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 started summer 2023 with Gather and a reading group. We had to pause many of our plans upon moving in May 2024, but we hope to 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.

Past Gatherings and Ministry Offerings (Perhaps Returning in the Future)

Gather: Gather @ the Greenhouse is a time of inter-denominational and inter-generational Christian worship and fellowship following a simple liturgy of prayer, Bible reading, preaching, and music, followed by discussion.

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. In 2024, The Greenhouse hosted reading groups on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together and Aimee Byrd’s Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Pastoral Care: We are committed to provide pastoral care to those who need it, including prayer, spiritual direction, premarital 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 hope to continue to minister to college students through The Greenhouse Ministry.

Happening in Part/In Progress:

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 14 years of full-time teaching and leadership in classical Christian education. During this time, Kyle has also co-founded and run The Classical Thistle, a website devoted to promoting classical Christian education in a 21st century context, which serves as the host for online content for The Greenhouse. 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 as we believe the goals of Christian education and discipleship to be the same.

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, readers of The Classical Thistle and The Greenhouse community can receive PDF copies of these in process works to use for personal study. Coming Soon.

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. Kyle has experience in completing the year-long Bonhoeffer Project, but he is designing an alternative that is more focused on contextual ministry and at a lower cost than programs like the Bonhoeffer Project.

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 would 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 practices that can be a source of faithful stewardship as well as opportunities for discipline, contemplation, and other spiritual practices.