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Community Collaboration in Richmond
107 Plays12 days ago
Scott Overpeck is joined by Pastor Nathan Walton and Marti Williams to share about Richmond, Virginia. They reflect on how churches and nonprofits are collaborating, the importance of telling the truth, and how God is moving in Metro Richmond.
Nathan Walton (PhD, University of Virginia) is a pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and serves at East End Fellowship in Richmond, Virginia. He also hosts the East End Fellowship Podcast and is the author of the forthcoming book, "Embodying God's Multiethnic Kingdom: Live Out the Diversity of Heaven Every Day." As a graduate of Duke Divinity School and former board chair of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Nathan offers consulting, coaching, and trainings for faith-based organizations. He and his wife, Diamond, have two daughters and live in Richmond, Virginia.
Marti Williams has lived in the Metro Richmond, VA area her entire life and moved to Southern Barton Heights in Richmond’s Northside in 2005. Louis joined her as the other half of her pair (See Luke 10:1) after they married in December 2008. Since then, they have lived and served their beloved community in the Northside of Richmond, VA, for 20 years before moving to Midlothian, VA in December 2024. Marti has 20+ years of experience in retail and human resources management in Fortune 50, 100, and 500 companies. She’s the cofounder and president of Into The Neighborhood, a local 501c3 nonprofit, and is certified in Christian Community Development with CCDA, Certified BALM Family Recovery Life Coach and Facilitator, and has her certification with NonProfit Learning Point.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guests
00:00:09
Speaker
Hey, everybody, and welcome to the CCDA podcast. My name is Scott Overpeck. I'm the director of membership and conference at CCDA. and I am your host for this episode. Today, i am so excited that we get the opportunity to talk about the city of Richmond and the greater metropolitan Richmond area, and I've got some great guests joining me.
Into the Neighborhood and Community Work
00:00:28
Speaker
but We've got Pastor Nathan Walton and Marty Williams, and I just really love to take a couple of minutes and just ask them if they'd introduce themselves, share a little bit about their story, the work that they do, and just their their connection to the city.
00:00:42
Speaker
Marty, would you start us out? Sure. hi everyone. We are so excited to have you guys come into the Metro Richmond area or later on this year. We have a nonprofit called Into the Neighborhood and also a church called Life Transformation Church that is really geared towards our community as well as the recovery community for folks that are struggling with substance use disorder. And so we are going into really hard places. Richmond is the second largest recovery community in the United States. And so we are going to that community regularly doing a lot of listening, and working with them and in creating new programs and new things for them to do and inviting them into a micro church of Life Transformation Church to learn about things of God so that they can actually name their higher power as Jesus if they're willing to or if they're spiritually curious. They can also come There as well.
00:01:42
Speaker
My connection with CCDA is started in 2011. I had moved into the inner city of Richmond in 2005 and had learned a lot of things and had struggled with a lot of things and had a lot of questions to ask. And the immersion program was how I, Lewis and I both got involved in this and got completely immersed into the philosophy of CCDA and have done our best to implement that in our everyday walk around lives and through our ministry.
East End Fellowship and Community Development
00:02:13
Speaker
Great. Thank you for sharing. That's really cool. The immersion is such a cool experience. I got to do that and actually brings us to our next our next guest. Nathan, will you talk a little bit about the same things?
00:02:25
Speaker
Sure, sure, sure. So I'm Nathan Walton, service, co-hosting pastor of church called East End Fellowship in the East End of Richmond. Yeah, you know, as you mentioned immersion, that was one of my first really tactile and concrete experiences with CCDA. I was a part of the immersion training.
00:02:41
Speaker
Summer of 2018, Rise House began to lead a CCBA member nonprofit in the Charlottesville that was doing a lot of community development work and youth development work. and and then eventually I took this role as Holy Pastor at East End Bell Street, Richmond.
