1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:06,500 What would it look like to start a community that was really, 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,220 it's for the people like Jesus would be for? 3 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:18,312 Welcome to Heaven Earth Church. 4 00:00:18,456 --> 00:00:22,120 I'm Ross Stackhouse, the founding pastor of Heaven Earth Church. 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,832 From the start, our heart has been to be a church for people who 6 00:00:25,856 --> 00:00:28,136 don't fit neatly into church. 7 00:00:28,328 --> 00:00:31,400 We want to meet people where they are and know their stories. 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,040 Because in every story, there is God's story. 9 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:37,588 And this podcast is just about that. 10 00:00:37,644 --> 00:00:40,676 It's about inviting you into the stories of the people of Heaven 11 00:00:40,708 --> 00:00:41,640 Earth Church. 12 00:00:41,980 --> 00:00:44,160 So let's turn to the story. 13 00:00:46,940 --> 00:00:50,084 Hello, good people, and welcome to the Heaven Earth Church 14 00:00:50,132 --> 00:00:50,932 podcast. 15 00:00:51,076 --> 00:00:53,988 This is the podcast about a church that is looking to make a 16 00:00:54,044 --> 00:00:56,612 lasting impact in our community. 17 00:00:56,796 --> 00:00:59,354 And our guest today is Emily Halverson. 18 00:00:59,452 --> 00:01:03,214 She is the executive pastor of Heaven Earth Church. 19 00:01:03,262 --> 00:01:06,606 And we'll talk more about what that's all about here in just a moment, 20 00:01:06,638 --> 00:01:09,326 but we want to find out more about you personally, Emily, welcome 21 00:01:09,358 --> 00:01:11,310 to our conversation here today. 22 00:01:11,430 --> 00:01:12,094 Thanks, Brad. 23 00:01:12,142 --> 00:01:13,342 It's so nice to be with you. 24 00:01:13,446 --> 00:01:14,430 Absolutely. 25 00:01:14,590 --> 00:01:15,918 Well, Emily, why don't you just. 26 00:01:15,974 --> 00:01:16,958 Let's just kind of start. 27 00:01:17,014 --> 00:01:19,326 Here we are. 28 00:01:19,398 --> 00:01:21,806 The church is located in Whiteland, Indiana. 29 00:01:21,838 --> 00:01:25,470 But tell us about where you come from, what's hometown for you, 30 00:01:25,510 --> 00:01:27,982 and then maybe a little bit about what home life was like for 31 00:01:28,006 --> 00:01:28,478 you. 32 00:01:28,614 --> 00:01:29,198 Sure. 33 00:01:29,334 --> 00:01:29,694 Yeah. 34 00:01:29,742 --> 00:01:31,646 So I am not a native Hoosier. 35 00:01:31,838 --> 00:01:33,742 I grew up in Illinois. 36 00:01:33,806 --> 00:01:36,990 So close, but not, not, not here. 37 00:01:37,110 --> 00:01:40,286 So I grew up in Batavia, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago. 38 00:01:40,318 --> 00:01:41,810 It's a western suburb. 39 00:01:43,190 --> 00:01:46,206 And that area is actually where my dad's family's originally 40 00:01:46,238 --> 00:01:46,430 from. 41 00:01:46,470 --> 00:01:48,254 So we have some family history there. 42 00:01:48,422 --> 00:01:49,850 But grew up. 43 00:01:50,790 --> 00:01:53,742 Yeah, really, like my whole growing up was all in Batavia, all 44 00:01:53,766 --> 00:01:54,318 in one place. 45 00:01:54,374 --> 00:01:58,410 I lived in two different houses, but all in Batavia. 46 00:01:59,070 --> 00:02:03,222 And then after I went to college, I've now lived in a total 47 00:02:03,246 --> 00:02:04,470 of four different states. 48 00:02:04,590 --> 00:02:08,822 So my kids have a little different experience than I did where 49 00:02:08,846 --> 00:02:12,390 I was in the same town and they've been in more than that. 50 00:02:12,510 --> 00:02:14,214 But anyways. 51 00:02:14,262 --> 00:02:19,654 But I grew up in a Christian home, have a long faith tradition 52 00:02:19,702 --> 00:02:21,810 in my family, on both sides of my family. 53 00:02:22,220 --> 00:02:24,160 And so I grew up. 54 00:02:25,180 --> 00:02:26,404 I grew up going to church. 55 00:02:26,452 --> 00:02:32,516 I grew up singing all kinds of hymns and different songs. 56 00:02:32,548 --> 00:02:34,372 I grew up going to Sunday school. 57 00:02:34,476 --> 00:02:40,644 And just really, my parents spent some time in youth ministry. 58 00:02:40,692 --> 00:02:44,516 My dad was a teacher and my mom was a banker, but she stayed 59 00:02:44,548 --> 00:02:47,800 home and did home daycare when we were younger. 60 00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:52,884 And so faith was always just a big part of our family and our lives. 61 00:02:52,972 --> 00:02:56,640 And we went to a Few different churches as I was growing up. 62 00:02:56,940 --> 00:03:01,460 One of them is now a fairly large kind of mega church in that 63 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:02,080 area. 64 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:05,636 But when I was in middle school, we wound up back at the church 65 00:03:05,668 --> 00:03:08,760 my dad had grown up in, which was a free Methodist church. 66 00:03:10,060 --> 00:03:13,080 And that was a very small church comparatively. 67 00:03:13,430 --> 00:03:17,102 But going back there, we really connected with people in a 68 00:03:17,126 --> 00:03:17,550 different way. 69 00:03:17,590 --> 00:03:21,758 And it kind of, I would say that season of my life kind of really 70 00:03:21,814 --> 00:03:24,206 started my walk with the Lord in a different way. 71 00:03:24,278 --> 00:03:25,342 We'll go a little deeper with that. 72 00:03:25,366 --> 00:03:28,574 Tell us about how you kind of how that was a part of forming your 73 00:03:28,582 --> 00:03:32,174 faith, but maybe some kind of pivotal moment when faith became 74 00:03:32,222 --> 00:03:36,334 really real to you and you knew that, okay, this is going to 75 00:03:36,342 --> 00:03:40,564 be an important part of how I really just live life, even career 76 00:03:40,612 --> 00:03:41,460 wise or things like that. 77 00:03:41,500 --> 00:03:43,556 Tell me a little bit about your coming to Faith story. 78 00:03:43,708 --> 00:03:48,820 Yeah, so when I was about 14, I kind of had a season where I would 79 00:03:48,860 --> 00:03:50,036 say it was the antithesis. 80 00:03:50,068 --> 00:03:53,092 Well, it wasn't the antithesis of my faith story because it was 81 00:03:53,116 --> 00:03:56,692 a pivotal part, but it was the first time I really realized that 82 00:03:56,716 --> 00:04:00,196 my faith was my parents faith and it wasn't my own faith. 83 00:04:00,388 --> 00:04:03,940 And I kind of decided I can be a little bit stubborn sometimes. 84 00:04:04,020 --> 00:04:09,192 And I decided I wasn't gonna sing any songs if I didn't mean them. 85 00:04:09,216 --> 00:04:11,064 If I couldn't sing them and really mean them, I didn't want to 86 00:04:11,072 --> 00:04:11,816 sing them. 87 00:04:11,968 --> 00:04:13,256 And so that was kind of my. 88 00:04:13,328 --> 00:04:15,128 My journey in church for a little while. 89 00:04:15,184 --> 00:04:18,680 And then the summer after my freshman year in high school, I went 90 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:19,160 to. 91 00:04:19,280 --> 00:04:24,824 I had the opportunity to do a mission trip that I don't exactly 92 00:04:24,872 --> 00:04:27,384 remember how I got on the mission trip. 93 00:04:27,432 --> 00:04:31,032 I just remember going, that I was, I was gonna go. 94 00:04:31,056 --> 00:04:34,552 And so we did some work in Rochester, New York. 95 00:04:34,576 --> 00:04:39,412 We worked with an inner city church there and just worked with 96 00:04:39,436 --> 00:04:40,276 a lot of different kids. 97 00:04:40,308 --> 00:04:44,212 We did a vacation Bible school and did kind of a puppet ministry 98 00:04:44,276 --> 00:04:44,996 kind of thing. 99 00:04:45,068 --> 00:04:45,680 And. 100 00:04:47,100 --> 00:04:49,220 And it was actually like there was a little. 101 00:04:49,340 --> 00:04:52,644 There was a little girl there who kind of stuck with me all week. 102 00:04:52,732 --> 00:04:53,780 And she came from just. 103 00:04:53,820 --> 00:05:00,980 She had a really rough background and story and, and she 104 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:03,040 at the end of the week, like she. 105 00:05:03,980 --> 00:05:07,844 She said she wanted to know the Lord and kind of she came to 106 00:05:07,852 --> 00:05:08,356 know the Lord. 107 00:05:08,388 --> 00:05:13,892 And I in that moment had this experience with the Lord where I 108 00:05:13,916 --> 00:05:16,532 felt like the Lord said to me, like, if she can believe in me, why 109 00:05:16,556 --> 00:05:17,360 can't you? 110 00:05:18,060 --> 00:05:24,420 And that was really kind of, I think, the moment where things kind 111 00:05:24,460 --> 00:05:26,724 of got really, really, really real for me. 112 00:05:26,812 --> 00:05:33,438 And kind of broke through some of my maybe cynicism and, and just 113 00:05:33,494 --> 00:05:36,830 my need to have everything answered. 114 00:05:36,910 --> 00:05:41,790 Maybe kind of a journey, a process that kind of evolved over 115 00:05:41,830 --> 00:05:42,414 time. 116 00:05:42,582 --> 00:05:46,410 Sure, yeah, yeah, I, I mean, when I like in. 117 00:05:47,830 --> 00:05:49,566 Yeah, for sure. 118 00:05:49,638 --> 00:05:54,302 And when like my very first memory of praying, I was five and 119 00:05:54,326 --> 00:05:57,554 I was sitting at the kitchen table with my parents and I was talking 120 00:05:57,602 --> 00:05:58,114 to Jesus. 121 00:05:58,162 --> 00:06:02,642 And so I grew up very much appreciating faith in Jesus and I 122 00:06:02,666 --> 00:06:05,410 loved the community and I loved being part of all of that. 123 00:06:05,530 --> 00:06:08,670 But as I kind of got into my teenage years, that was when I really 124 00:06:09,370 --> 00:06:10,322 kind of owned it. 125 00:06:10,346 --> 00:06:12,450 And it meant different things to me. 126 00:06:12,570 --> 00:06:17,346 And kind of directly after that trip, I went on a marine biology 127 00:06:17,378 --> 00:06:18,690 trip because that had been my plan. 128 00:06:18,730 --> 00:06:20,470 I was going to be a marine biologist. 