Why Did We Start Seeds and Water?

The first promptings of our mission and organization began many years ago when my wife/co-pastor Karrie brought up 1 Corinthians 3: 6-7, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

She read it to me and said, “I don’t know why but I felt like God wanted me to read this verse to you and that you need to remember it.” Then she actually went out and purchased our first Seeds and Water web domain, “just in case”. For a few years, we used this domain as a place to share photos, thoughts, and experiences for our church’s work with refugees.

At the time, I wasn’t real happy with God. I was in the midst of a 10 year desert-like, dark night of the soul, life experience. I spent most of my 30’s angry, questioning, and doubting God. I also spent most of my 30’s starting and pastoring a church. Go figure.

A year or so after Karrie shared this verse and name idea with me, Kevin and his wife Becky became members of our church and became part of our discipleship huddles. Kevin, a fellow entrepreneurial personality, kept saying, “We need to get this stuff out there. More people need to hear about this perspective on faith and Christ. More people need to experience this.”

I remember saying to him at the time, “Man, I’ve got nothing in my tank for something new.” And I also remember doubting it. My faith and confidence were really struggling.

In 2020, after years of darkness and depression, I felt the spiritual and emotional clouds part. I had energy, vision, and excitement for what Karrie had planted and what Kevin had watered. Kevin and I began meeting weekly to brainstorm, discern, and pray over what God was forming.

For years, our church in Maryland tried to strip away all the religious junk, power structures, political bullshit, and exclusive belief statements and practices so that people could encounter an unvarnished historical Jesus. And we knew more people needed to experience a better understanding of Jesus and a more restorative and inclusive experience with faith.

We knew we wanted to serve people who were struggling with their faith, recovering from religious trauma, or experiencing darkness and doubt. We started referring to this people group as “spiritual refugees”.

We invited a group of spiritual refugees to help us form our mission, culture, values, and communication style through the leadership of one of our founding board members, Shala Graham (who is awesome). We knew their fingerprints and influence needed to be all over this organization.

And at the beginning of 2021, we launched. We started producing content and experiences. We started serving and connecting with spiritual refugees all over the country. We believe our culture is really good news (scroll down to Our Culture section) and we are excited and hopeful for the future!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share more…

Part 2 - What Does Seeds and Water Do Now?

Part 3 - What Are We Dreaming About Next?