 (roughly two weeks later than this year). We hope that more of you will be able to join us!
Leadership Council meeting in late May
Three weeks before the national gathering, the Leadership Council met at Toah Nipi Conference Center in New Hampshire to pray, discern, celebrate God’s work in The Initiative over the past year, and plan together for the coming year and beyond.
Many thanks to those of you who were praying for us. I believe God used our rich time together to set the hopes, as well as the fruit, of the gathering that I shared above. I’m thankful for the ways this team of leaders lives out our spirituality of friendship, listens well to God and one another, helps me do my job better, and stewards the organizational and financial responsibilities of The Initiative.
From our time together, several new initiatives (pun intended) emerged, including some ways to grow our commitment to “pray daily for a radical increase of love in the whole body of Christ”. And we’re especially excited for how we felt prompted to expand the Zoom gatherings that we started last year into a weekly commitment. Beginning Thursday, August 20th, these weekly times will rotate through some kind of format of prayer, conversations & interviews, Scripture study and looking at historic & emerging developments in Christian unity.
I’ll have plenty more details to share in the early August update as we prepare to launch this – and other – endeavors.
I’m grateful for opportunities over the next five weeks for rest, time with family, a personal retreat, and preparation for the coming year both with The Initiative and InterVarsity. The update letter will be taking July off and will be back in your inboxes in early August 😊.
I’m also grateful for each of you, and your commitment to read, pray, give, and participate in our community. May you each experience, explore and be formed in your friendship walk with Jesus – and all his friends (John 15:15).
Yours in Christ’s Love,
Scott Brill
Executive Director