129 00:06:20,970 --> 00:06:25,388 And so having those two experiences back to back, the mission 130 00:06:25,404 --> 00:06:28,812 trip and then the marine biology trip again, really felt the 131 00:06:28,836 --> 00:06:31,836 Lord was kind of calling me into a different path. 132 00:06:31,948 --> 00:06:37,820 And so that path led you into your education and eventually you 133 00:06:37,940 --> 00:06:40,444 made a connection with your husband Adam. 134 00:06:40,492 --> 00:06:44,028 And so I know we're kind of skipping ahead a little bit here 135 00:06:44,084 --> 00:06:47,900 in your story, but tell me about some maybe pivotal moments 136 00:06:47,980 --> 00:06:51,376 in those parts of your journey, whether it be educationally 137 00:06:51,488 --> 00:06:55,104 or career wise or getting together with your husband. 138 00:06:55,152 --> 00:06:57,392 Any long things along the line were kind of pivotal, kind of in 139 00:06:57,416 --> 00:06:58,336 your face story. 140 00:06:58,488 --> 00:06:59,740 Yeah, so. 141 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,472 So I decided I was going to go to Greenville College, which is now 142 00:07:03,496 --> 00:07:06,208 Greenville University, but to study ministry. 143 00:07:06,304 --> 00:07:07,552 So that was really the shift in me. 144 00:07:07,576 --> 00:07:10,512 I had been planning to go to study, go into the sciences and I 145 00:07:10,536 --> 00:07:16,208 shifted to going into ministry and so the program there and that's 146 00:07:16,224 --> 00:07:17,380 where I met my husband. 147 00:07:18,500 --> 00:07:23,212 While I was at school, I really had a sense of a call into 148 00:07:23,316 --> 00:07:29,612 missions and like a really have always had since I just, I've 149 00:07:29,676 --> 00:07:32,120 really had a heart for the Middle east for a really long time. 150 00:07:32,580 --> 00:07:38,044 And so there was a day that I was praying just over, over that. 151 00:07:38,132 --> 00:07:43,468 And long story short was that that was kind of pivotal to my husband 152 00:07:43,484 --> 00:07:46,646 and I getting together in college. 153 00:07:46,678 --> 00:07:50,886 But we started dating in college and then both really felt 154 00:07:50,918 --> 00:07:51,766 called into the ministry. 155 00:07:51,798 --> 00:07:55,462 And so we've spent the last 20 plus years kind of working out what 156 00:07:55,486 --> 00:08:00,550 that looks like to do ministry and to have a family and do those 157 00:08:00,590 --> 00:08:03,574 things together and honor both calls. 158 00:08:03,622 --> 00:08:04,166 So. 159 00:08:04,318 --> 00:08:07,110 So I'm just curious, as you said, they had this particular call 160 00:08:07,150 --> 00:08:07,638 in the Middle East. 161 00:08:07,654 --> 00:08:09,718 Have you been able to travel to the Middle East? 162 00:08:09,894 --> 00:08:14,742 Yeah, so my husband spent a semester in Egypt when he was in 163 00:08:14,766 --> 00:08:20,246 college and then when it was 2005. 164 00:08:20,318 --> 00:08:24,326 It was actually right at the time that the tsunami hit India because 165 00:08:24,398 --> 00:08:26,646 I remember we didn't know about the tsunami. 166 00:08:26,678 --> 00:08:27,910 We didn't hear about it because we'd been. 167 00:08:27,950 --> 00:08:29,430 We were traveling right at that time. 168 00:08:29,470 --> 00:08:34,310 And so we found out a few days after it had happened, but we were 169 00:08:34,350 --> 00:08:35,350 in Egypt. 170 00:08:35,430 --> 00:08:38,326 And so we were there for two weeks on what we called a vision 171 00:08:38,358 --> 00:08:38,662 trip. 172 00:08:38,726 --> 00:08:40,886 So we were really kind of praying over like, are we supposed 173 00:08:40,918 --> 00:08:42,960 to come here like now? 174 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:50,660 And really felt like what the Lord kind of spoke to us in that 175 00:08:50,780 --> 00:08:53,920 trip was not right now. 176 00:08:54,620 --> 00:08:55,620 And so. 177 00:08:55,660 --> 00:08:56,820 Which was kind of surprising. 178 00:08:56,900 --> 00:09:00,964 We're like, okay, so we kind of came back home and I was youth 179 00:09:01,012 --> 00:09:02,280 pastoring at a church. 180 00:09:04,700 --> 00:09:08,004 So we stayed at the church and kind of walked that journey for a 181 00:09:08,012 --> 00:09:08,340 little while. 182 00:09:08,380 --> 00:09:11,886 And then we, a few years after that kind of started down a church 183 00:09:11,918 --> 00:09:15,502 planting road and so we moved to Wisconsin and we were there for 184 00:09:15,526 --> 00:09:17,294 10 years doing church planting work. 185 00:09:17,382 --> 00:09:18,958 And then we were planting a church. 186 00:09:18,974 --> 00:09:22,126 As a couple kind of co pastors or something like that. 187 00:09:22,198 --> 00:09:22,958 Okay, all right. 188 00:09:23,014 --> 00:09:23,518 Yep. 189 00:09:23,614 --> 00:09:30,126 And then we wound up moving to Michigan to do some work with Middle 190 00:09:30,158 --> 00:09:32,302 Eastern populations in Michigan. 191 00:09:32,366 --> 00:09:33,678 Okay, very good. 192 00:09:33,814 --> 00:09:38,800 Well, what eventually led you then to land in, in Whiteland, Indiana 193 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,208 and to eventually get connected with heaven or church? 194 00:09:42,224 --> 00:09:43,680 What got you here in the first place? 195 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:46,816 Yeah, so when we kind of discerned that our season in Michigan 196 00:09:46,848 --> 00:09:50,768 was coming to an end, we were looking for what was next. 197 00:09:50,904 --> 00:09:54,160 And my husband had. 198 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,216 We had a connection just through some different ministry channels 199 00:09:57,248 --> 00:10:02,160 with, with, with a gentleman down here. 200 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:07,092 And he offered my husband a job and so he took it and we moved. 201 00:10:07,236 --> 00:10:09,380 So that's the short story. 202 00:10:09,500 --> 00:10:10,180 Yeah. 203 00:10:10,340 --> 00:10:13,284 Because you, you both, you and he were both involved with ministry 204 00:10:13,332 --> 00:10:14,388 situations. 205 00:10:14,564 --> 00:10:17,220 And just to backtrack a little bit, it's my understanding that, 206 00:10:17,260 --> 00:10:21,920 you know, there were some, some experiences in that that were 207 00:10:22,460 --> 00:10:23,364 a little bit tough. 208 00:10:23,412 --> 00:10:23,812 Is that right? 209 00:10:23,836 --> 00:10:24,772 You know, absolutely. 210 00:10:24,836 --> 00:10:32,254 Experiences that maybe you kind of put some perspective on ministry 211 00:10:32,302 --> 00:10:35,598 for you that you came to this community with. 212 00:10:35,654 --> 00:10:36,158 Right? 213 00:10:36,294 --> 00:10:37,310 Yeah, yeah. 214 00:10:37,390 --> 00:10:40,990 So we were, in one way or another. 215 00:10:41,110 --> 00:10:44,222 We've been in ministry since both of us, since we were in high 216 00:10:44,246 --> 00:10:49,050 school, which is a little while ago now, so 20 plus years and 217 00:10:50,390 --> 00:10:51,934 kind of through that. 218 00:10:52,022 --> 00:10:55,854 And we, and we've, you know, we both held different positions 219 00:10:55,902 --> 00:10:59,574 at conference level and so from local church levels to conference 220 00:10:59,622 --> 00:11:05,030 levels and involved in some national things with our denomination. 221 00:11:05,110 --> 00:11:09,862 And so we've seen ministry like on lots of different sides from 222 00:11:09,886 --> 00:11:11,046 lots of different angles. 223 00:11:11,158 --> 00:11:20,230 And so when we leaving, leaving Michigan was very difficult 224 00:11:20,310 --> 00:11:27,680 and happened in some Ways that just made us kind of rethink the 225 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,540 organizational part of church. 226 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,248 And find yourself a little bit guarded, a little bit hurt? 227 00:11:35,424 --> 00:11:36,660 Oh, absolutely. 228 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:37,664 Yeah. 229 00:11:37,792 --> 00:11:41,620 It was an incredibly difficult season leaving. 230 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:44,096 There's a lot of confusion. 231 00:11:44,128 --> 00:11:45,984 There's a lot of frustration, there's a lot of hurt. 232 00:11:46,032 --> 00:11:47,008 There's a lot of. 233 00:11:47,144 --> 00:11:52,438 My mom heart felt very much like my family had been hurt by. 234 00:11:52,494 --> 00:11:54,850 By individuals who were in charge of things. 235 00:11:56,030 --> 00:11:58,870 And so we really decided by mom. 236 00:11:58,910 --> 00:12:01,318 Hearts, you mean people actually hurting your own children 237 00:12:01,374 --> 00:12:03,510 or hurting other people or. 238 00:12:03,630 --> 00:12:05,046 Go there a little bit with me for a minute. 239 00:12:05,078 --> 00:12:06,406 What do you mean by mom heart? 240 00:12:06,478 --> 00:12:07,606 Yeah, well, that's a good question. 241 00:12:07,678 --> 00:12:09,142 I would say both ways. 242 00:12:09,286 --> 00:12:11,878 So I very much saw interactions that hurt the local 243 00:12:11,934 --> 00:12:16,320 church from conference leadership. 244 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,080 And I also saw in my own family what. 245 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:25,168 The way that we were treated in that process, just the effect 246 00:12:25,224 --> 00:12:29,552 that it had on my kids and what felt like just blatant disregard 247 00:12:29,616 --> 00:12:33,180 for, like, the humanity of people. 248 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,064 And that all felt very contrary to leading in a way that 249 00:12:38,072 --> 00:12:40,060 Jesus leads to me. 250 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:42,248 And so we were. 251 00:12:42,384 --> 00:12:46,792 I'd say it's pretty fair to say we were pretty jaded coming out 252 00:12:46,816 --> 00:12:47,224 of that. 253 00:12:47,312 --> 00:12:48,248 Out of that experience. 