Building a Shared Resource for the ISM: Looking Back, Moving Forward

My sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ,

As Christmas draws near, I want to pause and offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone who reads, shares, and returns to IndependentSacramental.org. When I first began this website, I could not have imagined how many people would find it helpful—or how much the project would grow. Your messages, and encouragement turned what began as a personal attempt to make sense of the Independent Sacramental Movement into a shared resource for a wider community.

This site was born in a difficult season. I began working on it as I was at home on Christmas unable to attend liturgy because of the flu.  It was a time when I was also trying to sort through jurisdictions and lineages while having conversations and learning—sometimes slowly, sometimes painfully—what the landscape of independent sacramental life really looks like. I was searching for clarity and a way to organize what I was discovering. That search led naturally to the first major piece of the site: the directory. Once the directory existed, it became obvious that the ISM needed more than a list of names. It needed context, reflection, and accessible resources. From there, one page became two, then ten —each one an attempt to make the movement a little more understandable, and to help seekers find real communities rather than wandering alone.

Over the past year, I’ve sensed a shift in my own role. What started as research became responsibility. I’ve felt increasingly called not only to document the ISM, but to contribute to it—by building this website, gathering resources, and publishing materials that can serve clergy, laity, and those who are simply curious. I’m grateful for the way this work has become a kind of ministry in itself. And while I’m thankful for what has been accomplished, I’m also more aware than ever that there is still much more to do.

The ISM needs deeper, clearer, more accessible resources for faith formation—resources that help people grow as disciples, not merely identify with a label. We need better formation pathways for clergy as well: training that cultivates spiritual maturity, theological depth, healthy pastoral skills, and accountability rooted in the Gospel rather than personality or power. We need resources that help tiny jurisdictions flourish without reinventing the wheel, and without isolating themselves from the wider Body of Christ.

We also need to keep working to tear down the walls that separate our jurisdictions. The Independent Sacramental Movement includes many streams, histories, and emphases, but the Spirit keeps drawing us toward something larger than our divisions. Collaboration does not require uniformity, but it does require humility, trust, and a willingness to recognize grace beyond our own circle. If we want the movement to mature, we must choose bridges over barriers, conversation over suspicion, and communion over competition.

I believe the ISM has an important role to play in the world right now. Many people today are looking again toward traditional forms of Christianity—toward liturgy, sacrament, creed, prayer, and a sense of rootedness. At the same time, many of those same seekers are wary of coercive authority, cynical about institutional power, and unconvinced by the myths of empires claiming to preserve truth by force. In this moment, we have an opportunity to serve as a bridge: to offer the riches of Christian tradition without demanding submission to fear-based control; to offer sacramental life without making people choose between conscience and belonging; to offer continuity with the historic faith while also meeting people honestly where they are.

We have much to offer: love, acceptance, inclusion, and pastoral tenderness—especially for those who have been wounded, excluded, or made to feel that God’s table is not for them. But we also have a responsibility to remain anchored. Inclusion is not a substitute for the Gospel; it is one of the fruits of the Gospel. We cannot allow identity politics—of any kind—to eclipse the central truths of the Christian faith. The heart of our life is still Christ: crucified and risen, present in Word and sacrament, calling us into holiness, charity, and communion. If the movement is to endure and bear fruit, it must be both open-hearted and deeply rooted.

So as we approach Christmas, I simply want to say thank you—for reading, for participating, for supporting this work, and for being part of this ongoing conversation. May you have a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the profound mystery of the Incarnation: that God has drawn near, taken flesh, and entered the human story—not to dominate it, but to redeem it.

Merry Christmas, and may the peace of Christ be with you.

Peace,

Ben