Keeping It Simple

Welcome back to another episode of Keeping It Simple! In this episode, Scott and Luis had the privilege to sit down with Ivan Marti, the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) national director of church multiplication and leadership development. Rev. Ivan Marti was born in Puerto Rico and, in 2018, he became the Assistant Vice-President for Church Multiplication and Leadership Development of The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). His service with The Alliance includes over 25 years of licensed ministry.  He has served as bi-vocational church planting pastor, lead pastor, district extension director, DEXCOM and Board of Directors of the C&MA. He also worked for more than 30 years in engineering, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.   Ivan is a graduate of Alliance Theological Seminary and has a B.S.E.E. Currently, he lives in Ohio with his wife, Lizzette Medina, and they are the proud parents of three boys and grandparents of another three boys.

If you are interested in church planting or joining the Christian and Missionary Alliance family there are links below to get more information. We encourage everyone to be a part of a local and larger church family.

Here are links for more information:

⁠Cmalliance.org/multiplication⁠ 

called2serve.org

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, and subscribe to Keeping It Simple. To be in contact with us please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com for more information! Stay tuned for more episodes! 

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to Keeping It Simple Season 3 Episode 16 with our good friend Rob Wegner of the Kansas City Underground. The Kansas City Underground is a micro church network and disciple making movement in Kansas City that seeks to fill Kansas City with the beauty, justice, and good news of Jesus. Additionally, Rob works for NewThing and Leadership Network. Rob is a husband and a father who desires to see disciple making movements emerge in North America. Rob co-authored The Starfish and the Spirit (check out Season 1: Episode 16 for a full interview on the book).

In this episode, Luis sat down with Rob to discuss global trends in the micro church world and specifically in the United States of America. Rob has years of experience living on mission and training other believers to live the gospel incarnationally in their everyday life. This episode is worth the listen, get a pen and paper out or open up your phone notes section, there is wisdom in what Rob has to say.

To learn more about Rob and his work, click the links he mentioned toward the end of the episode (32:02).

https://newthing.org/

https://leadnet.org/microchurch-next/

https://saturatetheworld.com/

https://www.bravecities.com/

https://www.undergroundnetwork.org/

⁠https://churchprojectnetwork.com/⁠

https://kcunderground.org/

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, and subscribe to Keeping It Simple. To be in contact with us please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com for more information! Stay tuned for more episodes! 

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome back to another episode of Keeping It Simple! We have had a recent hiatus but are bringing back more episodes for your enjoyment and equipping people in the micro church space. In this episode, Scott and Luis sat down with a good friend, Matthew Erikson, and heard the latest from Hope Church (Oak Harbor) and were able to reflect on the seasons of a micro church community. This is a great conversation for anyone exploring micro church stuff and is fulfilling for anyone that wants to learn more!

Matthew Erikson was born and raised on Whidbey Island and now currently serves in ministry as the pastor for Hope Church in Oak Harbor. He is married to Stephanie and has three children. Matthew started his professional career with the Starbucks Coffee Company where he worked in all levels of retail management up to district manager. Matthew received a call to ministry in 2010 and is now licensed and ordained with the Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA). He has a certificate in Pastoral Ministry through the C&MA, a B.S. in Communication from Arizona State University, and is completing an M.A. in Ministry Leadership from Fuller Seminary (2022). Along with being a pastor, Matthew also serves as a coach and specializes in fundraising for ministry purposes. You can reach Matthew through the following avenues:

Email - ⁠[email protected]⁠

Website - ⁠www.hopechurchoh.org⁠

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, and subscribe to Keeping It Simple. To be in contact with us please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com for more information! Stay tuned for more episodes! 

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

On this episode of Keeping It Simple, Luis sat down with Caleb and Deanna Kytonen to talk about house churches in Seattle. Caleb and Deanna started a house Church network in Seattle called Open Home Church. Prior to this they met in college at Whitman, and both worked with college students for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship for 10 years, starting new chapters at the Evergreen State College, University of Puget Sound, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle University, and worked at an existing chapter at University of Washington. Deanna got her masters in divinity at Fuller. Caleb and Deanna have been house church practitioners in Seattle for over five years.

