The motivation to form this community started with a group involved in Transformational Ministry at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  For three years we worked tirelessly to help "revive" the existing ministry and bring the entire congregation along with a new way of living as the church in the world.  We knew this would be a long and difficult process, but early successes seemed to indicate that things were changing and people were coming on board. And yet, as one of our leaders continued to remind us, "our budget resisted transformation". Even though energy and ministry were up, we still weren't on a sustainable path financially.  It was clear more and deeper changes were needed.  In the Spring of 2009, the leadership team of Bethlehem invited the congregation to face this reality head on, and to make a decision to step up into something new (with increased time, talent, and money) or to scale back what we are doing to what we can afford with existing resources. By and large the congregation embraced setting off in a whole new direction, but in the months to follow participation, energy, and giving began to decrease even more.  Realizing that the changes brought on by Transformation weren't temporary as many in the congregation had hoped, resistance to the Transformation process began to increase. Members who had joined in the three years since we began Transformation began to be less and less involved, and a few left.  Leaders were becoming increasingly frustrated with the path we seemed to be on, and were loosing steam.  As it came time to begin to prepare the budget for 2010, leaders wondered where we would find the funds to continue to exist--and began asking if it was even worth it to try.  It was clear to those leading the Transformation process that the options before us were to dissolve and scatter or to take Transformation to a whole new level and see if God was calling us to something entirely new.  It was now or never--and we felt God was calling us to step out in faith.  

Work on a guiding coalition has been happening throughout the Transformation process.  The Transformation team began more and more to include the rest of the leadership of the Bethlehem council and the principles of Transformational ministry began to spread.  Others have become increasingly frustrated with "things as they are" and have longed for change.  In October 2009 a group began to meet together to read the Bible, listen for where God was calling us to go, and take steps to go there.  This group met Sundays after worship during the coffee hour and read Acts chapter 8 again and again, focusing on a different question each week, and through conversation and prayer set about discerning God's call for us and our congregation.  After several weeks, leaders started hearing a call from God to do something entirely new--to go after "resurrection" rather than "resuscitation".  The Transformation team met on November 13th, 2009 and began to craft a vision for a new community right in the midst of the old one. And so the "Advent Community" was born.  We will continue to meet Sunday mornings after worship at Bethlehem Lutheran, and invite anyone who wants to join us to come along on this journey.

This is the next stage for us.  While it is clear that God is calling us to something new, what might that look like?  The principles of Transformational Ministry and a missional way of being will certainly guide our formation.  We know we want to be about genuine relationships, the Bible, prayer, food, care for one another, care for our neighbors, and paying attention to what God is up to in the world.   We want to be authentic and sustainable.  We don't want to be overly tied to a building. We want to exist for the sake of others.