Airport Hubs

American Nations was one of the key ideas that came into the discernment process to try and find good soil for where we are trying to head next. Another key element we began to hone in on came when I visited Leif Hetland for a day and spent and afternoon processing with him about the next season. Leif has been a friend for a number of years and we connected a few times in really powerful ways during the discernment process to leave TVC. I had a speaking engagement already booked a few hours from where he lives and so I decided to head down a day early and spend an afternoon with him - something he was gracious to offer to me.

As Leif and I talked about and processed the road God had me on, he shared quite a bit about the development of his own ministry and the road God brought him through. At one point a number of years ago he went through a similar pivot - disengaging from the local church he was a part of and relocating to start a new season. As we talked, he shared that his criteria for moving were:

1. It had to be a place that his family wanted to live.
2. It had to be a major airline hub.
3. It had to have kingdom local church he could plug into.

Sorting through the places that met those options led them to the city he lives (and flourishes in) to this day.

As I listened to his criteria and thought through them, it seemed to me that the first factor definitely applied to us: I wanted to live in a place we liked as well! The third factor seemed to be less of a factor for us: the goal is to build a church, so we've got that covered. The second factor I found interesting though: airline hubs wasn't something I had thought much about, so I asked Leif about that.

Leif shared the difference between trying to travel out from an airline hub contrasted with a connecting airport and the difference that has made for his international ministry. As he did, I felt the Lord tapping me on the shoulder a bit: pay attention. I knew he was nudging me to take seriously that I am called to have a translocal (global) calling, and that travel will be a part of that moving forwards. Getting in and out of Champaign the last number of years has been a total headache: I can't tell you how many delayed flights I've had with the connection back home, and it's always been a hassle. The idea that many locations wouldn't have a connecting flight at all at a hub airport sounds amazing, and strategically important. On top of that, travel would not only be faster, but cheaper too. As we moved forward looking at specific places, this became one of the criteria we looked into.

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Airline Hubs

There are three major US airlines, American, United, and Delta. Of these three, American is the largest and the one I have flown with the most so far (I have priority status, which is a nice perk). I would be willing to switch to a different airline for this decision though, so lets look at the different options for each of these airlines:

Now, let's combine together the American Nations information and this information. Here are the airport hubs in the two best looking American Nations options:

El Norte (1st place)

• Phoenix
• Los Angeles

Far West (2nd place)

• Denver
• Salt Lake City

Wow, this is a much narrower list! Of each of these cities, here are some of my immediate contextual thoughts:

Phoenix: Hmmm...I don't really know a ton about Phoenix. Probably need to explore that.

Los Angeles: Wow...I can't imagine trying to navigate the traffic to fly out of LAX. I don't think I want to live in a city that large...

Denver: Interesting idea and beautiful city! This is already the place of residence of Jay Pathak, the soon-to-be-installed Vineyard National Director, and that means Denver is about to become the hub for a bunch of Vineyard USA stuff. Is experimenting in the context of all of that going to be helpful? I suspect not - instead I'd bet that'll result in lots of other activities and things that will pull away from this trajectory.

Salt Lake City: Mormon capital? I think I'd really need to hear God to go to that one, and so far I'm not hearing anything about that.

As you can see, Phoenix is starting to look like an option we should be exploring. So far it has the right combination of regional culture and airport accessibility. Let's keep looking deeper.