00:02:56
Speaker
And yeah to tell you a little bit about our community. so our church has been around. Actually, we're selling our celebrating our 20th year anniversary this year. It's really exciting. But you know it was launched nearly 20 years ago.
00:03:10
Speaker
In many ways, at at the recommendation of John Perkins, he actually was visiting Richman. and there are a number of folks who had either lived here or had moved here who had been influenced by just a lot of John Perkins' philosophy ministry and many of whom had visited Worcester Calvary and Mississippi.
00:03:25
Speaker
And he was here and he he noticed that there were a lot of folks who were doing really good and even faith-informed community development work, but did not have a centralizing kind of worshiping community where they were you know they're experiencing that expression of of faith together.
00:03:39
Speaker
as a worshiping body. So he made this suggestion and you know the rest is history. People kind of took it and ran with it. And so you know for 20 years, we've been you know a neighborhood-based ministry here in the East and trying to think deeply about and what does it mean to create space for people to and encounter Jesus, to experience spiritual family, to have kind of a grasp of what incarnational ministry can look like and what it means to to be embed yourself in your neighborhood, but also to ask deep questions about how you love your neighbors, especially those who are most proximate to you physically. And so we're you know trying to live that live that out. But one of the things that I appreciate both about CCDA and about our church as we had is there's an emphasis on recognizing that the church doesn't exist in isolation, but it's actually God isn't building a church so much as God's building a kingdom.
Collaboration in Richmond's Community
00:04:30
Speaker
And church is a huge part of that. But i think that that kind of approach to ultimately discipleship kind of positions us and other ministries to think about like how are we connect to other things that are promoting kingdom-building work in our communities that aren't necessarily explicitly churches, but actually a part of what what God is doing. So that's a lot of what we've been kind of shop with wrestling with and experiencing here at Eastern Fellowship and in the East End of Richmond, more specifically But I just decided to, yeah, have the conference come and um have people, you know, I think probably what's interesting is a lot of times there are folks in cities, not even just in terms of Richmond or the Richmond metro area, but in lots of cities that are already doing this type of work or may not necessarily have the connection to CCBA or the familiarity with the philosophy or even the resources to know that, one, they're not alone, but two, that, you know, there's ways that can be even deeper levels of independence with other people doing similar work. So excited to see that continue to increase here.
00:05:27
Speaker
that. And Nathan, one of the things that you said just really stuck out to me. I thought about it. and And it's something I think about a lot myself is like, sometimes when we talk about the holistic nature of the work, we talk about us doing more things or approaching more areas.
00:05:44
Speaker
But we could also connect more people who maybe traditionally haven't thought of themselves as, you know, Christian community developers, but they're doing meaningful, important things.
00:05:55
Speaker
and they And they can serve in that space, right? when you When you build those connections, when you build kind of that that rich tapestry of of organizations in a community working together,
00:06:07
Speaker
ah Whether that's the local businesses, the local educators, the local churches, but when they're all working together, then naturally holistic ministry is being done kind of organically through through just those connections of seeing the gaps between spaces, seeing the strengths and assets of the community kind of in that whole capacity. So I love that you that you tied in that, the importance of collaboration. I think that's so important.
00:06:33
Speaker
I mean, one thing is beautiful about that is that it gives us a lot of freedom, I'll say, because England isn't all on us as a church, but figure it all out. out But being holistic presupposes partnership in some way. yeah Yeah, that's good.
00:06:45
Speaker
that's ah That's good, man. ah we could We could spend all day on that. But I do want to talk a little bit about the city and and the and the metropolitan area and even the state. But what what really makes the area unique?
00:06:58
Speaker
And you know why should people come to the community? And and let's start kind of thinking through like from the CCD lens, the ministry lens. But then I want to get into some fun stuff, too. So so keep those in the back of your mind as you're thinking.
00:07:12
Speaker
I will say I wanted to throw to Marty because Marty's actually been here her whole whole whole life. I've only been here for four and a half years. I'm actually living here three and a half years, but working there for one and a half. But yeah, Marty, you want to kick us off? Yeah, I'll kick us off.
