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.


  • Groups

    The 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.

  • People: Laura, Andres, and Melody

    The Guiding group aims to guide the community toward its core values and sacred center.

  • People: Coach Cherokee, Tiffany, and Jason

    The Redistributing group aims to steward and redistribute resources in ways that align with the community’s core values.

  • People: Brynn, Holly, and Melissa

    The Mending group aims to help navigate conflict, seek repair, find healing, and nurture a safe and brave community.


  • Pastor

    Melody 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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  • Engagement & Education

    Chris has been a longtime member of Ekklesia, over many seasons and iterations. And he has served in varied roles over the years, even while he was completing his Masters at Duke Divinity School.

    Currently, he is the primary community engagement person for Ekklesia, working with CALEB and the Faith Caucus in town. He also has a passion for Christian education and formation, tending to both our library and contributing to our various services. You’ll also see Chris preaching once a month alongside Melody.