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Transitions: Making Your Departure From JPUSA

Jesus People USA Evangelical Covenant Church

May 12, 1998

The following document was written in May of 1998, and was part of a concerted attempt by JPUSA members and leaders to help ease the process of moving out of our community for those wishing to leave. The document's authors were members of JPUSA's Transitions Committee, formed in April of 1998 to meet with married couples and long-term single JPUSA members whose journey was taking them elsewhere to serve God. We hoped and believed that this committee and document would provide us with some tools for nurturing both the departing individual and the community of us left behind. Those prayers seemed, overall, to be answered. (See our First Quarter 1999 Transitions Committee Report.)

This document is written specifically for individuals holding full Jesus People USA (JPUSA) membership who have decided to leave JPUSA. A “full member” is someone who has lived with JPUSA for at least one year and who has signed The JPUSA Covenant. This document does not deal with members who have been asked to leave by JPUSA for moral or doctrinal reasons, or for “provisional” JPUSA members.[1]

We want to provide you with guidance as far as our mutual responsibility toward one another up until the day you do leave. Nothing in this document should be interpreted as an attempt to cause you to “change your mind” about your decision. Rather, we want to provide you with as clear a picture as possible about the journey you are about to embark upon.

Sections from The JPUSA Covenant on individuals ending their JPUSA membership

Following are some pertinent sections from the JPUSA Covenant, which you signed upon becoming a member of Jesus People USA:

Any individual may end his or her membership and leave the community at any time. We encourage anyone wishing to do so to communicate with older members of the community as to his or her reasons, not so we can ‘convince’ him or her to stay, but so that we can together pray over God’s continuing will. As that person’s Christian family, and as friends who have lived and learned together, we want to be honest and open even in a time that may be taking us different directions.

And, regarding financial matters:

We are cautious in accepting a member’s assets, as it’s impossible to give them back once they’ve been used by the community. While members may terminate their membership and leave the community at any time, upon leaving a member may not take back assets which he or she turned over to the community. Also, JPUSA may elect at its discretion to help a leaving member in whatever way the council feels the ministry can and should at that time.

Some Beginning Thoughts You have decided to leave and wonder what to do next. It is in this phase of planning that often, no matter how good one’s intentions, some friction may show up between yourself and the community at large. There are some sensible reasons for this. First, your life is taking a different course than our collective life. You may feel the pain of separating emotionally and mentally well before you walk out the door. Let us assure you, we too feel the pain of separation. The goal here for us is to support you in your right to decide for yourself what your life story is going to be. Hopefully you will also respect us, who have chosen our story, even while you have chosen differently.

Second, you will certainly feel anxious about all the physical and logistical details surrounding your departure from JPUSA. Setting up a timetable for departure becomes very important, but requires a lot of specific knowledge: Where am I going? How will I provide for myself and/or my family? What kind of home can I afford? How do I transition from one highly supportive environment (JPUSA) to other support systems (school, church, friends, and family)? Some leaving members have never, for instance, attended any church other than ours or sent their children to a public school.

Third, every individual is unique in her/his reasons for leaving. Those transitioning out of JPUSA often find the normal inconveniences and necessary adjustments less tolerable than do those who are staying. It is possible to “take things personally” when you know your neighbors are aware of your plans to depart. We’re not saying that we always deal perfectly with the stresses of another’s departure. This increasing tension factor between the person departing and those of us left behind seems to be built right into the transitional process.

For all these reasons, we have created a process that is intended to help you in planning and accomplishing your departure from JPUSA.

Helpful Questions Following is a list of major concerns that face leaving members:

What housing is available where you’re going? What’s the best way to conserve your housing dollar?
What jobs are available in the area? Do you have a skill that is in some demand? Are there “entry level” jobs you can get?
What churches or fellowships are available in the area? Not only is going to church a biblical requirement, it is also the best way to quickly meet new friends and become known in your new community. Does your new community have a church directory?
What about school for my kids? Can you home school? Is there a Christian school nearby? How about a safe public school?
What about taxes? Have you ever filled out a 1040 form? Did you know federal and state tax forms are separate? We strongly encourage you to make an appointment with Lois Jury, who handles JPUSA’s tax records.
What about setting up a banking / credit plan? How does credit work? What references and/or “collateral” do you need? What are the differences between “checking” and “savings” accounts?