00:07:26
Speaker
You know, there's a lot of great things about the metropolitan area. Richmond is one of the two states, I think, that where... The counties and the cities are separate municipalities. And so one of the things that has been challenging is the fact that um folks see boundaries of the cities versus the counties where God sees all of it. He doesn't see those counties. And so what's what's been challenging is that those boundaries exist um from an earthly perspective, but not from God's perspective.
00:07:58
Speaker
And so one of the things that's so exciting is that in spite of those boundaries, there's a lot of great work happening between suburban and and urban together ah and walking alongside and a lot of great nonprofits that are doing amazing work.
00:08:15
Speaker
at the street level from an education perspective with with kids, with immigration and doing life skills as well as work skills with folks that are in immigration and a lot of great churches that are that are joining in those efforts. And it's just not the nonprofit, but it's a collaboration like we talked about before with the church and the nonprofits together going into challenging situations and bringing about the kingdom of God here on earth so that we don't have to wait till heaven to do that.
00:08:48
Speaker
um One of the things about Richmond that you'll see, and i'm I'm hoping that you'll be able to see this as well, is the the work that's happening among many of our pastors working through racial reconciliation together, bringing Black, Hispanic,
00:09:03
Speaker
white pastors together and really kind of struggling through some of the things that we're seeing and talking about it instead of sticking our our head in a hole and ignoring it and pretending like it doesn't exist. Do we have work to do? betcha.
00:09:17
Speaker
But that's where some of the great things that are happening already in an area where Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. And so from a historical perspective, we're we have a lot of things to lament and a lot of things to repent for and to move towards a more holistic approach to that, just as one example. That's great. That's great.
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah, um I definitely echo echo all that. I mean, I think one of things that i mentioned is earlier, one the things that struck me when first you know became more familiar with Richmond, even though from Virginia, was the fact that there's so many different initiatives, organizations, and and you know groups of people who are doing really, really good work, and specifically community development work.
00:09:59
Speaker
But I think what's what's been really beautiful about that has been the chances when I've seen where collaboration also happens because it's easy to do a lot of things and have a lot of people starting things, but to actually see people make you know solid attempts to work together. And I think it happens in at least two different ways, right? There are situations where like two groups are saying, hey,
00:10:19
Speaker
we realize we're doing similar things or we're doing top-mini work, let's collaborate. But there are also a number of different examples in our city of organizations that kind of function as hubs in some ways in terms of like they are the conveners for people to kind of to collaborate. Because a lot of times the individual organizations may not have all the capacity to like create all those settings and situations, but there's a number of different groups, both in terms of like groups that are helping to kind of push for more just general church unity, also groups that are pushing for church to collaborate with community organizing. There's just a number of different entities like that I think really helps to make to maketown that aspect of what's happening in Richmond a really thriving space.
00:10:58
Speaker
And I can even think about, you know, two weeks ago, I got an email from a pastor saying, hey, there's ah there's a group of us We're trying to get together you know a few few pastors to talk about how do we equip Christians in Richmond for nonviolent direct to action.
00:11:16
Speaker
Even in our current moment, all the things happening in our society. And then a week later, because they're trying to to schedule it, right? So we sit in our schedules. A week later, they say, hey, in the interim of us sending that first email, we actually learned up two other pastor groups who were asking questions.
00:11:32
Speaker
We're actually all going to convene together for this meeting. And to me, that was encouraging because it means, oh, somebody, a group once had an idea, but they realized other people were asking the same questions and they did not try to duplicate,
Richmond's Historical Significance and Reconciliation
00:11:43
Speaker
right? And so I think those types of examples give me a lot of hope about what can actually happen in Richmond because of the way people are willing to to work together. There's still opportunity for it, but that's been, to me, an encouraging sign.
