Ekklesia is an inclusive faith community seeking healing, wisdom, companionship, and imagination as we follow the liberating way of Jesus.
Our Values
Healing
We work to create a safe spaces where healing is sacred. Our hope is to be a community in which rest and repair are deeply integrated into all the parts of our lives – with ourselves, with each other, with the land, and ultimately with God.
Liberation
We work to cultivate mutual flourishing. Our well-being is intertwined with that of all creation. And as the body of Christ in the power of the Spirit, we seek to dismantle systems of oppression to bear witness to God’s reign of liberation.
Wisdom
We work to be a community in pursuit of wisdom. We hold space for the depth of our questions, the breadth of our searching, and the fullness of our experience. Drawing especially from Christian tradition and Sacred Scripture, we listen for the Wisdom who guides to us here and now.
Companionship
We work to nurture a community of care and kinship. We seek to walk alongside one another in the fullness of our humanity, through deep grief and great joy, trusting the Holy One who walks beside us.
Imagination
We work to unlearn the harmful stories into which we’ve been scripted so that we might reimagine our lives within the story God is telling. We’re a community of creativity and play, experimentation and wonder, believing that another world is possible.
Meet the Team
As Ekklesia, we’re experimenting with a form of egalitarian structure and leadership.
Instead of operating with a top-down model of Senior Pastor, Assistant Pastors, Elders, etc., we have small teams elected by the community and entrusted with areas of community leadership. We express this model through 7 interlocking circles with the cross at the center.
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GroupsThe truth is that the church should be a place where every person’s presence is valued and worthy of being heard. With this in mind we created a structure that works to allow everyone to find a place (or places) to feel heard and valued.
In the illustration above, the solid-lined circles are ones where the members are voted in by the larger community for a one-year rotation. These folks have some kind of experience or education that qualifies them to hold these positions. These roles are detailed below.
The dotted-lined circles are ones where all community members are invited and empowered to get involved. They are:
Tending which deals with the day-to-day administrative work of the church
Cultivating which encourages the community to gather outside of the Sunday church services
Engaging which is focused on outreach in the larger Chattanooga community
Communing which focuses on our Sunday morning gatherings and other liturgical services.
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People: Laura Hughes, Andres Sarabia, and Melody Winderweedle
The Guiding group aims to guide the community toward its core values and sacred center.
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People: Aaron “Cherokee” Ellison, Tiffany Good, and Jason Mallory
The Redistributing group aims to steward and redistribute resources in ways that align with the community’s core values.
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People: Brynn Marie, Bud Winderweedle, and Melissa Sarabia
The Mending group aims to help navigate conflict, seek repair, find healing, and nurture a safe and brave community.
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PastorMelody was the lead pastor of Ekklesia for over 8 years. Since our reorganization, she continues to act in a pastoral role as an equal member of our larger community. In addition to her decades of practical ministry experience, she is finishing up her Masters of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary.
Melody is passionate about empowering folks in their calling, engaging with the complexities of scripture, and offering a broad and expansive Christianity to anyone asking the good and hard questions.
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Spiritual DirectorBud is currently a member of the Mending Group and also leads our Spiritual Formation Sundays.
In addition, he is a trained Spiritual Director through the Sustainable Faith School of Spiritual Direction. If you are interested in learning more or scheduling a session, click here.