In Real Life.

I used to joke that every meeting I attend needed to have food, otherwise it could have been done by email! Even though this is hugely impractical, it confirmed part of my heart and calling; that I love gathering people ‘on purpose’, and if it was accompanied by brunch then even better! Now obviously many parts of our work and social life can be solved pretty quickly by an email or text, and what a blessing that is. But what if the heart of what we are about is greater than simply passing on information to one another, what if it is about a deep connection and knowing there is someone out there willing to journey through life with you and share all the sorrow, wonder and joy of your story. What if they too are seeking someone to come into their own story, to have some company, a real relationship which can bring the life and belonging they crave?

Covid was a truly tough time, but I think long before March 2020 we had lost the heart and urgency to gather together. If most of our youth groups and churches are made up of smaller numbers, the need to gather together is greater than ever. Yes our own individual group is important, and the deep regular connection they offer is truly needed. But, and this is especially true for young people, they need a critical mass too, they need to gather in greater, more diverse groups. These gatherings will remind them they are not alone but will also allow them to find friends and build connections beyond the silo of their upbringing.

We don’t gather to amass numbers or to display the size of our gathering. We gather because it brings life! The human connection we make as we gather is seemingly cautious, but in time, and with effort, we realise how important they are. No technology, no social media, nothing online, can replace the power and connection of an ‘in real life’ gathering. We need to gather without technology, to genuinely ‘be’ in one another’s company. There is power in someone choosing me over their device, to purposefully taking the time to hear me and to look me in the eye and allow me to be seen.

By taking this bold step to gather together as individuals, or as groups, we give permission to enter each others world. We leave the ‘echo chamber’ of our regular environment and are able to see things in a different way, through different eyes. This ‘seeing’ is empathy at work, it creates relationships that restore brokenness, it opens up new possibilities that bring opportunity and it chooses to invest in something outside of your everyday experience.

In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says ”For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.“ This isn’t speaking about some warm fuzzy gathering that exists when a few people get together. This is a verse that speaks of a hunger for restoration and unity within church community. It speaks about when we face challenges as Christians, when division is everywhere, God calls for us to work it out together, and He will be there in the middle. Maybe it isn’t just about individuals gathering but groups, communities, whole churches, choosing to look out rather than in. Maybe Jesus wants to be in the midst of us as we build bridges not barriers, maybe he is going to be right there showing us the building plans and passing us the building materials needed?

This is how the book of Micah, in The Message, speaks of a gathering: “I’m calling a meeting, Jacob. I want everyone back—all the survivors of Israel. I’ll get them together in one place— like sheep in a fold, like cattle in a corral— a milling throng of homebound people! Then I, God, will burst all confinements and lead them out into the open. They’ll follow their King. I will be out in front leading them.”

I love the idea of a ‘milling throng of homebound people’, a gathering that is all about unity, wholeness, full life, togetherness and then as a whole community, to move forward out into God’s story. He will ‘lead us out into the open’, into a way of doing community that will be a catalyst for gathering everywhere.

In this next season 267 hopes to build a ‘youthwork blue zone’, a way of gathering regularly that brings life; full, rich life. Whether the gathering is just two over food or twenty for food, whether it is thirty on a residential trip, or a dozen groups coming together for a day of fun and discipleship. 267 is investing intentionally in doing this, with our time, with our finances and with our vision. We know from 17 years of gathering people, that gathering brings life, it builds relationships, it creates community and it seeks to be a space that chooses to pour into one another. I started my youthwork ministry feeling hugely isolated. If I had not been invited into a gathering, a tribe, I would be utterly lost. This is why the next season of 267 is essential, because life happens when we choose to be together, blessing happens when there is a striving for unity, restoration happens when you have someone willing to journey with you.

Our vision is this; to find a space where we can regularly gather people. This space is not quite our residential space vision, but an interim space, a space where we can model, and be a catalyst for youth work blue zones. Here we want to gather in small numbers and larger numbers, gathering kids, young people, leaders. We want to gather for food, for conversation, for collaboration and shared resources, to have a workspace without the isolation. Here there will be time to be coached and mentored, to receive and offer discipleship, a place for fun and community, a flexible space for groups to use and to be a home for those seeking the encouragement 267 longs to give. Come join us, support us, pray for us, help us find a space to host these gatherings, a space 267 can pour into and build a youthwork blue zone.