Real community, real growth

The Christian writers ministry I started 16 months ago has growing pains. That's a wonderful problem to have, but the joy of growth doesn't make it any easier to manage. I had a vision for where we needed to go. I could even tell you the steps we needed to take. But I couldn't seem to free myself long enough to take the first step. I hired a consultant.

I've worked with consultants before. The result is usually greater complications than what I started with. Not this time. This consultant was awesome. In trying to figure out why she did her job so well, so I could write a reference letter for her, I learned something about community growth. It's something that should go without saying but seldom does. At the risk of repeating old knowledge that needs to be heard... and really listened to...

Three things distinguished the work this consultant did with me and the ministry: (1) celebrating the early stage; (2) embracing messy growth; (3) focusing on people.

Celebrating the early stage

Too often, in our haste to grow the ideal community, we uproot the seeds that got us to the point of growth. We want everything to run more smoothly; to appeal to more people; to look more established. Those are all wonderful goals, but not if you reach them by forgetting where you started; by losing your foundation and what makes you unique and strong.

This doesn't mean you hang onto the past. At some point in the growth of a community, a transition will take place to a larger scale. But be sure the foundation is celebrated and distinctly woven into that bigger picture. Don't lose the beauty you found in the early stage. A good rule of thumb: If everything you're building now were to crumble a year from now, would you still have enough of your foundation to start building again?

Embracing messy growth

Transition isn't easy; growth doesn't happen smoothly or painlessly. You've got to be willing to get messy. You have to walk each step toward the future, not try and skip ahead and bypass all the messy parts. You have to live the growth; to experience it. That's what makes you strong.

This doesn't mean you don't work hard to make the transition as smooth as possible. But don't smooth things out at the expense of really living the transition. If you do, you'll end up with an artificial community people will soon be tired of. If you're willing to jump in and get messy instead, you'll grow together into something dynamic and alive.

Focusing on people

A community doesn't exist apart from the people within it. Not really. Yet too many communities pretend they are independent entities. The community takes on a life of its own. I'm not talking about people working together to create something greater than themselves. I'm talking about a community that is nothing but structure imposed from above or from outside; a community that has nothing to do with real, daily life.

Sure, you need some sense of structure: you need organization; you need rules and regulations to ensure safety and prosperity, to stay focused on first principles, to keep the community from disintegrating or being destroyed. But if the structure doesn't take into account how real people will spend their real time and will experience real interactions within the community, it won't last; it won't be dynamic; it won't be appealing; it won't allow for renewal.

I remember a playground that was built in a park near where I used to live. The equipment was purchased as a set - the latest design - and placed according to someone's plan. The moment the playground was opened, kids came running in. At first, they didn't seem to know what to do with some of the equipment; it didn't come with a users manual. The pieces they couldn't figure out were ignored... for a while. Eventually, though, they found a use for every piece of equipment. Did they use it as the designers had intended? Who knows! They turned it into what they needed.

I fully expect the same to happen with the writers ministry as it grows. Some of what we put into place will be adapted to what is needed. That's awesome. That's what makes a community dynamic; that's what gives people a stake in the community's future. We have to remember that (1) our foundation is based in prayer and sharing inspiration from the heart - celebrating the early stage; (2) readers are blessed when writers are willing to experience, really live what they write about - embracing messy growth; (3) the community is nothing without the people, both writers and readers that gather here - focusing on people.

You can't know ahead of time who will join a community and which new areas will take off. Only God knows that. That's what makes community growth so exciting, if you're willing to jump in and live it every day. If you stick with what's real - inspiration, daily experience, people - it'll work; it'll last. And you'll love every minute of the community's growth: the painful and the easy.

Supporting each other in business and in life

The past few weeks, I went through a difficult time of unpacking from my out-of-state move and attempting to get settled... finally. A tough end to a tough yet very blessed year. This final stage of unpacking was an ordeal and a half. Not something I care to repeat anytime soon! But I realize how fortunate I am that I didn't have to do all of this while holding a full-time corporate job.

I remember moving to a new place several years ago, when I worked for an investment bank in NYC. I moved literally across the street, and yet it took a solid month to get everything done. The last two days of the move, I felt like I was losing my mind. I had to take the only two personal days I was allotted for the year, just to finish the move and get the old place cleaned out. That was a relatively easy move compared to what I just did. I can't imagine how I would have gotten through the past few weeks with a corporate job.

The way Corporate America is traditionally run makes things difficult when life intrudes. One of the biggest problems I had to face in the corporate world was explaining to upper management why some of the people I supervised had to take personal time off to take a child to the doctor's office or rush a baby to the emergency room or go to a parent-teacher conference at their child's school. Reality didn't often fit into upper management's worldview. It's much easier to deal with the challenges of real life when you have a home business.

I'm not trying to be harsh on Corporate America. I've come across several good corporate opportunities, and I've worked for corporations that create valuable products and services. The corporations I admire the most are those that create a strong sense of community - real community - for their employees. A lot of companies look good on paper but do not follow through in practice. Those that do are much more desirable to work for.

It's the same with network marketing companies: some are more desirable to work with than others; some create better communities than others. In general, I prefer the network marketing alternative, because it's easier to structure a network marketing company into a strong and people-friendly community. That doesn't mean all network marketing companies are structured this way; but they can be. And that's a great place to be when life throws challenges your way.

Even for those who like their corporate jobs, participating in a community-oriented network marketing company on the side can be an incredible experience. Network marketing can teach you lessons in community building that you can apply in your corporate setting. What's that? Management won't let you? What if you have the leverage of not caring whether or not you lose your corporate job, because you've built a viable home business? How might that change the way you approach - and shape - your corporate environment?

In my professional history, I stepped on some corporate toes because I wanted the company to do the right thing. While I don't necessarily recommend this - the consequences are not usually pleasant - I can tell you that it would have been less frightening to take these chances if I'd already built a successful home business on the side. And the lessons I've learned in how to grow and strengthen a home business community would have been valuable, many times over, in the corporate settings where I worked.

I look forward to seeing what Music 423 will discover - and teach - about building a socially conscious, people-oriented business community, where we can support each other in business and in life.

Box-Free Fellowship

A friend and I talk often about how easy it is to put our faith in a box without realizing it. To put God in a box. Even for those of us who feel blessed with vision, what we see and imagine is miniscule compared to what God sees. His vision is infinitely beyond our reach. It's incredible the way we always try to limit, from our tiny human perspectives, what He can accomplish.

This makes me stop to think: How much more so do we put our understanding of Christian fellowship in a box? Think about how easy it is to categorize people; to define who they are and how they act or talk; to predict what they will do and how they will react to situations. How often do we limit the people we are in fellowship with? It's not that we do this consciously. It just happens. Unless we remain aware of it, we'll keep doing it.

This is something we can learn from participating in virtual Christian communities. It's much more difficult to put someone in a box when you interact with that person virtually. No matter how well you get to know the person, there's still a degree of freedom and unpredictability. It keeps the fellowship in some ways more genuine, more "in the moment," more dependent on the work of the Holy Spirit.

I'm not saying you can't have this kind of fellowship experience in a live setting. I've certainly experienced it within several church communities. But you have to work at it. I believe that when you engage in a virtual Christian community - a good, strong community that is secure and respectful, a safe place to interact with other Christians - you can learn more about what I will call box-free fellowship. And then apply that to your local church community or other live Christian fellowship gatherings.

It's something to think about, anyway. I will certainly be thinking about what the Music 423 Christian community teaches me about interaction and fellowship... and see how those lessons relate to my live fellowship experiences.

A Place Called Faith

This blog is a place for my weekly thoughts and reflections about Music 423, the Christian online community that is starting to give shape to what I think of as "A Place Called Faith." I'm not the most consistent blogger in the world, but I'll do my best to keep this going each week.

I created this blog for several reasons:

1. I'm a writer. I like to write. It's very difficult to get me to stop writing! I look for any excuse to put my thoughts into written words. Even better when I can share them.

2. I think about Music 423 a lot. Why not think out loud on occasion? It helps me think more clearly and make new discoveries.

3. One of many things I love about Music 423 is the opportunity to encourage others and to share what I'm learning. This doesn't just mean inside the Music 423 community. It also means taking what I've learned and turning it into outreach.

4. Music 423 is an incredible adventure. I have mega long-term vision, but I have a feeling the Music 423 community is going to out-vision even me! I'd love to document a few moments along the way, so I can look back later and see where we started... and how far we've come.

Why is this blog titled "A Place Called Faith"? Because I've come to realize that when you trust God and step out in faith, you end up somewhere that isn't easy to define, by earthly dimensions. You feel like you're walking on air; disoriented and perhaps upside down; no idea where you're headed... but ecstatic about the journey! You don't feel grounded, but that's okay, because you know God's got you. And you know it's going to be good.

It's not a place you can describe, but it's a place nonetheless: a place called Faith. It's a place I always dreamed to be, and here I am. Stepping out with little sense of direction; trusting God as my compass. This is how I've lived the past two years. Now suddenly, I have others walking beside me - or floating, I guess you could say; spinning, perhaps; tumbling through the air; flying, soaring. Some of us might be upside down; doesn't matter. We're together in this place called Faith, and God is building a community all around us: Music 423.

In an earthly sense, it's the community of my dreams, a model for all others. Just a preview of what God can and will do if we trust Him to build our communities here on earth. Barely a glimpse of what He's got waiting for us in Heaven. The more I hear about our plans for this online community - a safe place, a solid foundation, a strong connection among community members - and the more I pray about this community's future, the more I see that Music 423 will be an awesome home for those who live and walk in this place called Faith.

We have community conference calls every Saturday, so I'll do my best after the calls to write something here - whatever comes to mind, as we build the community. Whether it's philosophical babbling, recording a moment in time, or sharing insights I've learned about online community building, I hope this blog will be helpful for those who want to create better communities, whether online or real-world; for those who want to discover how an online community can change lives; and for those who want to walk - or fly - with others that live in this wonderful place called Faith.