254 00:12:48,384 --> 00:12:54,740 You come to Johnson County, Indiana, Greenwood, Whiteland area. 255 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,928 So it seems to me, from what I'm picking up on here, Emily, that 256 00:12:57,984 --> 00:13:01,512 really ministry wasn't really the focus when you came here, or 257 00:13:01,536 --> 00:13:02,104 wasn't. 258 00:13:02,232 --> 00:13:03,016 It was not. 259 00:13:03,088 --> 00:13:06,344 Well, that wasn't really in your mindset at that time. 260 00:13:06,512 --> 00:13:11,352 When we left, what we decided is that I was gonna go to grad school, 261 00:13:11,376 --> 00:13:13,860 and I was gon to do a degree in organizational leadership. 262 00:13:13,940 --> 00:13:15,124 So I was starting a degree. 263 00:13:15,172 --> 00:13:17,040 And we were going to take a break from. 264 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:23,172 From ministry and all of the different ways that means so. 265 00:13:23,356 --> 00:13:24,708 And from the organization. 266 00:13:24,804 --> 00:13:26,964 And so we took a leave of absence. 267 00:13:27,092 --> 00:13:30,292 That was how the designation was with our denomination. 268 00:13:30,356 --> 00:13:33,720 And so we took a leave of absence and I started school at Gonzaga. 269 00:13:34,140 --> 00:13:37,716 And Adam, my husband, he started this job. 270 00:13:37,788 --> 00:13:40,484 And part of coming here was we thought we were actually going to 271 00:13:40,492 --> 00:13:44,730 be involved with another church that's part of our denomination 272 00:13:46,270 --> 00:13:48,806 when we moved down here and then. 273 00:13:48,878 --> 00:13:53,974 And it's a wonderful church, doing really great things, but just 274 00:13:54,142 --> 00:13:57,302 as we were here and kind of got settled, just realized that the 275 00:13:57,326 --> 00:14:00,246 healing that we needed to do, the hurt that we had, was pretty 276 00:14:00,278 --> 00:14:00,918 deep. 277 00:14:01,094 --> 00:14:03,974 And the healing that we needed to do, we needed to be a little farther 278 00:14:04,022 --> 00:14:04,610 away. 279 00:14:06,270 --> 00:14:10,778 And by farther away, you mean some distance from this denominational 280 00:14:10,874 --> 00:14:12,794 kind of structure type of thing. 281 00:14:12,882 --> 00:14:13,466 Yeah, yeah. 282 00:14:13,498 --> 00:14:16,586 Our denomination is very, very, very connectional. 283 00:14:16,778 --> 00:14:21,786 And so there were Just lots of reminders all the time of that. 284 00:14:21,938 --> 00:14:25,002 So we needed to be farther away from that. 285 00:14:25,106 --> 00:14:27,258 Sound like you didn't feel like you were quite fitting it? 286 00:14:27,394 --> 00:14:28,266 No, for sure. 287 00:14:28,338 --> 00:14:29,306 Definitely not. 288 00:14:29,458 --> 00:14:32,190 And saw some things that we couldn't unsee. 289 00:14:33,330 --> 00:14:34,950 That really just kind of. 290 00:14:37,050 --> 00:14:39,090 You just made us reconsider a lot of things. 291 00:14:39,210 --> 00:14:42,914 When you see things like that, they impact you and cause you pain 292 00:14:42,962 --> 00:14:47,150 and grief and loss and, you know, and your. 293 00:14:47,690 --> 00:14:50,190 Whatever your higher vision was, has been. 294 00:14:51,290 --> 00:14:52,722 Been diminished a bit. 295 00:14:52,906 --> 00:14:54,082 So tell us a little bit. 296 00:14:54,186 --> 00:14:58,002 So you moved to Johnson County, I don't know, two, three 297 00:14:58,026 --> 00:14:58,370 years ago. 298 00:14:58,410 --> 00:14:58,930 I forget. 299 00:14:59,010 --> 00:15:01,266 Yeah, we moved here in the fall of. 300 00:15:01,338 --> 00:15:02,354 It was August. 301 00:15:02,482 --> 00:15:06,018 Well, it was split because my husband and the girls moved down 302 00:15:06,074 --> 00:15:06,290 first. 303 00:15:06,330 --> 00:15:10,014 I have three kids and we actually, we knew we needed to be 304 00:15:10,022 --> 00:15:11,774 in the Indy area, but we didn't know where. 305 00:15:11,862 --> 00:15:16,430 And we had from the time my husband accepted the job until when 306 00:15:16,470 --> 00:15:17,598 school started down here. 307 00:15:17,654 --> 00:15:20,250 It was two to three weeks, depending on which school district. 308 00:15:20,950 --> 00:15:27,022 We had to move really fast and yeah, we had to move really fast. 309 00:15:27,086 --> 00:15:27,950 And actually we. 310 00:15:27,990 --> 00:15:28,590 We live in. 311 00:15:28,630 --> 00:15:32,558 In Greenwood and we picked Greenwood really just because my 312 00:15:32,614 --> 00:15:32,974 girl. 313 00:15:33,062 --> 00:15:34,650 My oldest is really into. 314 00:15:34,950 --> 00:15:36,222 Both of my girls are now. 315 00:15:36,246 --> 00:15:39,626 But my oldest at the time really wanted go someplace that offered 316 00:15:39,658 --> 00:15:40,858 First Robotics. 317 00:15:41,034 --> 00:15:45,242 And my second oldest, she really wanted to go someplace that 318 00:15:45,266 --> 00:15:46,186 had an orchestra. 319 00:15:46,298 --> 00:15:49,930 So that landed us in Center Grove because they started a week 320 00:15:49,970 --> 00:15:51,390 later than Perry. 321 00:15:51,810 --> 00:15:55,386 And so we said, well, okay, so we. 322 00:15:55,458 --> 00:15:56,762 You make decisions for all kinds of reasons. 323 00:15:56,786 --> 00:15:57,418 That's right. 324 00:15:57,554 --> 00:15:59,082 So that's where we landed. 325 00:15:59,146 --> 00:16:01,066 And yeah. 326 00:16:01,098 --> 00:16:01,818 And so then we. 327 00:16:01,874 --> 00:16:02,474 For the next. 328 00:16:02,562 --> 00:16:06,282 They came down here and started school and we kind of over 329 00:16:06,306 --> 00:16:07,178 the next month were. 330 00:16:07,234 --> 00:16:11,442 It was a kind of progressive move when my son and I joined. 331 00:16:11,506 --> 00:16:12,146 What I want to get. 332 00:16:12,218 --> 00:16:16,386 You didn't move to Indiana from Michigan to somehow get connected 333 00:16:16,418 --> 00:16:17,474 with Heaven Earth Church? 334 00:16:17,522 --> 00:16:18,050 Absolutely not. 335 00:16:18,090 --> 00:16:19,266 This wasn't on your radar. 336 00:16:19,378 --> 00:16:20,034 Not at all. 337 00:16:20,122 --> 00:16:20,818 That type of thing. 338 00:16:20,874 --> 00:16:23,826 So tell me how heaven or church did get on your radar. 339 00:16:23,858 --> 00:16:26,882 How did you have an awareness of it in the first place and end 340 00:16:26,906 --> 00:16:28,114 up even checking it out? 341 00:16:28,202 --> 00:16:28,738 Yeah. 342 00:16:28,834 --> 00:16:29,794 So we. 343 00:16:29,882 --> 00:16:32,710 I like to say we were casually dating in different church. 344 00:16:33,210 --> 00:16:39,390 We did that for a little while in Indianapolis and after about six 345 00:16:39,430 --> 00:16:40,334 months, kind of. 346 00:16:40,422 --> 00:16:41,774 That was actually our first. 347 00:16:41,862 --> 00:16:45,102 After we decided we weren't going to be part of the church that 348 00:16:45,126 --> 00:16:46,462 we came down and thought would be a part of. 349 00:16:46,486 --> 00:16:52,286 We spent just a lot of time kind of looking and trying to figure 350 00:16:52,318 --> 00:16:54,370 out that piece of our journey. 351 00:16:54,710 --> 00:16:57,726 And so we kind of went casually dated this other church 352 00:16:57,758 --> 00:17:01,370 for a while and Kind of just decided there were some things that 353 00:17:02,550 --> 00:17:05,182 we just decided it wasn't the place where we needed to be. 354 00:17:05,286 --> 00:17:08,910 But it did kind of open the door again to like being involved 355 00:17:08,990 --> 00:17:10,050 in church. 356 00:17:11,350 --> 00:17:15,374 And so then anyways, fast forward about another six months 357 00:17:15,462 --> 00:17:18,254 and I was looking for volunteer opportunities in Johnson 358 00:17:18,302 --> 00:17:23,550 county and actually came across Resources of Hope on some 359 00:17:23,590 --> 00:17:23,790 list. 360 00:17:23,830 --> 00:17:29,048 And so I was looking at what it was and through that process then 361 00:17:29,104 --> 00:17:34,024 found Heaven Earth Church and saw Ross's blog and saw some of the 362 00:17:34,032 --> 00:17:37,240 videos he did and talking with Upstream Prevention and just different 363 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:41,112 things like that about the work in the community and kind of 364 00:17:41,136 --> 00:17:42,216 their beliefs. 365 00:17:42,328 --> 00:17:42,980 And. 366 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,944 So it seems like the partnership having to do with community 367 00:17:48,032 --> 00:17:51,400 oriented organizations was attractive to you. 368 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,014 It kind of scratched an itch for you going back to a little bit 369 00:17:54,022 --> 00:17:57,518 of your, your socially awareness things with even the least 370 00:17:57,574 --> 00:17:58,110 and things like that. 371 00:17:58,150 --> 00:17:59,934 Is that a fair thing to say? 372 00:18:00,022 --> 00:18:00,814 Yeah, absolutely. 373 00:18:00,862 --> 00:18:02,250 Yeah, it definitely was. 374 00:18:02,630 --> 00:18:12,238 We saw in Heaven Earth a place that had had similar theology to 375 00:18:12,294 --> 00:18:12,878 where we. 376 00:18:12,934 --> 00:18:14,650 To kind of where we came from. 377 00:18:15,990 --> 00:18:17,806 Being, being a. 378 00:18:17,878 --> 00:18:19,278 Being a female pastor. 379 00:18:19,374 --> 00:18:21,210 That kind of already narrows the. 380 00:18:21,630 --> 00:18:24,570 Narrows the field for churches. 381 00:18:25,550 --> 00:18:29,830 Not that everybody has to agree with everything, but it just 382 00:18:29,870 --> 00:18:32,118 already kind of limits your. 383 00:18:32,174 --> 00:18:33,030 Limits your pool. 384 00:18:33,110 --> 00:18:37,450 And so there was theology here that matched ours. 385 00:18:38,350 --> 00:18:42,294 So there was like biblical theology, but then it was also practical 386 00:18:42,342 --> 00:18:45,782 theology and how the church was walking that out and how we saw 387 00:18:45,806 --> 00:18:49,254 them partnering with groups and making impact in the community. 388 00:18:49,342 --> 00:18:50,966 And so, yeah, we absolutely wanted to. 389 00:18:51,038 --> 00:18:56,128 So tell me about the first time you came to a worship experience, 390 00:18:56,264 --> 00:19:00,592 a conversation, as we, let's say, around heaven or a church. 