How we are organized

Here, I intend to clarify how Infinitus Ministries is organized and where we are going. 

Present situation

Currently, "Infinitus Ministries" is a joint brand of two connected but separate works: (1) an independent spiritual direction practice, which is a for-profit business; and (2) a non-denominational Christian mission that is working towards establishing faith communities.

For administrative purposes, the latter falls under the umbrella of the former for the time being, and proceeds from the former funds the latter. This model allows for the needed flexibility and agility at this stage of this ministry's development, especially at a time when no stable core membership has yet to form.  

Infinitus Ministries is held under the name of Infinitus Community Ventures, a company limited by shares (100 percent of shares are held by Willow). 

Where we are going from here

As the community grows, the congregation (Infinitus Community) will be gradually transitioned to a collective governance model by its members. This will be a consensus-based, direct participation model of governance. Our unique vision contemplates "growth through replication," whereas a community spins off whenever its stable, committed core membership reaches 12. This model prevents the growth of bureaucracy and church politics while keeping each congregation meaningfully personal, sustainable, and participatory for everyone. This organizational model brings the best elements from the congregationalist polity that is an integral part of the Baptist tradition, the Quaker-style organization, and the "Christian Base Communities" concept used by the Latin American liberation theologians. 

Such communities will have opportunities for collaboration, mutual support and accountability, and joint activities, provided that each community remains self-governing and we create no umbrella bureaucracy above them. 

Affiliations

Given our unique missions, governance model, and theological positions, Infinitus Ministries/Community chooses not to affiliate with or come under the "covering" of another ecclesial or denominational entity. We are doing a new thing, in a new way, and we are not interested in an "old wineskin" that has increasingly become no longer appropriate or sustainable in the modern era. On a more practical level, any form of denominational affiliation costs us in terms of extra expenses (such as assessments), exorbitant compliance costs related to standards and regulations that are meant for larger, conventional congregations, and loss of our "4S" capacity (self-governance, self-propagation, self-support, and self-theologizing).

We are, however, not isolationists and are open to cooperation and collaboration with other churches and mission organizations as an equal partner, provided that such a relationship will not create any spiritual, financial, legal, or other entanglement. 

Leadership development

Another area of future focus is on developing leadership as our community grows. The process for leadership development must be accessible to all who are called. For too long, denominations functioned as gatekeepers as they imposed requirements that had little or nothing to do with one's leadership abilities or spiritual state, and now they are seeing a shortage of ministers, pastors, or priests. For the time being, we make use of the existing resources available, such as Christian Leaders Institute, but eventually, we hope to introduce a mentorship-based leadership training pathway that is built on top of these existing learning opportunities.