Our Story

Some things are built. Others are discovered along the way.

The Lodging Place was born in a wilderness season.

After more than twenty years of pastoral ministry, we found ourselves on a journey we hadn’t anticipated. What began as questions about ministry and the Church gradually became an invitation into something much deeper—a rediscovery of who God is, who we are in Him, and what it means to live together as His family.

We thought we were being led into a different way of doing ministry. Along the way, we began to realize that God was inviting us into a deeper way of knowing Him.

And somewhere in that journey, the words of Jeremiah became especially meaningful:

In the ancient world, a lodging place was somewhere along the journey where travelers could find shelter, receive what they needed, and rest before continuing on their way.

We have come to love that picture.

What if the wilderness isn’t simply a place to endure until we reach something better? What if it can become a place of beautiful discovery, where the things we’ve depended upon begin to fall away and we awaken to the nearness and goodness of God?

The Lodging Place has grown out of that discovery.

For many years, we understood ministry largely through the language of building—building churches, building programs, building vision, building something for God.

And while there is beauty in faithful work, we began to recognize how easily our sense of identity and worth could become entangled with what we were accomplishing.

The wilderness invited us to consider something different.

What if our greatest calling isn’t to accomplish something significant for God, but to know Him? What if fruitfulness grows out of abiding rather than striving? What if we could learn to participate in what the Father is already doing instead of feeling responsible for manufacturing something for Him?

These questions began changing not only how we understood ministry, but how we understood ourselves.

Three words gradually gave language to what we were discovering:

Presence, because God Himself is the treasure. We don’t gather merely to learn about Him, but to know Him and become increasingly aware of His nearness in the ordinary rhythms of life.

Covenant, because we believe the Church is first a family. We belong to one another not because we are useful to one another, but because we have been brought together in Christ.

Rest, because life with God was never intended to be driven by striving. We are learning to live and work from the place of being loved, rather than continually trying to earn or prove something.

These aren’t simply values hanging on a wall. They are things we are still learning to live.

In October 2025, The Lodging Place began gathering in Macclenny, Florida.

We didn’t begin with a building campaign, an elaborate ministry model, or a desire to recreate what we had known before.

We simply began making room.

Room to worship, pray, open Scripture, share communion, listen, eat together, and discover what it means to become family.

Some of our most meaningful moments have happened in ordinary places—around tables, in a small gathering room, and beneath the branches of the oak trees.

We are discovering that the life of God often unfolds in ways that are quieter and more beautiful than we once imagined.

There is room here for those who have walked with Jesus for decades, those navigating a wilderness season, those carrying questions, and those longing to know Him more deeply.

Although The Lodging Place is planted in Macclenny, we don’t believe we were meant to walk alone.

Along our journey, we found spiritual family in Damon and Tammy Thompson and the family of The Homestead in Mobile, Alabama.

What began as a relationship became a place of encouragement, covenant, formation, and belonging. In September 2026, Damon ordained Joshua and Ashley, recognizing and sending them in the work God has entrusted to them here.

For us, apostolic relationship is not primarily about hierarchy or organizational structure. It is about family, accountability, encouragement, and walking together in the purposes of God.

We are grateful to be planted deeply in this place while remaining connected to a family larger than ourselves.

We don’t know everything The Lodging Place will become.

And perhaps we don’t need to.

We have come to believe that the beauty of this journey isn’t found primarily in arriving somewhere, accomplishing something, or becoming something impressive.

It is found in knowing Him.

For now, we want to remain faithful to what is in front of us—to love God, love one another, tend the ground we’ve been given, make room at the table, and keep the door open for travelers along the way.

We are still learning. Still discovering. Still becoming.

And we’re grateful to be on the journey together.