391 00:19:00,656 --> 00:19:05,740 Tell me about your experience kind of in. 392 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:11,024 As a church person, a church professional who had been a little 393 00:19:11,112 --> 00:19:14,144 hurt and jaded about coming into that experience. 394 00:19:14,232 --> 00:19:15,376 What were you looking for? 395 00:19:15,448 --> 00:19:18,946 What were you, what was your antenna up about on that first time? 396 00:19:19,088 --> 00:19:20,958 And what did you just tell me a little bit about that experience 397 00:19:21,014 --> 00:19:22,094 the first time you came? 398 00:19:22,182 --> 00:19:25,410 Yeah, I was extremely guarded, Extremely guarded. 399 00:19:26,470 --> 00:19:33,982 I did not bring my children with me and we came in and sat in 400 00:19:34,006 --> 00:19:40,942 the back and just paid attention to a lot of different things. 401 00:19:41,046 --> 00:19:47,880 And one of the things that struck me right away was so again, 402 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:48,728 I was in a leader. 403 00:19:48,784 --> 00:19:50,760 I was in a organizational development. 404 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,464 No, organizational leadership program. 405 00:19:53,632 --> 00:19:57,000 So I, I'd spent about a year and a half at that point really studying 406 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:02,200 like leadership and intentionality and all kinds of things 407 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:02,904 around that. 408 00:20:02,992 --> 00:20:07,608 And so one of the things I noticed right away was ways that 409 00:20:07,744 --> 00:20:12,440 Ross intentionally acted that like, reduced a power differential. 410 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:15,620 So one thing that can happen with professional clergy is there 411 00:20:15,660 --> 00:20:21,652 can sometimes be a distancing between clergy and non clergy people 412 00:20:21,676 --> 00:20:24,640 in a church and kind of almost like a hierarchy can develop. 413 00:20:25,100 --> 00:20:29,940 And I sensed like none of that here, which was actually really comforting 414 00:20:30,020 --> 00:20:32,244 to me and stood out to me a lot. 415 00:20:32,332 --> 00:20:36,100 And so, and there were, there were things actually about that day, 416 00:20:36,140 --> 00:20:39,252 I remember that kind of reminded us of the church that we 417 00:20:39,276 --> 00:20:42,290 had planted in Wisconsin when we were there. 418 00:20:43,070 --> 00:20:46,210 So there was kind of almost a sense of familiarity that way. 419 00:20:47,070 --> 00:20:49,110 And so it was. 420 00:20:49,230 --> 00:20:52,918 But beyond that, I mean it was, it was friendly and people turned 421 00:20:52,934 --> 00:20:56,774 around and said hello to us right away and, but also kind of 422 00:20:56,782 --> 00:20:57,686 like gave us space. 423 00:20:57,758 --> 00:21:01,622 It wasn't, it wasn't like overwhelming, but it was definitely 424 00:21:01,686 --> 00:21:02,570 welcoming. 425 00:21:03,230 --> 00:21:04,342 And there was a lot of. 426 00:21:04,366 --> 00:21:10,700 It felt like space to just be present and experience. 427 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,128 And then we kind of hung around afterwards. 428 00:21:14,304 --> 00:21:15,984 I think I remember being. 429 00:21:16,152 --> 00:21:18,512 I don't think we said anything in the conversation that day. 430 00:21:18,536 --> 00:21:20,144 I don't think maybe we did. 431 00:21:20,312 --> 00:21:21,088 I don't think so. 432 00:21:21,144 --> 00:21:25,232 But that struck me just even that it was a conversation and that 433 00:21:25,256 --> 00:21:26,800 it actually was a conversation. 434 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:31,620 And we stuck around afterwards and spoke with Ashley. 435 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:32,752 She kind of. 436 00:21:32,776 --> 00:21:33,780 We were talking to her for a while. 437 00:21:33,810 --> 00:21:36,274 I think we were reading something on the back wall. 438 00:21:36,392 --> 00:21:38,170 I don't remember what it was but. 439 00:21:39,350 --> 00:21:40,126 And so we. 440 00:21:40,198 --> 00:21:42,414 She came over and started talking to us and we talked to her 441 00:21:42,422 --> 00:21:44,302 and she's like, you might want to talk to Ross. 442 00:21:44,366 --> 00:21:45,438 Like, let me introduce you. 443 00:21:45,494 --> 00:21:49,450 And so then we met Ross and talked to him for a while and. 444 00:21:49,830 --> 00:21:52,090 And then we've been here ever since. 445 00:21:52,470 --> 00:21:57,246 So it sounded like you had first experience and your husband 446 00:21:57,278 --> 00:21:58,078 Adam was with you. 447 00:21:58,134 --> 00:22:00,590 I presume that you and he both. 448 00:22:00,630 --> 00:22:01,902 But I'll just particularly talk with. 449 00:22:01,926 --> 00:22:04,210 You were checking it out on several levels. 450 00:22:04,850 --> 00:22:08,538 There is kind of a personal spiritual level. 451 00:22:08,594 --> 00:22:12,042 There was a kind of an emotional level, interpersonal with 452 00:22:12,066 --> 00:22:12,790 other people. 453 00:22:13,090 --> 00:22:14,922 There was kind of a bit of the. 454 00:22:15,106 --> 00:22:15,482 Kind of. 455 00:22:15,506 --> 00:22:16,810 The academic kind of a thing. 456 00:22:16,850 --> 00:22:19,498 You kind of check it out organizationally, see how it's working 457 00:22:19,554 --> 00:22:23,562 organizationally and then theological as well as well as this. 458 00:22:23,586 --> 00:22:24,314 I'll just call it the. 459 00:22:24,322 --> 00:22:28,746 It factor kind of the warmth factor that I think a lot of people 460 00:22:28,818 --> 00:22:29,322 are looking for. 461 00:22:29,346 --> 00:22:32,522 Am I accurate at all in kind of how you saw what this was going 462 00:22:32,546 --> 00:22:33,114 on here? 463 00:22:33,202 --> 00:22:34,090 Yeah, absolutely. 464 00:22:34,170 --> 00:22:38,026 I think all, all of those antenna were up. 465 00:22:38,178 --> 00:22:38,986 Yeah. 466 00:22:39,178 --> 00:22:41,306 So then you end up having a conversation with Ross. 467 00:22:41,338 --> 00:22:42,346 You met him that day. 468 00:22:42,418 --> 00:22:42,714 Yeah. 469 00:22:42,762 --> 00:22:47,594 So tell me about how that, that conversation with Ross when 470 00:22:47,602 --> 00:22:48,858 you were able to have a. 471 00:22:48,994 --> 00:22:49,546 Either. 472 00:22:49,658 --> 00:22:52,762 Either one on one or you and your husband and he together to have 473 00:22:52,786 --> 00:22:53,402 a Conversation. 474 00:22:53,466 --> 00:22:54,042 Tell me. 475 00:22:54,146 --> 00:22:55,270 Tell me about that. 476 00:22:55,890 --> 00:22:56,664 I. 477 00:22:56,842 --> 00:22:58,200 Yeah, I. 478 00:22:59,060 --> 00:22:59,468 We. 479 00:22:59,524 --> 00:23:00,796 We laugh about it sometimes. 480 00:23:00,828 --> 00:23:04,012 Like, him and Ashley and I talked about it periodic last year, 481 00:23:04,036 --> 00:23:07,516 because what stands out in their mind and mind is how guarded 482 00:23:07,548 --> 00:23:09,320 I was, so. 483 00:23:10,660 --> 00:23:15,196 But I think what, again, what struck me was just, like, the honesty 484 00:23:15,228 --> 00:23:16,332 and the authenticity. 485 00:23:16,396 --> 00:23:16,796 Like, there's. 486 00:23:16,828 --> 00:23:20,300 There's something very, very authentic about Heaven Earth, where 487 00:23:20,340 --> 00:23:25,480 it's not pretentious and it's not a show, and it's not. 488 00:23:28,790 --> 00:23:31,422 It's not trying to be the next big thing. 489 00:23:31,526 --> 00:23:32,734 Like, there's a. 490 00:23:32,822 --> 00:23:37,070 Like a real authentic, like, man. 491 00:23:37,110 --> 00:23:41,950 We're on this journey together, and we really do believe 492 00:23:41,990 --> 00:23:47,374 in Jesus, and we really do believe in the Holy Spirit, and he 493 00:23:47,462 --> 00:23:51,854 works, and we, like, want to leave room for him to work and acknowledge 494 00:23:51,902 --> 00:23:52,490 that. 495 00:23:53,660 --> 00:23:54,324 And then. 496 00:23:54,412 --> 00:23:54,868 But then. 497 00:23:54,924 --> 00:23:55,332 So we just. 498 00:23:55,356 --> 00:23:55,764 We kept. 499 00:23:55,812 --> 00:23:59,652 We kept coming back, I think, because of that. 500 00:23:59,676 --> 00:24:01,680 But also there's something about. 501 00:24:04,140 --> 00:24:07,204 I want to say it's in the DNA, but I don't know if that's the right 502 00:24:07,372 --> 00:24:07,956 metaphor. 503 00:24:07,988 --> 00:24:10,516 But there's something about Heaven Earth being here that allowed 504 00:24:10,548 --> 00:24:11,560 us to heal. 505 00:24:11,900 --> 00:24:12,900 So, like, we had. 506 00:24:12,940 --> 00:24:15,972 Sometimes I say we had done a level of healing on our own, like 507 00:24:15,996 --> 00:24:21,046 our family had, but it allowed us to heal in community, which allowed 508 00:24:21,078 --> 00:24:23,410 our healing to kind of go on another level. 509 00:24:23,710 --> 00:24:26,310 So we're gonna talk in a minute here about your role now as 510 00:24:26,350 --> 00:24:28,854 executive pastor, but let's just kind of go a little deeper in 511 00:24:28,862 --> 00:24:30,086 what you're talking about right here. 512 00:24:30,158 --> 00:24:30,502 Yeah. 513 00:24:30,566 --> 00:24:33,302 Even if you weren't on staff here, would you still be going to 514 00:24:33,326 --> 00:24:33,846 church here? 515 00:24:33,918 --> 00:24:35,350 And basically, what keeps you here? 516 00:24:35,470 --> 00:24:36,650 Yeah, absolutely. 517 00:24:36,990 --> 00:24:37,814 Absolutely. 518 00:24:37,862 --> 00:24:38,690 I would. 519 00:24:40,910 --> 00:24:41,590 Heaven. 520 00:24:41,670 --> 00:24:45,636 I say this all the time, but Heaven Earth has really good soil. 521 00:24:45,758 --> 00:24:49,944 And so what I mean by that is that there is a lot of things that 522 00:24:49,952 --> 00:24:56,680 are done very, very intentionally here, from, you know, 523 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:57,016 the. 524 00:24:57,088 --> 00:25:02,776 The way things are set up in the sanctuary to the partnerships 525 00:25:02,808 --> 00:25:05,512 that are pursued, to the. 526 00:25:05,696 --> 00:25:08,180 The language that's chosen to. 527 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:12,344 Not that every word is, like, preplanned. 