Tidings May 2016 | Page 9

This time of year is always a little sad for me. I love being in community with our youth and adult leaders on such a consistent basis during the school year. While I look forward to more time with family and friends over the summer, I do find myself looking forward to the fall with excitement and anticipation. This past year we have accomplished a lot within the ministries of FOCOLU. We have tested a lot of waters. We have tried A LOT of different strategies for forming faith. Some approaches have stuck and some did not get the traction needed to continue. This is all part of building a ministry and I am thankful for the grace to explore options. What has stuck from the last year is the desire to be in community, the desire to serve, the desire to be involved in the life of the WHOLE congregation, and the need for youth who are equipped to lead and share in both highs and lows of other youth’s lives. During the first few years of a ministry it is important to establish community, and not just any community, but community that is focused around rituals of prayer, scripture, theology, and service. I feel that we have accomplished all of these to some extent, but I look forward to exploring ways to further this mission. A lot of people have asked me how I see this FOCOLU thing looking in the next few years. To some degree, that is a tough question, as ministry is ever changing and yet ever the same. I do see us continuing to have times for community on a weekly, monthly, and yearly schedule. The one thing that I continue to think about is how I believe that FOCOLU provides an opportunity to be more involved in the Fort Collins community and the surrounding area. We have the advantage of not being tied to one place and my vision is for us to be ready to serve anywhere we go. This is where I hope some of you will get behind this vision and help it become a reality. I would love for us to have a mobile program and service ministry. I envision us having an enclosed trailer that we are able to bring between the churches, to campus ministry or camp settings, and along on mission trips. I would love for us to roll into a setting and create a