00:11:54
Speaker
Yeah, good. Man, yeah. A lot of amazing things to learn in Richmond for for for the national audience as they come into the conference. That's amazing. So you guys, you guys, we've hung out a bit. So you've gotten to know me a little bit. So I'm going transition here. It's going to be a little bit of a hard pivot, but I want to know what's your favorite place to hang out for a good meal or drink?
00:12:19
Speaker
Where, where, where, where, do where are we going to go hang out when I come to town? Right. Gosh, this is hard. Richmond's a foodie town. What do you think? and You could, you could give me a couple spots. That's all right.
00:12:31
Speaker
Oh, I just went to this amazing taco spot. Yeah, I guess. i don't know if people aren't paying us for ads for this. But um well yes, TVT El Gallo. That's where he went. It was amazing. Let's talk about that. very a long time ah That's a leasing one.
00:12:44
Speaker
So one other one that's actually a block. ah i Yeah, basically a block come out where our church meets. um It's called Sol and Vinegar Black Honed Restaurants with some great food. So i would also shout them out.
00:12:57
Speaker
So if you do what they go and see at East End Fellowship, just go across. Actually, I'll probably get them to cater. There we go. So it's good to have that. There we go. Look at that. i'm already making plans. I love it. I love it.
00:13:08
Speaker
Marty, you got some recommendations for us? There are countless, right off the top of my head, right not not too far at all from the convention center is Mama J's. Mama J, have you been, Nathan? You you got this face. Where have I been? they're captives.
00:13:25
Speaker
We'll change your life. It might be a redemptive. We'll change your life. For real. Okay. Okay. See? And that's why we asked the question. Yeah. Catfish, the fried pork chop, the fried chicken, the collards, all of it.
00:13:38
Speaker
All of it is. Mac and cheese. Mac and cheese. You might need to pause this podcast so I can go get something to eat. Y'all making me hungry. Now you know where you want to go when you come next, right? Yeah. For sure. For sure.
00:13:51
Speaker
All right. So pivoting back to pivoting back now to serious stuff, right? We had to take a break, you know. guys know me. Finn is pretty serious. Finn is pretty serious. No, it is, yeah. Transformative, I think you said, right? Redemptive. Redemptive. That was the word you used. All of it. Yep, yep.
00:14:10
Speaker
But what are you guys most excited for for this year's conference? Obviously, as insiders on the local advisory team, you're in the conversations as we're dreaming and thinking. So what are you guys most excited? And it doesn't have to be about content because obviously it's early. But what are you most excited about right now?
00:14:30
Speaker
I mean, yeah, there are a lot of things I'm excited about. It's the first time it's coming Richmond. So that's that's one big thing. but But I think that there's a lot about, I mean, Richmond's a very historical city for a lot of different reasons.
00:14:45
Speaker
and And so I'm i'm i'm sure that that will that theme will come up, you know, a million times throughout the conference. The reason why I mention that is I think There's a way to think about history that is retrospective, and there's a way to think about history as ongoing, right? And and and so what I'm most excited about is that actually attendees being able to see themselves in that story, not necessarily a Richmond specifically, but erns understand, like, there's so much that happened before this moment, and we're not just ah casual observers, but, like, God actually has an invitation for us specifically to enter that story immediately.
00:15:15
Speaker
to be agents of redemption in that story. So i'm i'm out I mentioned this on one of the advisory team calls, but something that really moved me was the last conference where there was a moment where they you know they called up folks who had been a part of CCD work for a long time and then some newcomers to that work and had ah a prayer, in many ways a prayer of impartation and blessing for kind of the next generation.
00:15:38
Speaker
And to me, I... in my head In my head, I feel like that's microcosm of what I feel like a conference can be as a whole, where, yes, we're similar god is done obviously we're talking about what has happened historically, but we're all saying there's an active invitation for all people to come into this school to say, how can we be a part of what God is trying to to to bring about in our local communities? So I'm excited about people feeling empowered. It's like they have a place in the story of the future and feeling equipped to to engage in that more effectively.