528 00:25:12,392 --> 00:25:13,032 That's not what I mean. 529 00:25:13,056 --> 00:25:17,674 But just, like, in terms of how we talk about things, it's very. 530 00:25:17,762 --> 00:25:19,290 It's very intentional. 531 00:25:19,450 --> 00:25:22,170 And all of that work, you know, we. 532 00:25:22,210 --> 00:25:22,810 We came in. 533 00:25:22,850 --> 00:25:25,670 I think the church had been in existence for, like, five years already, 534 00:25:26,130 --> 00:25:30,570 but we could see, like, the cultivation of all of that soil, 535 00:25:30,730 --> 00:25:31,482 and it just. 536 00:25:31,506 --> 00:25:35,946 It was really fertile ground for healing and for growth and for 537 00:25:36,018 --> 00:25:37,590 life, really, like. 538 00:25:38,690 --> 00:25:42,532 And so I think there's something about being authentic with 539 00:25:42,556 --> 00:25:43,460 your own story. 540 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:47,652 And sometimes when you're in leadership, at least we were kind 541 00:25:47,676 --> 00:25:50,564 of brought up in Leadership where you're. 542 00:25:50,612 --> 00:25:53,492 You're not really allowed to fail as a leader, you're not really 543 00:25:53,516 --> 00:25:55,044 allowed to hurt as a leader. 544 00:25:55,132 --> 00:26:00,800 You're supposed to kind of toe a line, and that can. 545 00:26:01,260 --> 00:26:01,620 Right. 546 00:26:01,660 --> 00:26:02,452 And our. 547 00:26:02,636 --> 00:26:05,108 Not that our intention was ever to be inauthentic, and I don't 548 00:26:05,124 --> 00:26:10,170 know that, you know, but there's something about that pressure 549 00:26:11,870 --> 00:26:17,462 that when it's removed and you're kind of allowed to just be 550 00:26:17,486 --> 00:26:21,478 a human, that's a good thing. 551 00:26:21,614 --> 00:26:24,406 So you would stay here. 552 00:26:24,558 --> 00:26:29,542 And so that kind of leads me, one of my key questions I'm looking 553 00:26:29,646 --> 00:26:32,822 to understand from people who connect with heaven or church, what 554 00:26:32,846 --> 00:26:33,750 keeps you here in the first place? 555 00:26:33,790 --> 00:26:34,390 What keeps you here? 556 00:26:34,430 --> 00:26:35,350 So that's kind of what we're there. 557 00:26:35,390 --> 00:26:35,936 But you. 558 00:26:36,038 --> 00:26:37,148 You've gone to a different level. 559 00:26:37,204 --> 00:26:40,716 You've not only came, saw what, saw something, saw you liked 560 00:26:40,748 --> 00:26:41,916 it, decided to stay. 561 00:26:42,068 --> 00:26:45,468 But the process evolved where you became one of the pastors here, 562 00:26:45,524 --> 00:26:46,716 the executive pastor. 563 00:26:46,828 --> 00:26:51,996 So tell me how that situation played out, because it happened relatively. 564 00:26:52,188 --> 00:26:53,196 I forget exactly. 565 00:26:53,228 --> 00:26:56,620 You started in as about a year, a year or so after you started 566 00:26:56,660 --> 00:26:58,940 coming here, you joined the staff here. 567 00:26:58,980 --> 00:27:00,956 So tell me how that part of things evolved. 568 00:27:01,068 --> 00:27:02,918 Sir, I told Ross no. 569 00:27:02,974 --> 00:27:07,890 First he asked me, and so we started in January. 570 00:27:08,270 --> 00:27:11,542 He asked me in May if I would be interested in doing some work 571 00:27:11,566 --> 00:27:13,650 for the church, and I told him no. 572 00:27:15,630 --> 00:27:23,606 And then in August, a few months later, so I had just finished 573 00:27:23,638 --> 00:27:29,090 my degree and was at a little different place, and. 574 00:27:30,490 --> 00:27:34,802 And actually I was driving down 31 one day, and I was at 31 575 00:27:34,826 --> 00:27:37,618 in Whiteland Road, and I, like, looked over, and I saw. 576 00:27:37,674 --> 00:27:39,794 Because you can see the church from that intersection. 577 00:27:39,842 --> 00:27:44,562 And I just was thinking, man, I really love that church. 578 00:27:44,626 --> 00:27:46,710 Like, I just really love our church. 579 00:27:47,130 --> 00:27:52,242 And was probably the first moment of, like, maybe I could be 580 00:27:52,266 --> 00:27:53,602 a little more involved. 581 00:27:53,746 --> 00:27:55,426 Like, was where that first. 582 00:27:55,578 --> 00:27:56,674 I don't know, that seed. 583 00:27:56,722 --> 00:27:58,050 Whatever started to grow. 584 00:27:58,090 --> 00:28:00,658 And so then I kind of said to Ross in August, I was like, hey, 585 00:28:00,674 --> 00:28:03,650 you remember when you asked me that question about, like, coming 586 00:28:03,690 --> 00:28:04,450 to work here? 587 00:28:04,570 --> 00:28:06,642 He's like, are you still interested in that? 588 00:28:06,666 --> 00:28:10,514 And he's like, yeah, yeah, I would be like, let's talk more. 589 00:28:10,682 --> 00:28:13,010 Um, and then it was about a. 590 00:28:13,130 --> 00:28:15,314 And then I didn't start until December, so it was a little bit 591 00:28:15,322 --> 00:28:16,418 of a process of. 592 00:28:16,474 --> 00:28:19,522 Of that all moving. 593 00:28:19,586 --> 00:28:25,634 But, yeah, I decided to come on staff, really, because I don't. 594 00:28:25,682 --> 00:28:29,666 I don't know that I could work for another church right now. 595 00:28:29,818 --> 00:28:31,778 Well, not right now, because right now I'm working here. 596 00:28:31,834 --> 00:28:34,310 So I started work for another church. 597 00:28:35,690 --> 00:28:40,754 But again, like, there's something about this place that that's 598 00:28:40,802 --> 00:28:43,218 just, it's just. 599 00:28:43,274 --> 00:28:45,042 I just come back to it's good soil. 600 00:28:45,106 --> 00:28:48,242 And so it's soil that I feel like I want to be a part of and I 601 00:28:48,266 --> 00:28:49,810 want to work in. 602 00:28:49,930 --> 00:28:53,218 And yeah, want to be a part of is slightly different than being 603 00:28:53,274 --> 00:28:55,094 one of the pastors you have invest. 604 00:28:55,162 --> 00:28:55,758 Invested. 605 00:28:55,854 --> 00:28:59,150 You were invested in this church. 606 00:28:59,230 --> 00:29:04,030 Not certainly kind of a spiritually and mission wise, but 607 00:29:04,070 --> 00:29:07,806 you know, you've invested into it and part of your life, your professional 608 00:29:07,918 --> 00:29:09,086 life, as it were. 609 00:29:09,238 --> 00:29:10,250 I know we. 610 00:29:10,630 --> 00:29:12,030 So tell us a little bit what it means. 611 00:29:12,070 --> 00:29:14,766 So what, first of all, what in the world is an executive pastor 612 00:29:14,798 --> 00:29:15,918 and what do you do? 613 00:29:16,054 --> 00:29:17,690 Yeah, it's a great question. 614 00:29:18,790 --> 00:29:20,590 Basically I make things run. 615 00:29:20,710 --> 00:29:22,446 That's pretty much what I do. 616 00:29:22,598 --> 00:29:25,902 Um, so it's executive in, in that sense. 617 00:29:25,966 --> 00:29:32,494 Like, so I, I do a lot of, really a lot of kind of organizational 618 00:29:32,542 --> 00:29:33,358 development work. 619 00:29:33,414 --> 00:29:34,942 Like that's a piece of the work that I do. 620 00:29:34,966 --> 00:29:39,486 That's more the executive part of my job is what are the systems 621 00:29:39,518 --> 00:29:40,494 that we have in place. 622 00:29:40,582 --> 00:29:45,678 So when, when things grow, there comes a point where you go, 623 00:29:45,734 --> 00:29:48,958 what was working here at the, you know, when we were this size? 624 00:29:48,974 --> 00:29:49,770 It's not. 625 00:29:50,330 --> 00:29:52,882 We're going to have to like, how do we, how do we scale that? 626 00:29:52,906 --> 00:29:55,410 And I mean that in a really healthy, like, natural way. 627 00:29:55,450 --> 00:29:59,394 Like a tree has to get bigger roots if it's going to grow bigger. 628 00:29:59,442 --> 00:30:01,282 It can't just have its little root system. 629 00:30:01,386 --> 00:30:03,202 Its roots have to grow too. 630 00:30:03,386 --> 00:30:09,490 Um, and so there, there was a connection with my, with my degree 631 00:30:09,570 --> 00:30:12,190 that I saw on that level. 632 00:30:12,890 --> 00:30:16,594 Um, you know, the, my, my church answers. 633 00:30:16,642 --> 00:30:19,122 I think it, there was, there was definitely a lot of work that 634 00:30:19,146 --> 00:30:22,800 like the Lord had do on my heart to make me willing. 635 00:30:23,460 --> 00:30:27,100 I don't want to even say that because I don't think he made me 636 00:30:27,140 --> 00:30:27,840 willing. 637 00:30:28,260 --> 00:30:32,684 But I very much felt like I had a choice and there was a choice 638 00:30:32,732 --> 00:30:35,292 before me and I felt like it could be a good choice and one that 639 00:30:35,316 --> 00:30:36,560 the Lord was gonna. 640 00:30:37,940 --> 00:30:39,724 Was leading me to. 641 00:30:39,812 --> 00:30:44,860 Not that I had to say yes, but I saw an opportunity where I could 642 00:30:44,900 --> 00:30:48,332 use my gifts in those ways to help the church. 643 00:30:48,396 --> 00:30:50,666 And so that's what I've been trying to do. 644 00:30:50,738 --> 00:30:51,402 So. 645 00:30:51,586 --> 00:30:54,522 And it really, when I was hired, my, my job has really kind 646 00:30:54,546 --> 00:30:58,714 of morphed and shifted over the last, over the last year as it's 647 00:30:58,762 --> 00:31:01,594 developed and kind of things have crystallized a little more and 648 00:31:01,682 --> 00:31:03,002 exactly what that means. 649 00:31:03,106 --> 00:31:10,586 So all that to say I do a lot of, A lot of that, like system building 650 00:31:10,658 --> 00:31:12,630 and I work with a board and I. 651 00:31:14,370 --> 00:31:17,066 Think a fair amount of behind the scenes thing from what somebody 652 00:31:17,098 --> 00:31:17,362 might. 653 00:31:17,426 --> 00:31:20,418 If when somebody gets to a Sunday morning worship conversation, 654 00:31:20,594 --> 00:31:24,770 they're more likely to see you in a music level or I know you also 655 00:31:24,810 --> 00:31:28,130 do writing and you do some other things of this, of this nature. 656 00:31:28,290 --> 00:31:31,682 Tell us how these three areas of your life and the work kind of 657 00:31:31,706 --> 00:31:34,242 intersect to maybe be helpful to people. 658 00:31:34,346 --> 00:31:38,290 The music, the writing, the leadership development. 659 00:31:38,410 --> 00:31:41,506 Tell me about how a lot comes together if that person is coming 660 00:31:41,578 --> 00:31:44,840 into church, how that might be helpful to them. 661 00:31:46,100 --> 00:31:47,560 That's a great question. 662 00:31:49,700 --> 00:32:11,810 So my heart is to like, I, I think that what people would see 663 00:32:13,710 --> 00:32:17,686 is they'd see connections between things. 664 00:32:17,838 --> 00:32:27,010 So songs and like flow and so whether it's the AV stuff or like 665 00:32:27,950 --> 00:32:33,350 the people on stage or, you know, we have a lot of conversations 666 00:32:33,430 --> 00:32:36,950 about hospitality and I don't, I don't run the hospitality team, 667 00:32:36,990 --> 00:32:42,308 but, but just we talk a lot about how do we be consistent and 668 00:32:42,364 --> 00:32:45,920 have a consistent presence in who we are and what we do here. 669 00:32:46,300 --> 00:32:48,852 And part of that is doing team building. 670 00:32:48,956 --> 00:32:52,560 So I don't lead worship, but I lead the worship team. 671 00:32:53,660 --> 00:32:56,436 I don't lead worship every Sunday, but I lead the worship team. 672 00:32:56,508 --> 00:32:59,716 So I'm working with leaders who are leading on a Sunday morning. 673 00:32:59,868 --> 00:33:01,120 I'm working with. 674 00:33:02,060 --> 00:33:04,628 So you have put together the music, you have put together the 675 00:33:04,684 --> 00:33:07,752 flow of worship, things of this nature, as well as some of the 676 00:33:07,776 --> 00:33:08,504 things as well. 677 00:33:08,592 --> 00:33:14,072 So in the life of the church here, Emily, tell me about a time 678 00:33:14,176 --> 00:33:17,340 when you kind of had that aha moment. 679 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:23,272 That, okay, there is something here that I get it and I think other 680 00:33:23,296 --> 00:33:26,680 people get it, that the aha moment regarding the church and that 681 00:33:26,720 --> 00:33:29,960 this might work, this just might be, you know, there's something 682 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:30,344 here. 683 00:33:30,432 --> 00:33:31,112 You know what I mean by that? 684 00:33:31,136 --> 00:33:32,184 Kind of an aha moment? 685 00:33:32,232 --> 00:33:36,810 Kind of a, A moment when you said, okay, let's go. 686 00:33:38,310 --> 00:33:39,170 Hmm. 687 00:33:41,670 --> 00:33:42,766 That's a great question. 688 00:33:42,838 --> 00:33:43,390 I have to. 689 00:33:43,430 --> 00:33:45,250 I didn't prepare for that one, Brad. 690 00:33:51,990 --> 00:33:55,810 My kids love Heaven Earth. 691 00:33:58,230 --> 00:34:05,414 And so watching them feel comfortable here and welcome here 692 00:34:05,502 --> 00:34:13,238 and seeing how they respond here has been pretty profound for 693 00:34:13,294 --> 00:34:13,890 me. 694 00:34:15,390 --> 00:34:18,902 Like I said, I was a youth pastor, so like connecting with teens 695 00:34:18,966 --> 00:34:19,910 was kind of. 696 00:34:19,950 --> 00:34:21,062 Has always been a part of me. 697 00:34:21,086 --> 00:34:22,930 It's different when they live in your house. 698 00:34:23,470 --> 00:34:31,148 And so watching them engage I think is maybe my. 699 00:34:31,284 --> 00:34:36,940 Has been my biggest like, okay, this is, this isn't just about 700 00:34:36,980 --> 00:34:37,948 me personal. 701 00:34:38,004 --> 00:34:38,428 Didn't it? 702 00:34:38,484 --> 00:34:39,820 Yeah, it's not just about me. 703 00:34:39,860 --> 00:34:40,940 It's not just about Adam. 704 00:34:41,020 --> 00:34:44,332 It's about like, it's a place our whole family can really be and 705 00:34:44,356 --> 00:34:44,732 engage. 706 00:34:44,796 --> 00:34:47,116 And so that's a cool moment. 707 00:34:47,148 --> 00:34:50,520 Tell me that about a lump of the throat moment when you thought 708 00:34:50,990 --> 00:34:53,958 either in this church experience, maybe in some other experience, 709 00:34:54,014 --> 00:34:57,958 a lump of throwing when you're thinking, man, this, you know, there's 710 00:34:57,974 --> 00:35:01,862 something going on here that just ain't right that I need to do 711 00:35:01,886 --> 00:35:02,770 something about. 712 00:35:05,710 --> 00:35:07,490 I don't think I can say that. 713 00:35:08,510 --> 00:35:14,250 No, you know, I don't, I don't. 714 00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:16,210 Here's what I'm going to say. 715 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:18,820 I don't. 716 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,640 So, like, I can think of a couple times where I was like, whew, 717 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:25,680 what just happened? 718 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:29,152 But, but what I actually want to say more is that I think what 719 00:35:29,176 --> 00:35:34,912 I saw, like, even in just like Ross and Ashley, like, I know the 720 00:35:35,016 --> 00:35:41,552 work and the commitment that it takes to do ministry work and 721 00:35:41,576 --> 00:35:41,904 it. 722 00:35:41,992 --> 00:35:44,260 And I know the toll that it takes. 723 00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,976 Um, and so I think there definitely were times where I saw 724 00:35:49,048 --> 00:35:57,552 just that I saw the toll and I kind of thought like, I, I think 725 00:35:57,576 --> 00:36:00,672 there's ways and I actually we, we started being involved with 726 00:36:00,696 --> 00:36:01,136 the music. 727 00:36:01,208 --> 00:36:04,368 That was the first way that we, that we started being involved. 728 00:36:04,544 --> 00:36:08,910 Um, because when you lead worship every Sunday, it's just, 729 00:36:08,950 --> 00:36:10,302 it, it's, it's tiring. 730 00:36:10,366 --> 00:36:14,170 Like, it's beautiful and it's life giving, but it's also work and. 731 00:36:14,790 --> 00:36:15,310 Yeah. 732 00:36:15,390 --> 00:36:18,206 And so that was kind of the first way that I. 733 00:36:18,278 --> 00:36:23,662 And I remember and I filled out our questionnaire on, on the 734 00:36:23,686 --> 00:36:24,014 website. 735 00:36:24,102 --> 00:36:25,646 But again, I told you I was really guarded. 736 00:36:25,678 --> 00:36:27,534 So like, I didn't put in all the information. 737 00:36:27,702 --> 00:36:30,814 I like, I left lots of spots blank. 738 00:36:30,942 --> 00:36:34,334 You mean you put in it right away, music leader or whatever? 739 00:36:34,382 --> 00:36:37,584 Well, what I did put in, as I put it in kind of differently. 740 00:36:37,632 --> 00:36:42,192 I said, I meant, I said something about like the piano and 741 00:36:42,216 --> 00:36:45,488 the gem bear have been my companions in worship for many years 742 00:36:45,544 --> 00:36:46,528 or something like that. 743 00:36:46,584 --> 00:36:50,112 Like, I kind of like stuck it in there. 744 00:36:50,216 --> 00:36:53,024 Yeah, but, but that was really like the first way we got involved. 745 00:36:53,072 --> 00:36:56,240 And then there was actually for the harvest gathering. 746 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:57,216 Nope, nope, nope. 747 00:36:57,248 --> 00:36:58,736 It was so summer Sunday, I think. 748 00:36:58,808 --> 00:36:59,776 Well, it was one of them. 749 00:36:59,848 --> 00:37:00,528 One or the others. 750 00:37:00,584 --> 00:37:01,600 We just asked Ross. 751 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,256 We were like, hey, would you like some help with music on this 752 00:37:04,328 --> 00:37:05,104 on this Sunday? 753 00:37:05,192 --> 00:37:07,642 And so that was kind of how it started. 754 00:37:07,826 --> 00:37:10,762 Tell me then about a God moment that you've had here at Heaven 755 00:37:10,826 --> 00:37:14,282 Earth Church where you think, okay, there is just something. 756 00:37:14,386 --> 00:37:15,690 There's a bit of the holy here. 757 00:37:15,730 --> 00:37:19,434 There's something special here that is a holy moment that I see 758 00:37:19,442 --> 00:37:23,194 it not only for myself, but I see it happen kind of in the body. 759 00:37:23,362 --> 00:37:24,026 Oh, there's. 760 00:37:24,058 --> 00:37:30,750 I've had a lot of those, but normally they come in the conversation. 761 00:37:33,970 --> 00:37:34,666 But there. 762 00:37:34,738 --> 00:37:37,530 There have been so. 763 00:37:37,650 --> 00:37:42,202 And I think what I would say with that was, is like, like the 764 00:37:42,226 --> 00:37:44,426 conversations are not always comfortable. 765 00:37:44,618 --> 00:37:51,082 They have a way sometimes of pushing on spots that are maybe a 766 00:37:51,106 --> 00:37:54,630 little tender, especially like the first year that I was here. 767 00:37:56,940 --> 00:37:57,492 And. 768 00:37:57,596 --> 00:37:58,868 But they also, like. 769 00:37:58,924 --> 00:38:03,492 But it was done in a way that was really, like, good to make me 770 00:38:03,516 --> 00:38:04,468 think and consider. 771 00:38:04,604 --> 00:38:12,900 And so, you know, and I was think. 772 00:38:12,940 --> 00:38:13,668 I'm thinking too. 773 00:38:13,724 --> 00:38:14,720 Like, there was. 774 00:38:16,300 --> 00:38:20,020 I, like, I think about, you know, a day that Ross came out with 775 00:38:20,060 --> 00:38:24,956 a cardboard side and wrote, you know, homeless on it and talked 776 00:38:24,988 --> 00:38:25,804 about homelessness. 777 00:38:25,852 --> 00:38:29,932 I think about the day that he baked bread during the service and 778 00:38:29,956 --> 00:38:30,252 we had. 779 00:38:30,276 --> 00:38:30,908 And like, we ate. 780 00:38:30,924 --> 00:38:32,524 That was the bread we used for communion. 781 00:38:32,572 --> 00:38:34,460 But there was an experiential nature to that. 782 00:38:34,500 --> 00:38:38,204 I think about things that I thought about in terms of the Lord 783 00:38:38,252 --> 00:38:40,716 really being like, are you paying attention to that one? 784 00:38:40,788 --> 00:38:43,000 Because you probably should. 