Origin Story

How I Participated in Building and Destroying the Most Beautiful Church

Seven years ago, we set out to create a church-based non-profit that would revolutionize ministry in one neighborhood. Abusive leadership and an extremely toxic environment led me to step away. After I left, there was an epic implosion. But things were not always like that. There were incredible moments of growth and excitement as we eagerly participated in what God was doing through our ministry. Before things were lit aflame, there was a dream and a desire to build something beautiful. One of the questions I wrestle with is can something so destructive also have been good? Do I toss everything we did out because it is tainted or is there some way to live in the tension?

Let’s start back in 2013. My friend and I were driving from Denver to Lincoln, Nebraska to watch a football game. During the drive we started dreaming about ministry ideas. He was a pastor who had a passion for urban churches and men who were reentering. I was in the non-profit sector and was passionate about youth development. We dreamed about a church that would redeem the hurt we had experienced and would welcome those who needed second and third chances. We dreamed about youth programs that were less about retreats and camps and more about relationships.

It was all a dream until 2014 when my friend (who also ended up being my best man in my wedding) was offered an opportunity to pastor an urban church in Indianapolis that was resourced by a very large suburban church. It was the very opportunity that my friend had been praying for. My wife and I had also talked about moving away from Denver, possibly to be a part of a new church with our friends. A month after he settled into his role in Indianapolis, we talked and I said that we were considering moving there. He told me not to come because the poverty was worse in Indianapolis and there weren’t many opportunities compared to Denver. I told him we weren’t looking for somewhere to vacation. We wanted to be part of something big that God was doing.

A few weeks later, my wife and I had both landed interviews with organizations in Indianapolis. We flew in for a weekend to interview and look for a house. We also attended the church for the first time and immediately fell in love. It was the most incredible sight. There were people of all different backgrounds worshipping together. There were no lights, no band, no set on stage. The music was played off someone’s computer over the sound system and words were projected on a screen that people could barely read. But it was still beautiful. Everyone there greeted us like we were already family. That morning was also baby dedication. We loved that place so much that we decided to dedicate our two-month-old in a church that we weren’t even a part of yet. We just knew that if our child was going to be dedicated anywhere, we wanted it to be there.

Four weeks later we packed up our little Denver apartment and moved cross-country to Indianapolis. We both landed jobs in the non-profit sector and we bought a house (yay for being able to afford a house). Most importantly, we made that church our home. For one year we were just part of the life of the church. We slowly got to know people and started serving in youth ministry and joined a small group. The church was slowly growing too. There were about 50 people attending when we first visited. Toward the end of that first year, we were closer to 80.

My friend and I would meet frequently and talk about our jobs. He was eager to start doing some community development work and was energized by an opportunity to renovate an abandoned house and turn it into a reentry home for men. I was still as passionate as ever about youth, but my current role was all fundraising.

In February 2016, he told me that he had a new idea. He wanted to hire me to help start an afterschool program and help him establish a non-profit that would be based out of the church. He showed me a model that used the power of play to help kids overcome trauma. We schemed about how a program could be built around that model and then he presented the plan to the large suburban church. Incredibly, they funded the idea for the first year!

I still remember getting the call the day it was approved. He was calling to offer me a job. I would be the first full-time employee of the church-based non-profit! All we had to do was actually create the non-profit…