Overview of Ministry

We have big dreams for all that we COULD, one day, do. But we are realistic and recognize it won't all come at once. We will start this summer (2023) with Gather. Then, as time progresses, we will add some of these other ideas as the community has need and we have capacity (or help!). We look forward to seeing what God will do in the months (and hopefully years) to come.

Happening Now:

Gather: Gather @ the Greenhouse is a time of inter-denominational and inter-generational Christian fellowship following a simple liturgy of prayer, Bible reading, preaching, and music, followed by discussion. Summer 2023 Gather will be from 1-3pm on Sundays.

Pastoral Care: We are committed to provide pastoral care to those who need it, including prayer, spiritual counseling, and more.

Collegiate Ministry: For more than 11 years, Kyle and Kristin served as campus missionaries on a college campus. Though the Lord has called us to a broader, more inter-denominational work, we still have a deep sense of calling to collegiate ministry and plan to continue to minister to college students through The Greenhouse Ministry.

Book Studies: Kyle piloted the book study program during summer 2021 with great success. One group on philosophy read The Beauty of the Infinite by David Bentley Hart; the theology group read Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson. These groups come together in community to discuss the content of the books and the ideas that spring forth from them, with the hope that we can spur one another on to Christian growth and generative living. Kyle will begin a study July 8 on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together.

Christian Education: Kyle has received B.A., M.Div., and PhD. degrees from Christian institutions. Kyle has also taught for a year and half of part-time college teaching and for over 11 years of full-time teaching in classical Christian education. Kyle has also co-organized and hosted a classical Christian education conference for over five years and has done teacher training at multiple institutions. The Greenhouse aims to provide resources and training in Christian education. Most of this Christian education mission will be done through The Classical Thistle, a classical education website Kyle runs as a "branch" of The Greenhouse ministry.

Happening in Part/In Progress:

Website Resources (Phase 1): Available in Resource Library for those who create a free account on the website.

Books: Kyle has been in process on writing numerous books on ministry, the Christian life, and Christian education. Though not yet completed, The Greenhouse Members will receive PDF copies of these in process works to use for personal study.
Discipleship Studies: We have already completed creating three discipleship studies that are easily used and/or adapted for small group studies: Abide in Me (Gospel of John); Christ, the Church’s Anchor (Epistle to the Hebrews); and What is the Gospel?

Coming Later (We Hope):

Discipleship Strategy Program: Does your church or ministry need to rethink how to make disciples who make disciples? The Greenhouse is developing a Discipleship Strategy Program to help church and ministry leaders move from gospel understanding to discipleship definition to a strategy for a disciple-making program.

G-Groups: Small group meetings rooted in biblical and theological topics with an emphasis on accountability, prayer, and Scripture memory.

Website Resources (Phase 2):

Discipleship & Theology Blog: Sometimes we all need a reminder of the challenges and successes of the Christian life. This blog will share stories, practices, and biblical teaching on the life of discipleship and how we can contextualize biblical practices into a 21st century context.
Video Resources: The Greenhouse plans to provide video resources on theology and discipleship. Yes, there are thousands of hours of great content on YouTube and various sources you can watch. In fact, we will often share some of these resources through our blog. However, we have found that it can be helpful to hear videos from people that you both know and can follow-up with regarding questions and application of the content of such teaching. So although video resources are not a primary goal of our ministry, we do think they can be helpful and we will work towards producing this content.

Micro-Conference: Sometimes the world, our country, or our community face a cultural moment that requires a Christian response. Micro-conferences are designed to be a several hour seminar with teaching, Q&A, and discussion on these important topics.

VestFest: Inspired by Hutchmoot, this yearly conference will be a place to foster Christian community, particularly around the arts and the Christian imagination. Live music, creative workshops, and meals together form the basic design of this conference, but so much more can happen in our time together.

Creation Care & Everyday Life Workshops: One way to live generatively is to make use of everything that we have. Instead of living with a consume and waste mentality, we can practice ways of creatively reusing the resources we already have. One example is our decision years ago to start fermenting our garbage through the Bokashi method to turn our trash into dirt. We can host workshops on Bokashi, making Kombucha, culturing homemade yeast for bread, gardening, indoor plant care, and more.