Fusion is the 18-20somethings ministry at Triangle Community Church, and it has developed in a unique, interesting, and pretty odd way.
Here’s the mission statement; designed to reflect all that we’re about: Fusion exists to create producers for the kingdom of God by building and equipping strong communities for college students and young adults in transient life stages.
The need for a ministry like this arose when we realized that a lot of graduated students were hanging around the TCC high school services, without any place to go. Humans need connection, especially in the efforts to live for God, but these students had no community that was nurturing and challenging their faith. So we decided to start Fusion.
But it was complicated. Two things made it complicated. One was that we all live in different areas, go to different schools, and have very different schedules. So it’s hard to build lives together that way. The other thing was that we were tired of church community that felt manufactured, faked, and forced. So we wanted to explore a way of connecting with Jesus and each other that was truer than anything we had experienced yet.
With the beginning of a new ministry, there were lots of decisions to make. When do we meet? What do we do at these meetings? So we started meeting with five or six people who were really on fire for this idea, and talking about what we wanted ministry to look like in our worlds. These meetings turned into a group of men and women sharing their walks with God and their hearts for worship with one another. And that’s what ministry is. So we decided just to do that more. Through the summer of 2016, we brought in more people from the world around us (if you’re reading this, it may be because you’re part of that group) and decided to just do more of that. Living life together and loving God, each other, and the world. That was our goal. And it still is. It happens in individual conversations, it happens in moments of worship, it happens in groups when we look at the Word together. It happens all the time, and we hope to create space for the ministry of the Word and for worship of God with each other.
Because of all of our crazy schedules, we can’t find a weekly time to meet and organize something. We tried that. Instead, we are forced to meet about once a month (info about those meetings is on the facebook page here), and can’t have much consistency right now. But maybe that’s good! Maybe we aren’t supposed to make our union with Christ and His church something that only happens during the times marked down on our calendars. Maybe ministry should be as consistent as our actual lives, which right now are pretty spontaneous and unpredictable.
Deuteronomy chapter 6 says: “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts… Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
The words of God are supposed to stay with us everywhere, not just at “Church” or “Youth Group.” The Spirit of God follows us in our daily lives, in our conversations, and our joy in Him should not be limited to a date on a calendar. Psalm 32:11 says that we should be shouting for joy if we’ve found hope in the Lord! So let’s let those shouts of joy be part of our normal daily lives.
So, if you want to get involved with Fusion, check out the facebook page, come to our events, pray for us, but most importantly, do ministry wherever you are. Shout for joy in your relationships with people, Christian and non-Christian. Be a producer for God’s Kingdom and lead the people he loves back to him!