Meeting with the Transitions Committee

As soon as an individual or couple decides to leave JPUSA, one of the first things they should do is put a note in the current Transitions Committee chairperson’s mailbox, requesting to meet. We will then contact you and set up a meeting time where we can more fully discuss your plans. It should be kept in mind that the decisions of the Transitions Committee are in the form of recommendations to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors needs to ratify those decisions in order for them to take effect. The Board also requests (but does not insist upon) the leaving members meet with the Board for mutual prayer at the member’s convenience.

The Importance of Date-Setting

Your continued friendship is important to us, during and after your departure. Yet often, the longer leaving folks remain, the more likely it is that they will find themselves feeling estranged from other JPUSA members. These tensions usually grow rather than diminish. For that reason, we ask that once you’ve decided to leave you do so as quickly as is feasible. Most single individuals depart on their own within days to weeks of their decision to leave. For married couples, however, the process is understandably more difficult.

Our guideline for a married couple without children wishing to depart is two months. A childless couple has twice the opportunity to find work and has no dependents to worry about. As a rule, then, that couple should plan on leaving within a two-month period unless special circumstances arise. Such circumstances can be discussed with the Transitions Committee.

Our guideline for a married couple with children is up to four months. Understandably, having dependents can significantly complicate the process of relocating. We provide the extra two months for that reason.

Along with JPUSA members who are asked to leave (see footnote 1), there are also a few other special cases dealt with solely by the JPUSA Board, e.g., one partner in a marriage who chooses to leave his/her spouse as well as the community. The Transitions Committee will not deal with these situations, which we believe require extra pastoral input.

Finally, we do ask that until you depart you continue to abide by our house rules. For instance, a leaving member may decide that moderate alcohol consumption is not a problem for him/her. We would ask that the person refrain from drinking any alcohol for the sake of our community’s stance on such matters, despite their own personal opinions. On this and even lesser matters of dress and decorum, we would ask that our community’s standards be respected.

Community Support

The JPUSA Covenant notes that we are not responsible to leaving members for any money or specific financial aid. At our discretion, we may help various ones leaving, and in fact always have helped by both providing room and board “rent free” while folks go job-hunting and so forth. There are parameters to how much we can help. The Transitions Committee will attempt to aid in planning for anyone who wants to discuss his or her budget for leaving.

Another way in which we want to help leaving couples is in continuing to provide “Mom’s List” needs and birthday money (the latter for children only, please!) as long as the couple is here. We cannot provide departing members with money for extraordinary expenses such as non-emergency dental work, additional eyeglasses, and so forth. We also request that folks don’t stockpile massive amounts of canned goods, toiletry items, and “Mom’s List” items for their eventual move, or ask for vacation money. Please realize that we’re trying hard to help you as we can while taking care of the needs of current JPUSA members.

All community-purchased tools and furnishings at JPUSA work places are the community’s and not the individual’s. If you have personally paid for a tool, please verify that with your work manager or overseer; in such a case you of course may keep the tool.

Business and/or ministry information that is stored either on paper or computer is the sole property of JPUSA and can in no way, shape, or form be taken by a leaving member. This information would include all databases, addresses, names, customer lists, phone numbers, stored text and/or spreadsheets. The removal of such information from JPUSA is, according to law, theft.

Personal effects are just that, including all items belonging to you and your family. This includes your personal furniture, books, shelves, clothes, computers, stereos, and so forth. We ask that all rooms be left “intact”; that is, with all molding, walls, baseboards, doorknobs, light-switch plates, flooring, window-framing, bathroom fixtures, and “built-in” loft beds, shelves, and medicine cabinets. In addition, if you remove the light fixture (such as in the case of a combination ceiling fan / light) we ask that you replace it with another light fixture capable of adequately lighting the room.

Our goal is to have a smooth transition and to minimize the stress between us as you prepare to go your way. If you have any questions or special needs, please discuss those with the Transitions Committee. Otherwise, we thank you for abiding by these guidelines.

Making the Move

Who will help you move? We would hope that your actual departure date would be one where friends say good-bye to friends. Maybe those on your floor could be asked to help you pack up. We again would hope that you might meet with the board of pastors to pray together one last time. We hope your final days here will be days of fondly remembering our shared community experience as well as looking toward the future with expectation.

Sincerely,

The Transitions Committee