The community pathway of Adullam has four primary processes. Observance, Preparation, Participation, & Partnership. Life is not a perfect process, neither is this. People come to Adullam with all sorts of questions, experiences, expectations, and illusions. They come with personal baggage, and different levels of faith and wind in their sails. Many come jaded, tired, and fraught with disillusion or discouragement. Therefore, we don’t expect that everyone will just work their way through these and “get on board.” We also don’t think that moving toward partnership means that you’ve got it all together—perfection isn’t a prerequisite to partnering with us.

The categories below are our way to place some landmarks as to where a person is and they give us a way to make sure we’re doing all we can to help you get where you and God want you to be. They also reflect the pattern we’ve now seen hundreds of people process through, and we do think it’s pretty realistic. So let’s take a look at each step.

Observance:

It is what it sounds like; it’s a season of about 2-6 months where we let you scratch and sniff a little, kick the tires and poke around. You know, get a feel for us and let us get a feel for you with no strings or expectations attached.

During The Observance, we suggest you do a few things: Attend the gatherings we have each month for several months, read The Tangible Kingdom, and begin to process your thoughts with some of the leaders or whoever you can get to go out for coffee with. (Remember, we don’t have paid staff or church offices, so be patient).

To finish Observance we then invite you to a three hour “What is Adullam?” class. During this class we enjoy hearing more about your story and unique questions about our ways. All of our leaders are present and it’s always a great time to hear about the next step of the way.

Preparation:

begins with an eight-week process that will help you prepare for mission with us. We have some great people that love to open their home for the duration of this time to coach you through this unique experience. We provide The TK primer which gives you a daily reflections and practices that help you address the idea of “being missional” with specific focus on fighting the gravity of materialism, individualism, and consumerism. You will do most of this by yourself, but there will always be others you meet with once a week to process what you’re experiencing. We think you’ll really enjoy this and probably find some good friends as well.

Participation

is where the rubber meets the road. Those who participate now walk with us and intentionally focus on finding or building inclusive community; they take seriously the inner life adjustments necessary to free up time and money for good works in the world; and they now take seriously the twice a month gathering where we all meet to see what God’s been doing throughout the month.

Partnership

simply designates a level of leadership to the larger church context. Partners either lead or help lead our villages, they help serve larger initiatives, they give us their wisdom, and they take a sacrificial role in giving of their resources to help provide for the larger Adullam structures.

So, where do you begin?