I am frequently asked about the mission of The Fellowship of Ailbe: What are you hoping to accomplish? What is your goal?

It is now a little over five years since this effort began. We have lurched around a bit, looking for appropriate paths and trying various ministry vehicles. At times we have been becalmed, pleading with God for a fresh breeze of His Spirit. At other times it has seemed all we could to keep up with the Spirit's energy as He urged us forward. At present, the sails of our little coracle of faith seem to be filling nicely with the steady wind of God's Spirit, and all hands are learning to row according to our individual gifts and abilities.

We are, as the masthead of our website declares, "A spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition." In our thrice-weekly newsletter, Crosfigell, as well as in our weekly column, The Scriptorium, we seek to put before readers various aspects of that tradition which we find to be worthy of our attention - topics, perspectives, examples, and formats which are useful today, even after some 1500 years, for aiding our own journey toward the horizon of God's Kingdom.

We have also sought to bring forward emphases from this period which have manifested themselves in other places and times as well, thus suggesting their abiding importance for the life of faith. So we feature daily columns meditating on the Law of God and helping readers learn to pray the psalms. We offer stories and poems, as well as psalms to sing, because we understand that human beings are spiritual and aesthetic creatures and learn from participating in various disciplines and forms of the arts. We are planning more such offerings in the days to come.

Celtic Christians were famous for their missionary endeavors and disciple-making activities. We seek to emulate them here as well. Each of our Members sustains an active outreach of making disciples, among both the lost and the redeemed; and we offer various ways for those seeking additional mentoring and spiritual development to engage our Members in friendships, courses, personal discipling, and the like.

We offer publications - free and for sale - which support our mission, just as the Celtic Christians made good use of pen and vellum to further their own mission of renewing the Church and awakening the larger culture.

And we work hard at nurturing friendships among our Members, with interested readers and pastors, and with those who support our efforts in prayer and with their gifts.

If I had to subsume all these efforts into a larger, overarching theme, I'd say what we're trying to do is bring into being a kind of Republic of the Spirit, an interdenominational, international fellowship of soul friends, committed to mutual edification and the renewal of the Church. Like the "Republic of Letters" which Erasmus forged in the 16th century, our effort means to generate much dialog, mutual edification, enlisting of others, creating resources, and providing opportunities for equipping the saints and building-up the Body of Christ, all for the sake of advancing Jesus' rule of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit, on earth as it is in heaven (Rom. 14.17, 18; Matt. 6.10, 33).

In the year to come readers may, therefore, expect more of the same from us: More to read, more opportunties for training, discipleship, and making friends; more resources; and all with an appreciation of our Celtic and Christian heritage.

But look for new endeavors as well: The beginnings of an effort at pastoral training, available at no cost and at three levels of difficulty (March); the publication of an epic "Theology of Evil" in verse form (March), as well as at least one additional book of stories and poems (pray for Jess); the near-doubling of our Membership ranks and, thus, the addition of new writers for our website; a growing network of friends and co-laborers; an increased emphasis on extraordinary prayer for revival; and the first on-site training in aspects of the Celtic Christian heritage, here at The Ailbe Center in Hamilton, VA.

So we need your prayers to uphold our efforts. Are you a part of this growing Republic of the Spirit? My hope for the coming year is that you will consciously decide to engage with us in our mission to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in the light of His Word, the power of His Spirit, and the example of saints and sages from our Christian past, in particular, from the period of the Celtic Revival.

Let us hear from you. How can we serve your needs? How would you like to become involved? How can we pray for you?

The motto of The Fellowship of Ailbe is amail tainich an Procutoir naomtha - "just like the Holy Procurator of old." As the Spirit of God, that Holy Procurator of old, marshalls resources, knits the spirits of the members of Christ's Body, and equips members and Body alike for ministry by the Word of the Lord, so we intend to serve one another in this Republic of the Spirit. We are all procurators of God's grace for one another's needs, and we would count it a privilege to serve you in the year to come.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Principal Procurator, The Fellowship of Ailbe