00:16:08
Speaker
Yeah. I want to follow up on that a little. What what role do you think that at the conference being in Richmond during the 250-year anniversary of the United States plays? like how do how do How do you see that those ideas interplaying as you talked about history and you talked about, and Marty, earlier you mentioned that at one time it was the capital of the Confederacy.
00:16:30
Speaker
and maybe maybe i'm maybe ah Maybe I'm hitting sore spots here. you I don't know. but it it But it feels like there's something deep there, maybe. don't know. What you think, Mighty? this i I can jump in, but... You want some time to think about your answers. I threw a curveball. I know. I didn't prep you all for that one. it was fair that's That's a really great question, and it's not one that I've given a lot of thought to, but I do think the timing is really something, isn't it? And so what does God want to do during this time to redeem the past and create a new future at the same time? Yeah.
00:17:10
Speaker
Good. Yep. Yep. I think that's right. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Yeah, it raises a lot of questions, like good and good questions, good questions about possibility, honestly. like But I also think it forces us, and i think it's going to be a huge part conference too, it forces us to actually take full account, or as much as we can, of the actual history and recognizing that's all the only way we can make sense of kind of what our role is now.
00:17:33
Speaker
And yeah, I also ask the question of like, okay, so what about the next two and a half years? And what does it mean for us to not be bystanders, but to be activists? vessels and agents of what God wants to do here. And I feel like, you know, being able to contextualize it that way in terms how they store home on Wayne as a city, hopefully people can think about how do I apply that same kind framework and sensibility in my own city or in my own community.
00:17:59
Speaker
So, but that's going to look differently for every attendee and the application at least. It's interesting, Scott, with that question that there over the years, there have been a number of prophetic words spoken over our city, that one of which is that when you look at the history and some of the things that were done, that we were the entryway into the nation, bringing some definite sin markers and generational sin that entered into the to the United States.
00:18:30
Speaker
And so there's also been prophetic words that because we were the entryway and and the pathway for that, that we are also the pathway for for revival and reconciliation and restoration as well. And so I can't think of a better time for CCDVA to be here and potentially be a part of that and moving towards bringing that healing, not just to our city and our and our state, but to the nation as a whole.
Conference Theme: Behold and God's New Work
00:19:00
Speaker
oof think we might have just found the conference speaker, Marty. My goodness, that's a word right there. Let's see. Here we go. yeah now now I got to try to find my way back to my notes. Oh, that was really good. Thank you. There's there's a lot of media about 250, and just thinking about that has been on my mind a lot. So I just love hearing you guys' as you guys this thoughts. It's really good.
00:19:22
Speaker
So you know, this year, the theme is going to be Behold, based on ah Isaiah 4319.
00:19:28
Speaker
And so I just kind of want to talk, what does that what does that mean to you? As we start to think about fleshing that out for the conference and what we're going to be, what does that mean to you personally? What does that mean to your city, your community, the broader the broader metropolitan area, the state of Virginia?
00:19:44
Speaker
what are What are we thinking about right now as we think about this concept of behold in Isaiah 43, 19? Do you mind if I read the scripture? Please, please. yeah You're always allowed to read the Bible with me, I promise.
00:19:57
Speaker
um yeah right, so this is the ESV. Isaiah 43, 19 reads, Behold, i am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?
00:20:10
Speaker
i will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The thing that really comes to mind for me is that the part that talks about, i will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, and the whole idea to me that that is, it's symbolizing some of the the stuff of the past and the, just what we were talking about, right? That it's the,
00:20:36
Speaker
the brokenness that has existed in our past and exists in our future, but also where we're going, right? and And that there's hope there and that there's healing there. And I'm excited. And it puts all of the weight on God, right?
