Breaking Ground

A Collection of Stories, Prayers, & Devotions

Breaking Ground is a quarterly newsletter highlighting the work and mission of Open Door Church & Plowshares Home Churches to love God, love others, and share the peace of Christ in and around Lexington, Kentucky.

Each quarter we’ll keep you up-to-date on important news and opportunities in Open Door. We’ll also feature a quarterly theme to help us all grow in our faith as we follow Christ together.

Over the past few weeks at Open Door, we’ve been talking about discipleship—what it means to follow Jesus and, in the process, to be formed more and more into His likeness. One of the things I love about the language of formation is that it reminds us that following Jesus is a journey. We don’t arrive all at once. We learn, grow, stumble, get back up, and keep following. As one of our Open Door values says, “We’re broken, but becoming whole.”

And we don’t do that becoming alone.

This month, we have the privilege of celebrating Pastor Adam’s 20th anniversary as pastor of Open Door. Twenty years is a long time to faithfully follow Jesus in one place, among one group of people. Over those years, Pastor Adam’s ministry has blessed countless people—not simply because of the things he has done, but because of the person he has allowed Jesus to form him to be. His faithfulness is a reminder that discipleship lived out over time leaves a mark on the people and places around us. We are grateful for the ways his journey with Jesus has shaped the journey of Open Door.

In fact, as I look back over this summer, I can see formation happening all around us. I saw it as our young people served during Youth Mission Day and as creativity and community filled our Summer Art Studio. I saw it as we celebrated a baptism with one of our Home Churches and as generations gathered for Back to School Worship. I saw it around tables at Brunch Church and in the fellowship and wider family of faith we experienced at BIC General Assembly.

Some of those moments were big and celebratory. Others probably seemed fairly ordinary at the time. But that is often how formation works. God uses worship and service, conversations and meals, relationships and celebrations—ordinary moments of life together—to shape us into people who look a little more like Jesus.

In 2 Peter 1:3-8, Peter describes a life in which faith grows into goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and ultimately love. He doesn't describe people who have arrived. He describes people in whom these things are present “in increasing measure.”

I think that is a beautiful picture of what I hope for us as a church. We’re broken, but becoming whole—and what a gift that we get to become together.

In Grace & Peace,

Pastor Christina

NextGen Pastor, Open Door Church

Learn more about us here.

Keep reading for Community Testimonies, Devotions, & Resources

 

Practicing Open Doors

A devotional by Lead Pastor, Adam Jones

I have often heard church buildings referred to as "the Lord's House". I am not always sure what the intention is, but I want us to be clear on this: God no longer dwells in buildings. He has chosen to dwell in people.

Click here for the rest of this quarters’s devotion and spiritual practice

What’s Happening?

Summer 2026

Summer at Open Door was full of opportunities to worship, serve, create, celebrate, and simply enjoy being together! Our young people put their faith into action during Youth Mission Day, while Summer Art Studio opened our doors for creativity and connection with our community. We celebrated new life in Christ through a Home Church baptism and gathered across generations for a special Back-to-School Worship celebration as students and teachers prepared for a new year.

There was plenty of time for fellowship, too! Brunch Church gave us the chance to gather around tables as well as in worship, and members of our church family joined the larger Brethren in Christ family at BIC General Assembly. Through all of it—serving, creating, worshiping, eating, celebrating, and spending time together—we saw God continuing to form us as a community of people learning what it means to follow Jesus together.

Celebrating 20 years!

On Sunday, September 13, our church and members of the surrounding community gathered to celebrate Pastor Adam, his wife Kimberly, and the Jones family as they marked 20 years of service to the church and the city of Lexington.

From his uncanny ability to remember all the prayer requests at Sunday gathering to his incredibly leadership in serving our city through BUILD - Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-action, Pastor Adam is a shepherd after God's own heart. He will be the first to tell you he's not perfect, but we will be the first to say he shows us what it means to be a disciple of Christ

 

Brunch Church in the Park

Each summer, we like to end the season with an All Community Gathering in the park. We worship, we pray, we eat, and we enjoy spending time together. Our Brunch Church has become a favorite day for all of us, but especially the youngest among us.

 

General Assembly 2026

In July, several members of Open Door attended the Brethren in Christ General Assembly in Miami. It was a a wonderful time together with our BIC brothers and sisters from around the world. Many of our leaders had the opportunity to lead breakouts, or speak from the Main Stage during the God at Work segment.

We’d especially like to recognize Pastor Stephanie on the release of her book for children “Who Are We? A child’s guide to the Brethren in Christ Core Values.”

Pastor Adam had a chance to share on a panel discussion regarding Open Door Church and its ministry. Pastor Christina spoke from the main stage regarding the work of the Great Lakes Children’s Discipleship and Formation Task Force and joined the Compelling Worship team for a breakout session. Pastor Matthew was able to speak on the work of the Shalom Society.

We are grateful for the opportunity to gather with our BIC family!

Art Studio, New Members, and fond Farewells

Our Summer Art Studio focused on our Vision for the year: “Making Room: More Love, Less Fear.” Our four leaders, Christina Embree, Marianne Hamilton, Katie Smith, and Emily Reina Kerkhof , led our worshipers through artistic expressions of hospitality, welcome, acceptance and family.

We were also blessed to welcome 14 new members to Open Door this summer, including several new families and their children. What a blessing to the whole community!

One of the greatest joys of our congregation is getting to send people out as they pursue God’s calling on their life. This summer, we commissioned Ayo, a member of our worship team and a faithful sister in Christ, as she gets ready to move to Cincinnati for the next step in her education ultimately preparing her for her ministry. It’s a good reminder of our value “It’s bigger than us.”

 

Youth Mission Day

Through the summer, we take a break from Youth & Young Adult Home Church but we don’t take a break from serving God and others. In July, our youth participated in a “Christmas in July” Mission Day full of opportunities to make room for more love and less fear.

We baked “Christmas” cookies for our friends at Bluegrass Rehab, stuff stockings for moms at Step by Step, shopped for and put together Welcome Home baskets for the first four Open Door Housing residents, and hosted a picnic for our college student sponsor, Tawanna, and other friends from One Parent Scholar House.

We also played Christmas trivia, competed in a candy cane relay, had a snowball fight with melted snowballs, ate frozen hot chocolate, played Christmas music musical chairs, and enjoyed a White Elephant Gift exchange - summer edition.

Coming Soon: Making Room Peace Conference

In a polarized world, peacemaking is more than avoiding conflict—it’s learning how to make room for differences as Jesus calls us to. We would love for you to join us for Making Room: More Love, Less Fear, a gathering of local ministry and nonprofit leaders sharing real stories of building connection, practicing hospitality, and creating communities where differences are welcomed.

Together, we’ll explore questions like: What practices help us move from fear and divsion toward hospitality, welcome, and connection? and What does peacemaking look like in everyday life?

Individual registration: $10 / Bring a group of 6 for $50. Register online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/making-room-more-love-less-fear-tickets-1989878348707

 

Other News & Updates of Interest

Thriving Congregations Grant

We are excited to announce that we have received a Thriving Congregations grant from the Brethren in Christ to help support our partnership with One Parent Scholar House. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve in this way! Our current sponsor student shared her story with us at our Sunday gathering and we’ve are partnering with her and her son as we support her this year. You can learn more about Thriving Congregations here: https://bicus.org/initiatives/thriving-congregations

Home Church Baptism

We love that Open Door expresses church in multiple ways. Even though our Sunday gathering is a place where many of us worship together, it is not the only place we come together. Our home churches are another place where we meet to lear, worship, and grow together. Recently one of our home churches celebrated a baptism in the backyard! We celebrate with Johannah and her family on this momentous occasion.

Visiting The Nest

Over the summer, a few representatives from Open Door had a chance to tour The Nest, a nonprofit ministry located in Lexington committed to creating safe spaces for those experiencing intimate partner abuse and supporting parents/caregivers through classes, drop-off childcare, and other resources including clothing, hygiene products, and advocacy. We are excited to help support their work through one of our youth & young adult quarterly service projects

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PRAISE & PRAYER

We invite you to join us as we celebrate the gifts we’ve received and to help shoulder the burdens we carry, visit our website for a regularly updated list of the community’s Praises and Prayer requests here.

Reminder: Where to Find Church News

In addition to Breaking Ground, this monthly newsletter, we also send a shorter News & Notes each Friday which includes information on current events (news) and praise/prayer requests from church family members (notes), check out these important spots for information: