A ministry to people the Church isn’t loving
As you may know, this past June we held our first ever in-person retreat. We met for 3 days and 2 nights in Stony Point, New York. People came from 3 different countries to spend a weekend with people they had never met in person. Twenty people, and all we knew about each other was what we had each shared from a box on a screen for an hour or so a week.
We have talked about the gifts of an online community before, and I don’t need to repeat them here. In fact, as cool as that is, it’s not what really gets me excited about my work at Harbor. Our gift to the way of Jesus is not our technology (confession: we are actually pretty terrible at technology) but how our community ministers to those who can’t be ministered to anywhere else. They have nowhere else to receive financial support in tough times, prayers during an illness, one-on-one spiritual counseling for the tough questions, or the blessing of community worship, reflection, and care.
Can’t, or won’t? Can’t. Every week people tell me they don’t know where they would go if they didn’t have Harbor. They live in places, even large cities, where there are no churches that will accept them, or they have been so hurt and abused by churches in the past that they can’t enter the doors, or they have to keep their questioning hidden from less tolerant family members. There’s also the fact that online community is often far more accessible than in-person church to people with disabilities or shift workers.
At our retreat, made possible by a generous grant from Trauma Responsive Congregations and your donations, we were able to touch and feel the love, support, faith, and mystery that comes with a community that lives by the values of Jesus: inclusion, mutual love and care, affirmation of gender and sexual diversity, and working for justice. We are far from perfect, but in Stony Point we witnessed the miracle that has grown over these early days of our community. If you check out our socials this week, you will see what some of our folks had to say about Harbor coming out of our retreat.
To know for the first time in 44 years this kind of friendship—I’m not kidding—is the greatest gift I can imagine.
As a social worker and mom, there’s not a lot of care “given” to me… but I will tell you that Harbor feels like a little bit of heaven on earth.
For those of us who attend an in-person church regularly, we hear about the desire to reach those who just aren’t coming in the doors. We want to introduce them to a much gentler and just Jesus than they may have met before. We care about people in our communities and their struggles, but we can’t reach them from inside our stone and glass towers. It is hard to have compassion without an outlet.
Harbor is a place for those who need a church home but can’t find what they need anywhere else. That is not a dig at local churches. I proudly lead local churches! I love them and believe in their power. But Harbor is knowing and loving people our local churches never will. Those people you pray will find God’s peace are finding their home at Harbor.
You can support this outreach by:
Praying for us. Please hold us in your thoughts. We are growing and it is glorious, but that brings more demands, and we want to meet them faithfully.
Sharing our content. Right now our reach is growing through a 3-year-old Facebook ad and word of mouth. That’s it. So, please, if you see a post you think will interest someone, share it!
Becoming a monthly donor. As a recurring donor, you help us plan ahead so we can use our resources well. Right now, only 17% of our income comes from direct donations. We receive generous funding from the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church (USA), but these grants we rely on will end in 2025. Monthly support is essential to our future.
Making a donation right now. Go to www.onlineharbor.org/give to learn more about our financial responsibilities and make a gift. In the US all donations are tax-deductible.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for reading this far and considering Harbor during these difficult times. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Thank you for seeing church in a new way. Thank you for supporting this community stumbling together in the way of Jesus.