785 00:38:43,380 --> 00:38:44,120 Or. 786 00:38:45,460 --> 00:38:49,516 And a lot of that came through, like, some of my stubbornness 787 00:38:49,548 --> 00:38:49,644 and. 788 00:38:49,652 --> 00:38:53,542 But in my healing, but also, like, really challenging, encouraging 789 00:38:53,606 --> 00:38:54,054 good ways. 790 00:38:54,102 --> 00:38:56,982 And there's something about processing journeys together that 791 00:38:57,006 --> 00:39:00,854 happen in that conversation and hearing other people's perspective 792 00:39:00,902 --> 00:39:04,678 and being reminded, like, okay, we're out. 793 00:39:04,734 --> 00:39:06,790 Like, we really can be on this journey together. 794 00:39:06,830 --> 00:39:07,910 We don't have to agree. 795 00:39:08,030 --> 00:39:08,950 Ross says a lot. 796 00:39:08,990 --> 00:39:11,078 He says, you know, you don't have to agree with me, but together 797 00:39:11,134 --> 00:39:12,966 we're seeking to be in unity with Jesus. 798 00:39:13,078 --> 00:39:14,518 And I love that. 799 00:39:14,654 --> 00:39:15,574 It's a. 800 00:39:15,742 --> 00:39:18,290 It's not just a line, but it is a line. 801 00:39:18,830 --> 00:39:24,030 But I love that saying, that phrase because it's like, we, like, 802 00:39:24,070 --> 00:39:27,262 there's an acknowledgement, like, we do our best to follow the 803 00:39:27,286 --> 00:39:30,638 Lord, like, faithfully, but there's also, like, we're not gonna 804 00:39:30,654 --> 00:39:32,014 get it right all the time, but we're. 805 00:39:32,062 --> 00:39:35,262 We're trying to walk with Jesus and like, we don't have to 806 00:39:35,286 --> 00:39:37,422 be agree like a hundred percent on everything, but we can 807 00:39:37,446 --> 00:39:38,382 still be in fellowship and. 808 00:39:38,406 --> 00:39:40,622 Follow him together in that agreement, in that fellowship. 809 00:39:40,686 --> 00:39:41,534 Yeah, I'm. 810 00:39:41,582 --> 00:39:47,006 I'm a real advocate for when life change happens, something cool 811 00:39:47,038 --> 00:39:47,390 happens. 812 00:39:47,470 --> 00:39:51,898 Tell me a time when you witnessed some transformative change 813 00:39:51,954 --> 00:39:55,482 in somebody's life that's happened out of the result of the 814 00:39:55,506 --> 00:39:57,466 mission and ministry of Heaven Earth Church. 815 00:39:57,498 --> 00:39:59,390 Were you seeing somebody transform? 816 00:40:07,010 --> 00:40:07,990 So there. 817 00:40:12,530 --> 00:40:13,194 So I. 818 00:40:13,282 --> 00:40:13,786 So the. 819 00:40:13,858 --> 00:40:15,354 The people that come to mind. 820 00:40:15,442 --> 00:40:16,218 Like, we're in. 821 00:40:16,274 --> 00:40:17,512 So we do these things called. 822 00:40:17,626 --> 00:40:19,360 Things called get to Know yous. 823 00:40:20,020 --> 00:40:22,028 And so we go and we have. 824 00:40:22,164 --> 00:40:29,452 We have lunch after church, and the very first one that we went 825 00:40:29,476 --> 00:40:29,660 to. 826 00:40:29,700 --> 00:40:31,436 So we'd only been at the church about a month. 827 00:40:31,508 --> 00:40:34,748 Like, there was a group of us there who most of us are. 828 00:40:34,804 --> 00:40:35,772 Are still here, I think all. 829 00:40:35,796 --> 00:40:36,540 But maybe. 830 00:40:36,700 --> 00:40:40,236 And in some ways he's still kind of here, but really, like, we're 831 00:40:40,268 --> 00:40:41,612 all still part of the church. 832 00:40:41,676 --> 00:40:43,160 Everybody that was part of that group. 833 00:40:44,030 --> 00:40:51,414 And what has been cool to see is the different ways and at different 834 00:40:51,502 --> 00:40:55,446 points, the transformations that have happened in each of those. 835 00:40:55,518 --> 00:40:56,690 Each of those people. 836 00:40:57,790 --> 00:41:04,838 And some of them, you know, some of them, it just. 837 00:41:04,894 --> 00:41:05,190 A lot. 838 00:41:05,230 --> 00:41:08,150 But a lot of it comes down to, like, different ways, like, people 839 00:41:08,190 --> 00:41:12,864 are coming, like, have come alive and. 840 00:41:12,952 --> 00:41:15,152 And just getting to hear their stories. 841 00:41:15,296 --> 00:41:18,256 A lot of it revolves around healing, but a lot of it also revolves 842 00:41:18,288 --> 00:41:21,488 around, like, finding purpose and meaning and walking that out 843 00:41:21,544 --> 00:41:22,416 and then seeing how. 844 00:41:22,488 --> 00:41:23,760 You'Ve seen that happen in people. 845 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:24,176 Yeah. 846 00:41:24,208 --> 00:41:28,272 And then, like, seeing their connections grow and just the way 847 00:41:28,296 --> 00:41:31,216 they're seeing the Lord move in their life and the way he's connecting 848 00:41:31,248 --> 00:41:32,224 them with other people. 849 00:41:32,312 --> 00:41:33,232 And so it's just. 850 00:41:33,336 --> 00:41:35,568 It's cool to kind of, like, be on that journey together. 851 00:41:35,704 --> 00:41:38,208 Speaking of important people, I want to bring it around to this 852 00:41:38,264 --> 00:41:40,814 and the, like, in the last couple minutes we have together, 853 00:41:40,982 --> 00:41:43,262 tell me something about your family. 854 00:41:43,366 --> 00:41:47,710 Just something cool about the people that you live with. 855 00:41:47,750 --> 00:41:48,750 Your family, your. 856 00:41:48,790 --> 00:41:50,286 Your husband and kids. 857 00:41:50,398 --> 00:41:53,774 Tell me their names and then something cool about it. 858 00:41:53,862 --> 00:41:54,490 Sure. 859 00:41:54,870 --> 00:41:56,382 So Adam is my husband. 860 00:41:56,526 --> 00:41:58,046 Natalie is my oldest. 861 00:41:58,078 --> 00:41:59,810 And then Kaylee and Jamon. 862 00:42:00,390 --> 00:42:04,250 And we are all musical in one way or another. 863 00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:10,008 So that's one thing sort of about just our family. 864 00:42:10,064 --> 00:42:11,608 It's kind of a big part of our. 865 00:42:11,744 --> 00:42:12,660 Our family. 866 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:18,152 But then Adam, I. 867 00:42:18,256 --> 00:42:22,632 I say that everybody loves Adam, and he doesn't like it when 868 00:42:22,656 --> 00:42:23,912 I say that, but I say that. 869 00:42:23,936 --> 00:42:28,552 But he's just, like, super personable, so, like, he'll make 870 00:42:28,576 --> 00:42:29,448 you laugh. 871 00:42:29,624 --> 00:42:31,280 And, um, he just. 872 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,160 He brings a levity but, like an intentionality to. 873 00:42:34,200 --> 00:42:35,820 To situations and. 874 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,024 And he can fix, like, pretty much anything that's broken. 875 00:42:39,072 --> 00:42:42,512 If it's broken, he can fix it, probably, or he knows somebody who 876 00:42:42,536 --> 00:42:43,100 can. 877 00:42:43,400 --> 00:42:47,808 Um, Natalie loves robotics, so she's. 878 00:42:47,984 --> 00:42:53,456 She's part of Red Alert, and she is getting ready to finish up. 879 00:42:53,528 --> 00:42:56,752 She's a senior, and so she's finishing her year and looking at 880 00:42:56,776 --> 00:43:01,550 colleges and is excited for that next step of her journey. 881 00:43:01,890 --> 00:43:03,290 She's Also a lifeguard. 882 00:43:03,370 --> 00:43:06,830 So she works as a lifeguard and teaches swim lessons. 883 00:43:07,330 --> 00:43:13,466 Kayleigh is, she is a violinist and she also is a really 884 00:43:13,538 --> 00:43:14,938 amazing artist. 885 00:43:15,114 --> 00:43:18,230 And so they do all kinds or she does all kinds of. 886 00:43:19,090 --> 00:43:21,150 All kinds of creative endeavors. 887 00:43:21,650 --> 00:43:31,812 And then Jamin is my seventh grader and he, he, he loves soccer, 888 00:43:31,876 --> 00:43:35,108 but he also just has the biggest imagination in the whole 889 00:43:35,124 --> 00:43:35,492 world. 890 00:43:35,596 --> 00:43:38,804 And he's a really, really great chess player. 891 00:43:38,892 --> 00:43:42,400 So if you want a game of chess, he will probably beat you. 892 00:43:42,940 --> 00:43:47,044 He could take on the chess masters or whatever. 893 00:43:47,172 --> 00:43:50,500 So I want to come back to Natalie just for a second. 894 00:43:50,540 --> 00:43:52,032 You said she's in robotics. 895 00:43:52,196 --> 00:43:53,784 I want to kind of put it couch it this way. 896 00:43:53,792 --> 00:43:59,272 I know you're involved with the robotics family, parents and 897 00:43:59,296 --> 00:44:00,072 so on. 898 00:44:00,256 --> 00:44:02,440 What I'm going to put into what I'm going to getting at here, 899 00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:03,352 Emily, is this. 900 00:44:03,456 --> 00:44:07,992 If somebody you knew through robotics, parents stuff came to you 901 00:44:08,016 --> 00:44:09,912 and just got to know you a little bit and became. 902 00:44:09,976 --> 00:44:11,448 You became friendly with that person. 903 00:44:11,504 --> 00:44:15,528 And let's just say she's a person in similar age and similar 904 00:44:15,584 --> 00:44:19,214 situation with kids as you are, but had some issue in life, 905 00:44:19,302 --> 00:44:24,622 whatever it is, marital, financial, job, health related. 906 00:44:24,806 --> 00:44:26,670 He came to you with just some need. 907 00:44:26,790 --> 00:44:29,278 Would you feel comfortable inviting her to be. 908 00:44:29,414 --> 00:44:33,614 To come to heaven or church kind of as a part of her of a journey 909 00:44:33,662 --> 00:44:34,670 of healing for her? 910 00:44:34,790 --> 00:44:38,878 Yeah, yeah, I would, I. 911 00:44:39,014 --> 00:44:41,822 And what would you be the things you would say to her specifically 912 00:44:41,966 --> 00:44:44,242 to say here, here's how this might be a little help. 913 00:44:44,326 --> 00:44:45,070 Mm. 914 00:44:46,930 --> 00:44:48,234 I think what I would. 915 00:44:48,402 --> 00:44:52,362 Obviously context would dictate it a little bit, but I think 916 00:44:52,386 --> 00:44:59,146 what I would say is, you know, you like it's heaven. 917 00:44:59,178 --> 00:45:01,510 Earth is not about having everything together. 918 00:45:01,810 --> 00:45:06,682 It's about taking a step to, to put yourself in a place where 919 00:45:06,706 --> 00:45:09,590 you can heal and that. 920 00:45:12,380 --> 00:45:12,980 Yeah. 921 00:45:13,060 --> 00:45:17,172 Like it's a. 922 00:45:17,196 --> 00:45:23,812 It's a place where you can be who you are and be seen and be reminded 923 00:45:23,876 --> 00:45:27,892 that you're not alone and that the Lord loves you and that the Lord 924 00:45:27,956 --> 00:45:30,452 wants to meet you where you are and we want to meet people where 925 00:45:30,476 --> 00:45:33,760 they are and we want to walk with people and journey together. 