00:20:53
Speaker
Because it says, will make a way. That doesn't mean that we have to strive to do that. That doesn't mean we have to work our fingers to the bone to do that. We're doing that in cooperation with God, but he's doing the heavy lifting. And so we can sit back and behold, whoa, like this is what God is doing and we get to be a part of it.
00:21:18
Speaker
i love that. i love that. Yeah. And i love this elevus verse and something that makes me think a lot about is how there's so many people in our society who are really tired, really weary,
00:21:31
Speaker
some i mean discouraged, some disillusioned. And a lot of that is because of things that we do see. right like It's really easy to see the things around us that are broken or hard. and And so what strikes me about the verse is is count of two things. One, the fact that it's saying that we need to see that God is doing a new thing.
00:21:47
Speaker
But the other thing is the fact that it says now. Because it doesn't always feel like now is the moment God is doing something because we our gaze is often on the things that are hard.
00:21:58
Speaker
So I think One thing is it pushes us to do is say like, what does mean to actually have eyes to see what God is doing and to choose to believe that God is doing something, even when it looks like there's chaos all around us. Yes. Because easier to name it when things are going great. It's like, oh yeah, I can see the God doing this and that and that. But, you know, God is is actually always active.
00:22:18
Speaker
But i think it's a spiritual discipline to be able to to be willing to practice believing that and practice living in light of that truth. I feel like a lot of times truths feel theological more than experiential.
00:22:30
Speaker
And so what does it mean for us to move from just just by believing it to really living in an embodied way that reflects an affirmation that God is is actually doing something new?
00:22:40
Speaker
And I think it pushes us to think about the role of testimony and like the emotional sustainability of the work that we're all engaged in. Because we need to tell the story of what God is doing to help us and even know how to identify that.
00:22:52
Speaker
Because it can be easy even dismissed at things it's like, oh, that's a fluke or like that's a random thing. But in reality, that could be the hand of God. And that's the best a hand of God, then God actually is worthy of our praise in light of what God did versus us dismissing it because we're comparing it to what's broken in our world.
00:23:06
Speaker
and so And so I love the behold and I love the new and the now. Yeah, yeah. One of the things I've been reflecting a little bit on, and and it's actually really interesting, right before this verse was chosen, i was in central Florida with my family. My my mom and stepdad and a lot of my family live out there.
00:23:25
Speaker
And and we we did the springs, right? we And those the springs are famous places to go, right? In in Florida, you get to see all the wildlife. It's this constant temperature year round.
00:23:36
Speaker
And when you go to the springs, you The way that they kind of market it or talk about it is the idea is that you're getting into or onto the springs, right? But that's not actually true. You're getting onto a river that is fed by a spring. And when you look at this verse, it talks about so it talks about springs and then it talks about the rivers, right?
00:23:58
Speaker
You can't see a spring. a spring is underneath feeding springs. the river, right? It's this unseen element. And I think that that there's something there, and I don't know what it is, so I shouldn't have said it out loud because I started this sentence without knowing where it was going to land. But there's something there, this idea that underneath it all, something is happening that we can't quite see, but it's making the conditions that we're seeing, this the the the positive movements forward, the the collaborations that are happening, those moments of hope
00:24:33
Speaker
they're actually being fed by something much more powerful that we can't always notice or perceive. Do you not perceive as it springs forth? You don't oftentimes, right? But but there's something there that I think that that we need to lean into as people of God, that that that there's that there's this undercurrent that's coming, that's really, really powerful. And yet,
00:24:55
Speaker
It's just below the surface and we can't see it. And everything around us is being impacted by it. And yet all all we see is the alligator floating down the river next to us in the kayak. but But something is happening underneath the surface.
Resilience and Leadership in Richmond
00:25:08
Speaker
but we can't see it. And that's and and so so when it says behold, it's like behold this thing you can't quite understand, you can't quite see, but it's there. And I think that's really, really special, especially in hard times to think about what's happening because there's these little glimmers of hope, but they're being fed by something much bigger maybe.
00:25:29
Speaker
Maybe, I don't know. what do you What do you see that God's kind of moving and in in the community around Metropolitan Richmond? What do you guys see in God doing right now? um So i was at a i remember marty was there but i was at a meeting about a week ago, maybe a week and half ago, i'm related to immigration in the church. And so there are faith leaders there, some Latino let's see how leaders of nonprofits who have come. And I think in that conversation, one of the things I started to to just reflect on is the fact that there's so much resilience in our community, which to me stems from a certain level of spiritual groundedness for a lot of folks, that
00:26:06
Speaker
That kind of ah equips them to be able to like see a hard situation and say, I'm not going to be defeatist in this moment. like I'm going to get to work. I'm going to try to figure out how to both collaborate and mobilize. And and so I feel like there is an underlying spiritual fortitude that it's hard to see unless it's it's pushed to reveal itself in a moment of crisis or a hardship.
00:26:28
Speaker
But I think I'm seeing that. I think whatever that is, it's been there, but there are moments that are eliciting it. you know, as opportunities to engage in the kingdom. And so I think that's, that's one thing I'm kind seeing and sensing um with folks in our city, which has been encouraging. Yeah.
00:26:44
Speaker
That's good. That's good. that's Yeah. Was that the Four Richmond event? Or a different one. yeah Yeah, because they're doing another one coming up the end of the month, I think. So that's, right I think they're expanding and growing that, right?
00:26:58
Speaker
And that's one of the things that I see happening that i I see God doing and I'm excited about as, because I got started in this journey with CCD in my forty s And so now in my 60s, I'm not as young as I used to be. And so that the energy that I see around passing on,
00:27:19
Speaker
the torch, if you will, since it it is the Olympic season, passing the torch on to a newer generation that isn't going to do things the way that the the older generation has done.
00:27:31
Speaker
And and so where it is, I think, creating some tension, it's a good tension. It's it's where Those of us, and and not that 62 is old by any stretch of means, but those of us who are getting older and are older, being able to to pass that torch and trust the generation, the new generation coming up to do things that in ways that honor God, but also that are fresh and exciting and new and being okay with it.
00:27:59
Speaker
And so those are what that's one of the things that I'm excited about seeing, and but yet knowing that there's an name acknowledging that there's some tension there as well.
00:28:10
Speaker
And I think I see that, especially within EEF, as Don Coleman, who was the founding pastor, continues to walk alongside Easton Fellowship, but trusting Nathan to come in and do things in a new way, supporting and praying for and being the spiritual father of the church and letting Pastor Nathan continue to explore new things at like not having a Sunday service, but actually having a Sabbath. Am I on target there, Nathan, or no?
00:28:42
Speaker
Yeah, i definitely think that in many ways, like Pastor Don is an example and some ways a microcosm of like, what if people like to say, hey, I've been engaged in this work for a long time. going to always engage in this work because it's not not my job or my calling.
00:28:55
Speaker
But there's also a season to how that work work looks and And so what that's kind of positioned him to do is to say, hey, there's certain things that he as the founding pastor can can take a step back from um to create space for others to step up into one, experience leadership development, which is one of our core principles of C&D, but then also give people in the chance to really you know allow God to use their gifts to bless the broader body but you know and not see...
00:29:22
Speaker
and to not see collaboration or um empowerment as competition. Yeah. And i can think it's just, that's an important, it's a really helpful thing and a healthy thing for churches and church leaders to normalize.
00:29:36
Speaker
And so I think, I don't think he's alone in that. I think there are others who doing that as well, but he's, he's a, I think a helpful example of how that can look. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's really good. Yeah, internally, we've been talking a lot about what does it look like to move from active leadership to kind of advisory leadership. That's how we've been framing it a little bit. and those Those conversations are so, so important and and and missing from a lot of, as you think about leadership development, it's always one person developing all the other leaders.
00:30:03
Speaker
but there there There hasn't always been good guides or or conversation about how leadership development also involves eventually finding a way to to step back and what does
CCD Principles and Indigenous Leadership
00:30:14
Speaker
that look like. So that's really good. I'm really excited to explore that more as we as we continue towards conference.
00:30:20
Speaker
So I think you guys have kind of touched on this a lot throughout the course of our conversation. But we generally end every podcast with this question. And I'm still going to ask it, even if you guys just repeat everything you just said. and We'll just start in the beginning again. It'll be it'll be really fun.
00:30:36
Speaker
But how do you see the CCD philosophy at work in your community? Oh, man. You know, I know you guys have tied that into nearly everything you've said already, which I love.
00:30:47
Speaker
But I want to hear a little bit about that. If you guys have something specific you want to play out. but there are just There's so many things. Like in my head, I'm going through Rolodex of all eight principles and like examples. also think they're kind of macro level ways of thinking about it too. So one emphasis...
00:31:01
Speaker
That's been true for the entirety of CCD's history and beyond that has has been not just leadershipis development but and indigenous leadership development, but terms of like people who grew up in a sleeping neighborhood and that type of thing. and there are a lot of examples in our community of organizations that recognize, you know, there are a lot of folks who are part of these organizations who are transplants, who just don't have a history, don't have necessarily the relational connections or relational capital.
00:31:23
Speaker
And they recognize, oh there are people here who have answers to their own problems. There are people here who have a leadership ability. There are people here who should be empowered if they aren't already empowered and who should have seats at decision-making tables. And I think it's been encouraging to see that as a way of both inviting empowerment as a CCD principle and also leadership development for those who are from this community as opposed to primarily being as recipients of send some some form of social or spiritual services.
00:31:56
Speaker
And so that for me is one really helpful thing. I think the other thing I'll say, which I did allude to before is like, I think that being holistic as one of the core principles, should treat presuppose some level of partnership because no one's going to be an expert of all things yeah and no one's going to have all the different resources, right? So if we're going to have like an assets-based kind of approach to our work, that also presupposes that we're going to kind of take into full account the broader ecosystem of what God is doing here and how those things can be connected to one another and be mutually supportive.
00:32:27
Speaker
And so... Yeah, I mean, there's a whole lot more I could say, but those are a lot of things I see now. I see the empowerment of business leaders, and I'll see a decent amount of collaboration between entities to provide more holistic support, but also just more holistic connections people.
Closing and Appreciation
00:32:45
Speaker
So, yeah. And the one the only one that I would add to that, that Nathan, because that's really good, is the church-based side. You know, thinking about First Baptist Ashland, for example, that is really spearheading some of the immigration work that's happening up in Hanover.
00:33:01
Speaker
and And that was really, that was something new for me to learn recently. And so I was really encouraged to hear the work that they're doing and that some of our other churches are joining in to do with them. so yeah. Yeah.
00:33:14
Speaker
Yeah, and they're ah they're part of our Flourishing Congregations initiative, which has been really exciting to see kind of some of this really intensive church training start to start to develop CCA. So it's really exciting, and I'm looking forward to to connecting more with them over the next year we as we all work towards this conference.
00:33:31
Speaker
Thank you guys so, so much. This is so, so none I just love both of you and just have had such a good time already. i think I'm supposed to start wrapping up, but I don't want to. I want to just keep hanging out with you.
00:33:45
Speaker
But I think I will because I don't want anyone to be upset with me. So thank you all listening to the CCDA podcast. Thank you, Nathan and Marty, for joining us. If you guys want to learn more about CCDA, get involved or connect with Nathan and Marty, be sure to check out the show notes of the episode.
00:34:03
Speaker
Obviously, we need you to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. <unk>s important to note that this podcast is produced by Sarah Callen in association with Christina Fore. We'll be back with another episode featuring CCD practitioners who are committed to seeing people and communities experience God's Shalom.
00:34:22
Speaker
And we will see you then.