What Does Seeds and Water Do?
I used to be a Student Ministry Pastor and one of the most common and hilarious questions I was routinely asked from newcomers to our church or people unfamiliar with pastoral world: What do you do all day? I remember one person thought I spent my days playing video games as some sort of skill-honing exercise to help me maintain my cool factor and be able to “hang” with teenagers. I still laugh about that conversation.
A good friend of mine asked a similar question of Seeds and Water recently: What does Seeds and Water do right now? It’s a fantastic question. How about a year-end Top 10 list of Seeds and Water activities, habits, and influences?
Nobody works full-time for Seeds and Water Collective. My primary partner in this venture, Board Member Kevin Berry, is a volunteer. Our entire Board of Directors are volunteers. I have a full-time job with Christian Theological Seminary (CTS) in Indianapolis, IN. Board Member, former co-pastor at Restore Church, and my talented wife Karrie, is finishing her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at CTS. She begins serving clients in January.
Kevin is amazing. He’s a seasoned pro in the Organizational Development world and his vision, strategic mind, and faith have been an immense blessing to what we are building. Checkout his LinkedIn page. Fun fact about Kevin. He works part-time for a baseball agency (Culture 39) and you might see some of their clients in Major League Baseball soon.
We provide free pastoral and spiritual care and this year, our engagement in this area has almost tripled. In 2022, we provided care and guidance to 18 people. 11 months into 2023, we have served 53 people. What’s been most interesting is of those 53 people, 35 of them are pastors or elders in their churches. We are discovering that many pastors and church leaders are fearful of taking their doubts, pain, and difficult questions to people or other leaders in their church. Not only are we in the midst of a church participation exodus, pastors are also leaving at historically high rates. We desire to meet them, support them, and serve them well.
Which leads to another habit and activity in Seeds and Water: we are actively dismantling toxic ideas, hurtful perceptions of Christ, and exclusive and legalistic beliefs. We are sharing a more hopeful, freeing, and historically faithful picture of Christ and Christian community. We do this in our one-on-one conversations with spiritual refugees and also…
We do this through our Facebook and Instagram pages, blog posts, and weekly email to our subscribers. We’ve even dabbled on Youtube with some specific series. Another avenue we just started exploring is doing this through text messaging as this is more personal and relational, an important part of our strategy. If you’re interested in receiving 3-4 text messages a month, you can text me at 301-801-5714. I would LOVE to connect with you!
We have also been actively coaching and consulting for non-profits and leaders and this year we’ve seen these opportunities grow as well. Last year, we coached one organization. This year we have coached/consulted for 6 organizations. We love helping leaders and organizations move into a place of health, sustainability, and impact. Checkout two of our most recent clients: The Fuller Center for Housing and BLOC Ministries (expanding from Cincinnati into Louisville).
Building intentionally. We’ve done this from the start. Recently, I heard of this book and read a summation of it. I thought, “Hey, that’s exactly how we are doing it!” We felt pretty good about it. Building something healthy and impactful is slow, methodical, careful work.
We are constantly asking ourselves, how do we build our community and impact through relational means? We want every person who encounters Seeds and Water to feel seen, heard, accepted, loved, and empowered. This can only happen through relationship.
We are studying, thinking, and praying about the future. Two of the best books I’ve read this year have been a great influence. I’ve read this one multiple times over the past 5 years. And read this gem over the summer, which accurately describes this cultural moment we are in. Although, his solutions and actions didn’t resonate with me.
We’re dreaming about 2030 and beyond and I look forward to sharing some of these futuristic ideas, hopes, and prayers next week.