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.

“We need a bigger table!”

About number of years ago, I heard my father-in-law say this to my mother-in-law, much to her delight because she definitely had been asking for a bigger table. But he said it shortly after a Thanksgiving gathering at their house where the number of people in attendance had grown to exceed the number of seats available at the various tables in the house. They made the decision that night to hire an Amish carpenter to build them a dining room table that included several inserts so that it could “grow” into another room as the family grew in size in and number.

We have had many Thanksgiving feast around that table and it has grown as our family has grown. As more people join the family, our table got bigger.

Over this first half of the year, our table here at Open Door has gotten bigger. We have the greatest honor of all; we get to look across the room at each other and say, “We need a bigger table!”  Why? In short, our family has grown. We have welcomed new members, we have explored more connections in our community, and we have stepped forth in faith with new ventures as God opens doors with affordable housing, college student sponsorship, and a peace conference in Lexington. 

As I consider this story so obviously written by Jesus and illustrated by the Holy Spirit, I cannot help but reflect on the book written by theologian Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace. In his book, Volf characterizes an embrace with four distinct movements: Arms open to others (invitation), arms reaching out to others (waiting), arms wrapped around others (embrace) and arms opening to release others (differentiation).

I think these four movements are so important to a true embrace and during my time as NextGen pastor at Open Door, I have experienced all four. An embrace is different than a hug. When I think of a hug, I often think about one person, usually an overbearing aunt or an enthusiastic lead pastor, coming towards a person and rather unapologetically throwing their arms around them whether that person is ready for it or welcoming of it.

But an embrace is different. It starts with an invitation. Open arms. No compulsion, just a welcoming movement. And it doesn’t pressure by moving towards a person or forcing a person to come to them. It waits. The arms remain open in welcome, sometimes longer than anticipated, but nevertheless, waiting. Then, when there is a response, there is a wrapping around the other person, accepting them into that space fully and without reserve. But perhaps the most powerful move of an embrace is the final one, the opening back up. The recognition that an embrace is not a position to be forced upon another indefinitely but a gift to be freely given, freely received, and freely left behind.

I think throughout our lives we find ourselves in different spaces and places of embrace, different seasons of this beautiful movement. And Open Door is no different. We have all been invited, welcomed, embraced, and now we are at a place of opening up. A new invitation is being offered, a chance for us to once again experience welcome and be wrapped in acceptance. We are, as our vision for 2026 states, making room. 

All of these are part of embrace and none of them are more or less important to the experience of Christian hospitality and being part of God’s family.

I am so grateful for the embrace we have as Open Door at both our Sunday gathering and in our home churches. As a consummate Italian who loves all references to shared meals together, I am excited that we need a bigger table.

In Grace & Peace,

Pastor Christina

NextGen Pastor, Open Door Church

Learn more about us here.

Keep reading for Community Testimonies, Devotions, & Resources

 

Practicing Fellowship

A devotional by Associate Pastor, Matthew Peterson

What do we mean by fellowship? The Greek word here is koinonia, which means “close association involving mutual interests and sharing, association, communion, fellowship, close relationship.” We are called, not to mere friendship or acquaintance, but to close relationship with God and with each other, and through that to experience…

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

What’s Happening?

Easter & Pentecost 2026

This past quarter, we have washed one another’s feet, grieved Christ’s crucifixion, celebrated his resurrection and commemorated the birthday of the church and the coming of the Holy Spirit!

It is impossible to put into words what these holy moments have meant to our congregation but we are grateful for each and every opportunity to remember anew the salvation and indwelling we experience both individually and together.

Pictured are our Easter children’s sermon, Maundy Thursday prayer at the cross, our flowered Easter cross, and new members joining our church family at Pentecost.

“We are people of resurrection. We live it out every day in how we love God and others, as we usher in God’s kingdom in this world.”-Pastor Adam

 

Grateful for a Successful BUILD Nehemiah Action

On April 14, nearly 50 Open Door church members and friends joined over 1,200 other Lexingtonians at the annual BUILD Direct Action where issues of social justice and community need were presented to local government officials with specific asks for transparency, funding, and policy change. All the officials gave affirmative statements to continue moving forward with renter’s issues to make our city a safer and better place for our neighbors. Many thanks to all who attended and for Pastor Adam and wife Kimberly for leading our Justice team

 

A Beautiful Sending

This Palm Sunday was an especially meaningful one for our faith community as we prayed over and sent out our dear friends Sungbin, Shinae, and Seungju. In addition to prayers of blessings, the family received gifts including a painting to represent hope in Christ and key to the church so they will always be able to come home. Together with them, we trust in the goodness of God and unfailing love that endures forever

THe People of Open Door

We were excited to celebrate with our Asbury Seminary grads this May. Congratulations to our graduates: Pastor Matthew Peterson, PhD; Pastor Luke Embree, DMin; Jake Boyd, ThM; Catherine Atiba, Master’s in Mental Health Counseling; and Ayooluwa Olawole, Master’s in Mental Health Counseling

We also want to recognize our community members who joined our Annual Planting Day (in the rain!) and took care of the landscaping around the Community Center and meeting house. Not picture: Adam Jones and Emily Reina Kerkhoff.

Finally, we were happy to host a Lent Art Studio during March that helped us to explore the themes of Lent. We are incredibly grateful to our leaders this time around Christina Embree, Julia Jones, Katie Smith, and Marianne Hamilton-Brown. Art Studio has become an important part of our worship experience and you can learn more about it here: https://www.opendoorlex.org/art-studio

 

Youth & Young Adults

Our Youth & Young Adults continued to gather for Home Church through the spring where we spent time in the second half of the book we've been studying - You Need Friends by Jake Thurston. This second half focused on our friendship with Christ and spiritual formation in friendships

We also host a Quarterly Service project every three months. For our second quarter, a group of youth representatives utilized a grant from Thrivent Financial to shop for and restock our Little Free Pantry.

In May, we hosted our annual End-of-School-Year bonfire where we ceremoniously burn our least favorite homework and also roast hot dogs and eat S’mores. It is a much loved tradition by youth and young adults alike!

Spill The Tea

The women of Open Door had a lovely time on Mother’s Day at our May Spill the Tea luncheon sharing our stories of how God has uniquely crafted us to be creative in community. After sharing our own “favorite things” that we do, we encouraged one another with ways we can use our gifts to love and others

The luncheon brings together all generations in a time of faith sharing and community building. As Pastor Adam recently shared at a Sunday gathering “Parents, just a reminder that we love hearing your children’s voices in our service.” Children are not just present at our gatherings but active participants in the body. We are so blessed by the voices of our youngest members in our midst.

 

Other News & Updates of Interest

Open Door Housing Inc.

We are so thankful for the opportunity Open Door Housing has had to begin work on the first home. There will be a groundbreaking ceremony on Sunday, May 31 at 2 pm. We will meet at the church building and walk to the groundbreaking together. We would love for you to come and celebrate with us! Learn more at https://www.opendoorhousinginc.org/

BIC Great Lakes Annual Conference

This year, a number of Open Door pastors and members are at the BIC Great Lakes Conference Annual meeting including Pastor Matthew Peterson (Shalom Society), Pastor Steph Peterson (Children’s Discipleship), Pastor Luke Embree (Common Ground Church), and Emily Reina Kerkhof (ODC representative).

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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: