Part Three: As You Continue
Looking Beyond Ourselves
A healthy fellowship should not become concerned only with itself. As we grow together in Christ, we are also called to bear witness to Him through our words, our lives, our love, and our service.
Remain attentive to people around you who may be searching, questioning, or open to hearing the hope of the Gospel. This does not require a program or a particular style of evangelism. Faithful witness may sometimes be deliberate and visible, and at other times quiet and personal. It begins with Christians willing to speak of Christ faithfully, welcome others graciously, and love them well.
If Your Fellowship May Not Stay the Same People
Some fellowships gather in places where people are always moving on, such as a campus, a season abroad, or a posting that will end. If that describes yours, it is worth thinking about continuity sooner rather than later. The companion guide The Proximity Fellowship Seasons of Transience offers guidance for shared responsibility, healthy handover, changing seasons, faithful endings, and continuity without unnecessary dependence upon one person.
Questions of Practice
Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, spiritual gifts, elders, and leadership are among matters where Proximity gives guidance while leaving substantial room for Christian conviction, conscience, and local practice. Marriage and marriage blessing are different. The Charter establishes a constitutional boundary for public Framework practice: a Proximity Fellowship receives Christian marriage as the covenantal union of one man and one woman and does not perform, bless, celebrate, or present a union outside that boundary as Christian marriage under the Proximity name. A Participant may hold a differing personal conviction without that difference by itself excluding the person from ordinary fellowship. The Proximity Fellowship: A Guide to Christian Practices provides the fuller practical and pastoral treatment of these subjects.
Who Stands Behind This
At present, Proximity Fellowship is stewarded by Michael Lin, its initiator. He is responsible for maintaining ProximityFellowship.org and the public resources of the Framework, together with the practical work required to keep them available. This present arrangement is not intended to become permanent personal control.
As the Framework matures, stewardship is intended to become more shared, transparent, and capable of continuing beyond its original initiator. Over time, others may be invited to share in this work as volunteers, helping to care for the resources and practical responsibilities of the Framework. No human being should become indispensable.
Proximity Fellowship is not presently an insured or incorporated organization. Local fellowships remain responsible for the ordinary care and safety appropriate to their gatherings, including their own arrangements for insurance where relevant.
A Simple Beginning
If you’re wondering whether you can start, the answer is simpler than you might think. Ask a few Christians if they’d like to meet. Choose a time. Choose a place. Begin. You can learn the rest as you go.
Begin faithfully. Begin humbly. Begin near.
Christ is the Head.
Scripture is the norm.
No human being is indispensable.
This is v1.0 of The Proximity Fellowship Quick Starter, dated August 31, 2026. As companion guidance beneath The Proximity Fellowship Charter, this Quick Starter may be refined openly as experience brings greater clarity or wisdom. Such refinements cannot amend the Charter or create new Constitutional Requirements. Where an apparent conflict exists, the Charter governs.
Questions, concerns, or suggestions are always welcome at info@proximityfellowship.org. The Proximity Fellowship Charter and the companion guides are available at proximityfellowship.org.
This resource may be freely downloaded, printed, and shared for the life and practice of Proximity Fellowship. The text may not be modified, Proximity Fellowship attribution may not be removed, sections may not be incorporated into another publication, and printed copies may not be sold, except with prior written permission from Proximity Fellowship.
Digital Resources
Publication links – not part of this publication’s text.
Read Online
- Proximity Fellowship Website
- The Proximity Fellowship Charter
- The Proximity Fellowship Quick Starter
- The Proximity Fellowship: A Guide to Christian Practices
- The Proximity Fellowship Seasons of Transience
Downloads
Download the Proximity Fellowship Charter
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Download the Quick Starter
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Download A Guide to Christian Practices
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Download Seasons of Transience
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Contact: info@proximityfellowship.org