I may have just experienced two of the most remarkable gatherings of my life this past weekend.
The first meeting I assumed would be the culmination of almost one year of navigating a new client relationship, one completely unsolicited on my part.
The party had represented an out of state group previously unknown to me and had come by way of an introduction from another third party whom I had met only once through a prior deal. This "networking" however had begun to feel somewhat divine, as you will see.
I was chosen because of my spiritual orientation, as well as my relationship with Moravians in Forsyth County. The group had assembled from within in the two Carlolinas, international in their composition and driven by a common vision.
Their focus was a rebirthing of what the early Moravians had also set out to build, a true Christ-centric community. Interesting also, the large tract they were focused upon had originally been part of a purchase by the Moravians of Salem, though in another part of the state.
My client group seemed a little strange in their approach, though frankly in keeping with this somewhat destabilizing moment now rippling through numerous churches and denominations. It seems that younger leaders are now stepping away from the traditional approach to congregational development, forcing significant cultural shifts, if institutional religion is to survive.
The Body of Christ seems to be in another one of those historically transformational moments, occuring about every 500 years! If you have kept up with my writing since 2009, it was first described to me as "foreclosure" in a prayerful moment on December 28th, 2008.
All this is more positive than it may sound, as I believe spiritual assets are now being returned, even cashed out, with resources finding their way back from the grasp of institutional religion, and into the hands of those more truly aligned with The Christ of God.Â
That still sounds harsh to this Boomer churchman, but one cannot deny the prevailing data of late! Yes, I know I'm sounding a little bizarre even to myself, but just keep reading.
What made our long planned Saturday gathering even more interesting, was that another party had emerged about 60 days after this planned gathering, and had put the property under a Due Diligence process.
Unfortunately, though the property had been on the market for some months, while my client group had worked hard to raise sufficient funds for a reasonable cash offer, this other party, out of the blue had put it under contract.
I inquired of the seller agent as to the intended purpose for her new buyers. As she described the buyers to the best of her knowledge, they being represented by another agent, my immediate response was "that sounds like my client!"
Of course, the contract was under a different name and from a group far north of our state. It seems they had only recently found out about this tract, now long listed on the internet.
In fact, my client had only learned about it by way of a party out of the Czech Republic who too had seen it on-line.
I had recommended that my client do a back up offer, though still puzzled by the parallel intent behind the offer now under contract. We even asked the seller agent to share our openess to the idea of a partnership, if it should in fact go to close.
My client had continued their prayerful pursuit and asked that we still meet as scheduled earlier, and with a local friend, one with deep Moravian roots, his ancestors preceeding even the settlement of Salem.
At that Saturday meeting it was shared that the property had in fact closed the past Thursday, with the new owner supposedly on site for the weekend. They had asked for a meeting and I was invited to show up.
I had left home early Sunday morning, and when I walked in, the group was already chattering as if they were old acquaintances, so much so that I had trouble differentiating my client party from the others, as this was my first time meeting the entire group in one setting.
That was the remarkable piece, there we all were, twelve adults, along with four children all in one of the abandoned houses on the large tract.
You would have thought that the group was a reunion of like minds from another previous venture, in some planned spiritual regathering!
Introductions were made, gifts exchanged and vision shared. A prayer meeting then ensued with prophetic statements shared by multiple individuals, now with even broader international origin.
We then went to the center of the property based upon a survey map in hand, with the two once competing buyer groups declaring themselves in partnership as stewards of the land.
A zoom call is planned for strategic planning in the days ahead!
Surreal Estate at its best!"