It’s 2025: Welcome to Second Term!

Term two has begun at Act Five! As I write this, the house is ablaze with energy—people bustling about, packing, cleaning, and cooking as they prepare for their departure to El Salvador tomorrow morning with Resonate Global Mission. Staff are busy working on preparations for all that’s ahead: our Six Acts in Six Sessions lecture series, student placements, wilderness trips with Coldwater Canada, and classes. A handful of us are also headed to Thunder Bay this weekend for a Vision Trip with Living Hope Native Ministries. The happenings are many, and the anticipation is high as we live our days this week.

At the beginning of January each year, I invite students and residents into three themes that we get to practice living out in the months to come. Essentially, I say something along the lines of, “Over the next four months, we will lean further in, engage further out, and we will prepare you to leave.”

That final phrase often startles people. “Leave? But we just got here!” they tell me.

Act Five is a stop on the road for many. We prepare young adults for a rooted and engaged life in the world, as followers of Jesus. We also know that as this is a stop in the road, it is also our mandate to prepare young adults who find themselves in our community for life that awaits them beyond our community. And, we believe that God leads us step by step not usually by ideas or 10-step strategies, but most often by being present where we are and giving attention to the people and places around us, and the movement of the Spirit within us.

So, we prepare students and residents to leave Act Five in practical ways, yes – skill building and vocational discernment and placements and important learning and reflection. And more than this, we prepare students and residents to leave by leaning further in and engaging further out. We continue in the personal and community rhythms that hold us; we continue to make our home here while we are here. And, we look outside of ourselves. We lean into the neighbourhood more and bring the good of this place outward.

Here are some of the encouragements I offer to students and residents at the beginning of the second term each year. They may be of encouragement to you as well: 

• Community is a by-product. Community does not happen by pursuing community. Authentic community is formed as a by-product of pursuing something meaningful together. What is the thing we are pursuing together? 
• Let your ideals die. Nearly every community is born of a dream, an ideal, or a vision. The path of community formation is one of descending such a precipice and choosing to see the real contours of human experience. We must let go of our ideals and see the people around us as our people, the place around us as our place. In this we become firmly planted on earth, and able to love more fully. Surrendering our idealism allows us to experience more freedom, have increased capacity for joy, and potentially more of what we actually long for in our communities.
• Lean into mentorship. Take initiative with your mentor(s). Is there that habit or rhythm of life you’ve been wanting to seek accountability for or have someone walk with you in? A book you’ve been wanting to read alongside someone else? Questions you know you want to be asked? This is the space to do that – take advantage of it! 

I am really hopeful for the months ahead in this place. With all the anticipation I perceive around me for what is to come, I also sense a peace. There is an earnestness to our longing and our pursuit of the good and beautiful here. I trust that God is near, and I invite you to pray for us—as staff, students, residents, and our support team—as we traverse this next season.

To learn more about our Six Acts in Six Sessions lecture series coming up or to register, click here or check out the information below.