For more information and to stay up to date with their work check out https://www.openhomechurch.org/

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, subscribe to Keeping It Simple, and check out our Patreon. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to another episode of Keeping It Simple! Luis interviews Scott about his simple church/ micro church experience in this episode. The conversation ranges from how Scott got into micro church stuff, his experience in starting new simple churches, and the practical reality of co-vocational living. Scott is a current resident of the Simple Church Collective and actively practicing starting new simple churches. Scott attended Reach Training Institute through Salem Alliance Church, bringing him to Washington. Through Covid, Scott explored decentralized expressions of the church and is now living out his calling from Jesus through starting new simple churches and working co-vocationally. 

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, subscribe to Keeping It Simple, and check out our Patreon. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to Season 3: Episode 12 where Luis interviews church-planting friends, Dave and Elena Reynolds. Dave and Elena Reynolds have served in church planting for over three decades. They have launched three churches and sent out many planting teams.  They have launched two planting centers and a national Greenhouse Church movement.  They currently work with Alliance Church Multiplication in the west and in the South Pacific District. Dave is also a musician and plays gigs both solo and also with his son in the beautiful wine country of the Temecula Valley. Dave and Elena have three grown children and live in Southern California. Enjoy the episode and the conversation about church planting in the digital age. 

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, subscribe to Keeping It Simple, and check out our Patreon. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to Keeping It Simple Season 3: Episode 11. This time around Luis sat down with Micah Dodson. Micah is an amateur luthier, a distance runner, a father of three adult children, a husband of one, and a church planting strategist. Micah and Kristen Dodson have served in church planting for over 20 years in the Northwest. Having served in Suburban, Urban, and largely post-Christian contexts, the Dodsons have experience in starting, leading, and multiplying a variety of church models.  Additionally, as a couple, they have over a decade of experience running Church Planting Assessment Centers. Micah’s strengths are in coaching, training, and assessing church planting leaders. Currently, Micah leads Thrive Church Planting and oversees church multiplication for the Alliance Northwest. Luis and Micah talk about their experience in the micro church, trends that are happening in the church, and the leadership development of church planters. There is a lot to take in! Enjoy the episode! 

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, subscribe to Keeping It Simple, and check out our Patreon. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to the episode! In this episode, Scott and Luis interviewed fellow Seattle local, Colton Meo. Colton Meo received a Bachelor's degree in Biblical Studies and Theology, a Master's in Preaching and Pastoral Ministry, and another Master's in Pastoral Care and Counseling, all from Biola University. He currently resides in North Seattle and works as a Volunteer Coordinator at a living room space for people experiencing housing instability. Beyond this, he helps lead simple expressions of church in his neighborhood. Colton is an everyday person living on mission where Jesus has called him. Colton has a lot of insight from several years in the prevailing church model and more recently in the mico church space. 

If you want to get a hold of Colton, you can reach him at [email protected]

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, subscribe to Keeping It Simple, and check out our Patreon. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to Keeping It Simple Season 3: Episode 9. After a brief holiday break, Scott sat down with Luis and Melissa Sanchez to talk about their neighborhood simple church: Sunday dinner. In this episode, we hear a bit of the origin story of Sunday dinner, the highs and lows of a year of simple church work, and what the future may have in store for them. There is a lot of gold in this conversation! Enjoy it! 

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, and subscribe to Keeping It Simple. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

Welcome to Keeping It Simple Season 3: Episode 7. In this episode, Luis interviewed Tim Gaydos, the Seattle Sounders and Mariners chaplain! A native of the Pacific Northwest, Tim is passionate about serving the City of Seattle and building meaningful relationships with people in this great city. Tim is a recognized leader who strives to create open conversations to bring purposeful change; to engage with diverse people groups to increase opportunities for inclusion; and to champion for relational mentoring to foster the next generation’s leaders. Tim is the co-founder of Together Washington, a new Seattle-based nonprofit organization that launched in late 2019.

Thank you for listening! Please like, share, and subscribe to Keeping It Simple. To contact us, please email [email protected] or visit simplechurchcollective.com

Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine