Emerging Immersion

Immersion: To plunge into. To surround or cover. To engross. To absorb.

This word has been reverberating in my heart lately as well as teaching me new and amazing lessons. Ten years ago, I spent my time on the western slope of the Cascade Mountains near Seattle, WA in a “wilderness immersion program.” While part of that community, I came alive. It wasn't a religious organization but I soon found my faith reignited and awakened a greater sense of calling in my life. It was more real than anything I’ve experienced in my 30 years of being in the church. Quite simply, this way of living and being had become absorbed into my heart, my body and my spirit. The week prior to my graduation, Jon Young the school's founder, shared with us his vision: that there would be an immersion program in every community. 

This vision got me thinking about Jesus, his disciples and the great commission.


In the Gospels, we’ve long understood that Jesus called his disciples to form community, what we haven’t always understood was just what that process looked like. In reading the Gospels, I see very clearly what Jesus was doing was giving his disciples an immersion experience. They didn’t just talk about the Torah without living it and they didn’t just live it without talking about it. What was happening was they were experiencing and practicing Torah in a way that hadn’t been before. An “invisible” school was taking place, quite deliberately, and in the process they began living out the Torah in a way that made it and them come alive! As a result, the disciples and followers were absorbed into Jesus’ way of being.

The immersion model is essentially one of self-discovery, whereby the instructor or mentor guides the student by asking edge-stretching questions that nurtures self-sufficiency, curiosity and fascination. This is the true wisdom found in immersion programs, the school remains “hidden” within the community’s life together.

This is integral to how we live out Jesus’ command to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:18). We immerse them in an invisible school of love, mercy, grace, peace and justice. We haven’t been very good at making disciples. We haven’t been very good at immersing ourselves and others into this way of being alive. We believe that the immersion of our baptism is enough. So it begs the question… What might an immersion program look like in the church today? 

I would have answered that question differently a decade ago but that hope still lives in me. I've come to believe that all history and institutions wax and wane in various capacities. The modern focus of the North American Church seems to be that of a thrivent institution. That focus appears to be crumbling before us and perhaps charting a course for us to reimagine what an exodus might look like. If that is the case, then I believe it may very well look like the journey Jesus took his disciples on... an immersion experience.