926 00:45:35,180 --> 00:45:35,920 So. 927 00:45:36,230 --> 00:45:37,118 Very good. 928 00:45:37,254 --> 00:45:41,406 I want to kind of bring this conversation home with two questions 929 00:45:41,438 --> 00:45:41,582 here. 930 00:45:41,606 --> 00:45:44,610 They have to do with the pivotal to the life of the church. 931 00:45:45,190 --> 00:45:48,622 Prominently displayed in the church is a mission statement that 932 00:45:48,646 --> 00:45:51,950 goes something like, we exist to make a lasting impact in this 933 00:45:51,990 --> 00:45:52,570 community. 934 00:45:52,950 --> 00:45:55,050 What's that mean to you and is it real? 935 00:45:55,750 --> 00:46:00,830 Yeah, I actually think it is real, what it means to me. 936 00:46:00,870 --> 00:46:02,318 So I'm going to start with that Part of the question. 937 00:46:02,374 --> 00:46:04,010 And then I'll get to the other part. 938 00:46:05,050 --> 00:46:08,786 I think one of the things that we talk about here is our partnerships. 939 00:46:08,898 --> 00:46:10,594 And so we talk about like, we don't. 940 00:46:10,642 --> 00:46:12,370 Heaven, Earth doesn't try to do everything. 941 00:46:12,490 --> 00:46:15,810 Like, we can't, we can't do all the things. 942 00:46:15,850 --> 00:46:20,226 But what we can do is be connected with and help you connect 943 00:46:20,258 --> 00:46:23,874 with other organizations in the area that are like doing things. 944 00:46:23,962 --> 00:46:28,082 So that's one thing. 945 00:46:28,266 --> 00:46:34,372 But the other thing is part of, part of that partnerships is 946 00:46:34,396 --> 00:46:35,796 being a place that people trust. 947 00:46:35,908 --> 00:46:40,932 So there's an element of being like, if we say, you know, we want 948 00:46:40,956 --> 00:46:43,988 to meet people where they are, are we doing that? 949 00:46:44,044 --> 00:46:46,372 So we ask those kinds of questions all the time, like, how 950 00:46:46,396 --> 00:46:47,780 are we living into our mission statement? 951 00:46:47,820 --> 00:46:49,236 Like, it doesn't just sit on our banner. 952 00:46:49,268 --> 00:46:51,200 Like, we talk about it all the time. 953 00:46:53,180 --> 00:46:55,524 You know, how are we living into our values? 954 00:46:55,572 --> 00:46:56,900 Are we living, Are we missing? 955 00:46:56,980 --> 00:46:58,520 Like, where are we missing? 956 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:01,920 And then like, how can we be more intentional about seeking that? 957 00:47:01,960 --> 00:47:05,232 So there's that kind of mindset here of like, we don't want 958 00:47:05,256 --> 00:47:05,920 to just say things. 959 00:47:05,960 --> 00:47:09,584 We want to actually like, tangibly do the things to help us 960 00:47:09,592 --> 00:47:09,872 do that. 961 00:47:09,896 --> 00:47:13,280 So I think about like the, the housing coalition and different things 962 00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:17,712 that have kind of come out of the waters one way or another of 963 00:47:17,736 --> 00:47:18,288 this place. 964 00:47:18,344 --> 00:47:21,808 And so when we say we want to make a lasting impact, that, that's 965 00:47:21,824 --> 00:47:23,808 a, that's a holistic meaning. 966 00:47:23,984 --> 00:47:28,360 And so, um, I guess that's maybe getting into what it means 967 00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:29,192 to me. 968 00:47:29,376 --> 00:47:33,352 Well, yeah, and the follow up is similar to it then kind of, I 969 00:47:33,376 --> 00:47:37,112 kind of take it as kind of a motto or a saint of the church is 970 00:47:37,136 --> 00:47:39,304 that if you don't fit in church, you fit in here. 971 00:47:39,392 --> 00:47:41,416 Yeah, the same thing. 972 00:47:41,488 --> 00:47:43,140 What is that real? 973 00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:45,540 And if so, how is it real? 974 00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:49,220 For me it's real. 975 00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:54,784 And I think that's the heart that's, that's here. 976 00:47:54,952 --> 00:47:58,448 I think there's a lot of people here who've been hurt by church. 977 00:47:58,624 --> 00:48:02,660 I think there's a lot of people here who for various reasons 978 00:48:04,360 --> 00:48:06,992 feel like they didn't fit well in church. 979 00:48:07,056 --> 00:48:10,944 Sometimes that's like, sometimes that's an intellectual 980 00:48:10,992 --> 00:48:11,392 level. 981 00:48:11,496 --> 00:48:12,432 So sometimes it's. 982 00:48:12,496 --> 00:48:15,312 I ask a lot of questions and my questions weren't welcomed in 983 00:48:15,336 --> 00:48:15,968 church. 984 00:48:16,144 --> 00:48:17,440 You can ask your questions here. 985 00:48:17,480 --> 00:48:20,116 You know, sometimes it's a emotional level. 986 00:48:20,188 --> 00:48:24,740 Like I was in deep grief and I was told to get over it and just 987 00:48:24,780 --> 00:48:25,092 move on. 988 00:48:25,116 --> 00:48:25,668 If my. 989 00:48:25,724 --> 00:48:27,700 And that's what having faith look like. 990 00:48:27,820 --> 00:48:29,440 It's not what you're gonna find here. 991 00:48:30,540 --> 00:48:33,188 You know, sometimes it's what. 992 00:48:33,244 --> 00:48:34,612 Whatever other thing it is, you know. 993 00:48:34,636 --> 00:48:38,884 But so we have a lot of people who've had a lot of negative experience 994 00:48:38,972 --> 00:48:42,788 with church and a lot of hurt, a lot of trauma, whether it's from 995 00:48:42,844 --> 00:48:44,880 church or from other areas of life. 996 00:48:45,970 --> 00:48:50,570 And so I think what we really strive to be is true to that. 997 00:48:50,610 --> 00:48:55,226 Like, we're on this journey with Jesus and sometimes and it's 998 00:48:55,258 --> 00:49:02,730 up and down and back and forth, but we keep practicing. 999 00:49:02,890 --> 00:49:06,874 And so it's an environment that just encourages that. 1000 00:49:06,962 --> 00:49:08,890 And we don't have to be all right. 1001 00:49:09,010 --> 00:49:10,154 Like, we don't have to be perfect. 1002 00:49:10,202 --> 00:49:12,218 We're not perfect, but we can keep practicing. 1003 00:49:12,394 --> 00:49:15,226 I love that imagery to keep practicing. 1004 00:49:15,338 --> 00:49:15,818 Well, any. 1005 00:49:15,874 --> 00:49:18,410 Just the words that you would want to share, just kind of a. 1006 00:49:18,530 --> 00:49:21,178 Kind of a concluding thought you may have to someone who might 1007 00:49:21,234 --> 00:49:24,298 be able to see or hear what we've shared here today. 1008 00:49:24,354 --> 00:49:26,410 What would you share either to the Heaven Earth Church community 1009 00:49:26,450 --> 00:49:28,442 or to others who may be checking. 1010 00:49:28,506 --> 00:49:29,738 Checking out the church. 1011 00:49:29,914 --> 00:49:34,186 Yeah, I would say, man, if you're thinking about. 1012 00:49:34,258 --> 00:49:37,594 If you're thinking about coming, like, we would love to have 1013 00:49:37,602 --> 00:49:39,802 you, we'd love to meet you, we'd love to hear pieces of your 1014 00:49:39,826 --> 00:49:42,610 story if you want to share those with us. 1015 00:49:43,710 --> 00:49:46,650 We try really hard not to force things at Heaven Earth. 1016 00:49:47,790 --> 00:49:51,078 And so I would just, I would encourage you, like, if you're looking 1017 00:49:51,134 --> 00:49:51,686 for. 1018 00:49:51,838 --> 00:49:54,278 If I don't know if you're looking for a community, if you don't 1019 00:49:54,294 --> 00:49:57,126 know what you're looking for, come by. 1020 00:49:57,198 --> 00:49:57,590 We just. 1021 00:49:57,630 --> 00:50:03,206 We'd love to have a cup of coffee with you and, and just, yeah, 1022 00:50:03,398 --> 00:50:09,126 learn your name and just, yeah, just be present to you and 1023 00:50:09,278 --> 00:50:11,126 to our Heaven Earth community. 1024 00:50:11,198 --> 00:50:13,010 I guess I would just say thank you. 1025 00:50:13,870 --> 00:50:18,502 Thank you for the opportunity to be part of this church. 1026 00:50:18,566 --> 00:50:21,814 Thank you for the opportunity to work at this church. 1027 00:50:21,862 --> 00:50:27,206 Thank you for helping me heal in my journey and for journeying 1028 00:50:27,238 --> 00:50:27,686 with me. 1029 00:50:27,758 --> 00:50:28,742 So it's, it's. 1030 00:50:28,886 --> 00:50:30,130 It really is a. 1031 00:50:31,230 --> 00:50:34,028 It really is a joy to work here. 1032 00:50:34,084 --> 00:50:37,660 And that's something that I really didn't think I could say. 1033 00:50:37,700 --> 00:50:43,880 Four years ago, I wasn't looking to work at a church again. 1034 00:50:46,100 --> 00:50:50,800 And I'm really glad I said yes. 1035 00:50:52,180 --> 00:50:53,548 So love the way you put that. 1036 00:50:53,604 --> 00:50:55,600 Really glad I said yes. 1037 00:50:56,020 --> 00:50:58,810 So her name, Emily Falferson. 1038 00:50:58,900 --> 00:51:00,798 She is the executive pastor at Heaven Earth Church. 1039 00:51:00,814 --> 00:51:02,046 You need to get to know her. 1040 00:51:02,198 --> 00:51:06,318 We thank you for joining us here on the Heaven Earth Church podcast. 1041 00:51:06,414 --> 00:51:09,198 All about the church is looking to make a lasting impact 1042 00:51:09,254 --> 00:51:10,170 in our community. 1043 00:51:12,390 --> 00:51:14,990 We want to thank you for spending time with us today. 1044 00:51:15,110 --> 00:51:18,670 My name is Ross Stackhouse, the pastor to Heaven Earth Church. 1045 00:51:18,830 --> 00:51:22,110 And you may think out there that your story is over, but in fact, 1046 00:51:22,150 --> 00:51:25,416 your faith story may just be beginning. 1047 00:51:25,528 --> 00:51:28,296 If you want more information about our church or you're interested 1048 00:51:28,328 --> 00:51:32,408 in the next step, you can go to heavenearthchurch.org Otherwise, 1049 00:51:32,504 --> 00:51:35,576 we look forward to being with you next time at the Heaven Earth 1050 00:51:35,608 --> 00:51:36,360 Church podcast.