The Council

Another weekend of community, prayer, discussion and seeking God is over. Another Council meeting of Jesus Freaks Germany. Every time I leave I feel such a strong love for those people. Some of them I know for almost ten years, others I got to know just some months ago, but being together in JF always makes me feel that we are bound together by some fate and that we belong together - which is actually true!! A sad fact is that some people who couldn't agree with the recent developments and the "open space"-method which was used in the process kept distance or dropped out.
The location was an old castle - getting there in fog and darkness was the first qualifying test. The aim of the meeting was to adopt a new value paper that lays down the new direction, defines the leadership style and structure of the Jesus Freaks. In general there was a broad acceptance, but since we aimed for a one-voice decision, and there were quite a number of details to discuss, we could not even vote for the first of 13 pages. Maybe that sounds like a big failure, but in my perception we accomplished something very much bigger.
The main achievement in the whole Council is the ongoing process of learning to trust, respect and create space for each other, regardless of his position, opinion or the years of membership. Admitting that Jesus is incarnate in everyone of us and has an important contribution to make. At times there are contradicting views but through mutual trust and dialogue we could find to unity again and again. I like how the "architectural" team has put it in words: "Unity in gigantic diversity - not based on compromise but on miracle!" Jesus Freaks are not a subculture, we are made up from many different subcultures that normally would not get along with each other. Again and again I am amazed by this miracle!