Yesterday, I joined up with a bunch of lads who are all working in similar ministry contexts. There are, of course, differences between us. Some areas are more ethnically diverse than others, some are closer than others to major conurbations, some have more services for particular kinds of people than others. But all of them can be described, in some measure, as areas of deprivation.

I was set to thinking how helpful it can be to have fellowship with churches in similar contexts. Though we are not all necessarily geographically close, the issues in our particular contexts are more similar than many churches even just a mile or two down the road. It can be especially helpful to share the particular joys and struggles of the kind of ministry we do so that we can spur one another on and support each other practically. Some of us are doing better in some areas of ministry than others, so it helpful to be able to learn from each other wherever we can.

At the same time, I think there is value in having more localised fellowship too. Fellowship with churches who might not be in the same social context but who are nevertheless in the same (broad) geographical context. Whilst the issues in the respective churches might be significantly different and ministry might therefore need to look quite different, there are things that can be done together just because you are local that might not otherwise happen. I think geographical fellowship with likeminded churches has a really useful place too.

But then, there is some value in having fellowship with churches that are significantly different to you too. That is, they are neither contextually similar nor necessarily in your geographical locale. For starters, there is a lot you can learn from churches who operate differently to you in almost every conceivable way. Whether that is learning what wouldn’t work in your context or seeing things done, with the same aims, in such a significantly different way that you hadn’t thought to do it like that before. There are nevertheless practical things you can learn from one another even when you are seriously different.

But there is also the other grubby reality. Little churches in deprived places need fellowship with bigger (or, at least, richer) churches in more affluent places because without their support the deprived place could not support ongoing pastoral ministry. There are still things those two churches can learn from each other. Both churches will be rich in different ways. But fellowship together – even when your church is neither contextually, geographically or internally similar – is still really valuable in a host of different ways.

So, I thought it worth reflecting on those different kinds of fellowship you might have. How all have their place and come with some value. Even if the fellowship starts and ends at the level of both being in Christ and just getting on together as friends, there is value in that sort of fellowship too. We need it all I think.