Some Updates from the Network
Bob Hyatt
August 4, 2016
Ecclesia News

Keas Keasler Accepts New Role with Friends University & Apprentice Institute Sarah and Keas Keasler are moving to Wichita! After five and a half years of serving at Ecclesia’s Rhythm Church in Miami, Keas has accepted a professor position at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.

Starting in August he’ll be the Assistant Professor of Christian Spiritual Formation at Friends University, a Christian liberal arts college, teaching undergraduate students as well as working with James Bryan Smith to build a Master’s program for higher-level thinking in the field of Christian discipleship and formation. Sarah will be pursuing her master’s degree in business administration (MBA), something she has been wanting to do for some time now.

Keas says: “This move is bittersweet for both me and Sarah. We couldn’t be more excited about stepping into what God has for us in this next season of life and joining the team at Friends University. But we feel a great deal of sadness that we’ll no longer be a part of Rhythm and our community in Miami. I don’t have words to express what a joy and privilege it has been to lead a community like Rhythm and do ministry with my best friends. “Love God Love Miami” will be something we hold onto forever!”
Mark Moore to Serve as Next Lead Pastor of River Valley Church!
After a lengthy search process, River Valley Church in Mishawaka IN has selected Mark Moore as their next LeadPastor. He is set to begin July 31st. Previously, Mark serves as Director of Church Mobilization for International Justice Mission. Prior to that he served a short season on the staff of Ecclesia as Director of Coaching and Missional Formation.

“It was just a few days after I learned that River Valley’s former Lead Pastor, Rick Callahan would be concluding his time at River Valley that I called Mark to mention that a position might be opening”, relates Chris Backert, Eccelsia’s National Director. “From walking along with several of River Valley’s leaders the last several years, I had a sense of the kind of person the church may need during this next season. Of course, I’m delighted that as they worked through their own process and time-line that out of dozens and dozens of candidates, they also believe Mark would be the kind of leader to shepherd River Valley in this next era.”

We’re pleased to welcome two new members to our Ecclesia Board…

Mia Chang
Next Gen Church
Jon Seltenheim

Next Gen churched was formed from a gathering of friends longing to see a new expression of the gospel that was explicitly multi-cultural formed several years ago. Under Mia’s leadership, Next Gen has proven to be a mission-shaped and spirit-empowered congregation that is reaching across a wide range of ethnic and economic situations in central New Jersey.

Jon comes to Ecclesia as a result of his friendship and support of both Ecclesia leaders and Ecclesia congregations. He has more than 30 years experience in leadership in the insurance industry. He has been recognized as an outstanding leader in his field and as a dedicated contributor to the non-profit sector.

On these new additions, National Director Chris Backert shares, “With Mia and Jon joining our leadership team, we are adding two people of both high competence and high character. Many in our network have learned from Mia in the areas of multi-cultural ministry and life in the Spirit. We are excited to have her shaping our collective efforts in these and many other ways. Jon is also the right addition at the right time for Ecclesia as we seek to solidify the organizational aspects of our ministry. He has a unique blend of organizational and administrative expertise, while being invested in the local church and new congregations in particular.”

By Bob Hyatt September 15, 2025
A New Ecclesia Network Benefit! 
By By Jim Pace September 15, 2025
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s shooting, social media has been filled with perspectives, as is typically the case. I am reluctant to add mine as there seems to be no lack one way or the other. To be clear, this is not just about Charlie Kirk, this is about violence across the board. I did not feel led to write this because it was Charlie Kirk specifically, but rather another in a long and winding line of acts of violence, that my ministering at Va. Tech gives me a bit of personal experience with. But as I have just finished teaching two classes on Christian Ethics, and as I was encountering again the spread of responses from my Christian sisters and brothers, I felt led to look at this event through that lens. Ethics, at its base, seeks to answer the question, “What is better or worse? Good or bad?” As a follower of Jesus, this is what seems right to me… 1. We never celebrate harm. Whatever our disagreements, rejoicing at a shooting violates the bedrock claim that every person bears the imago Dei (Gen 1:27). Scripture is explicit: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls” (Prov 24:17); “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44); “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom 12:21). I don’t love blasting verses like this, but you cannot get away from them if you are reading the scriptures. 2. Moral responsibility sits with the shooter—full stop . Saying “his rhetoric got him shot” smuggles in a just-world logic that excuses violence. As a contextual theologian, I have an enormous amount of respect for the impact our various narratives have in shaping our understandings of the world around us. They are inescapable. But that is not what I am talking about here. Ideas can be wrong, harmful, or worth opposing vigorously, but vigilante ‘payback’ is never a Christian category. My primary gig is that of a consultant for churches and non-profits. Today, in my meetings and among friends, I have heard some variation of “He got what he deserved,” and “I vote for some very public justice for the shooter.” Both of these views speak of revenge; the follower of Jesus is called to lay these down as our Messiah did. Not asked to, told to. 3. Grief and outrage about gun violence are legitimate; schadenfreude is not . Channel the pain toward nonviolent, concrete action (policy advocacy, community intervention, survivor support), not dehumanization. Here are four thinkers who have had a profound impact on the Christian ethic I try to work out in this world. As I share them, three things are worthy of mention. One, I certainly do not claim to follow their guidance perfectly, and at times I do not even do it well, but they have all given me what seems like a Jesus-centered and faith-filled direction to move in. Second, I do not claim to speak for them in this particular matter; I am merely showing how my ethical lens has been formed. Third, clearly I am not dealing with all the components of our response to these types of violence, this is not a comprehensive treatment, merely the reflections in the moment. Stanley Hauerwas : “Christian nonviolence is not a strategy to rid the world of violence.” It’s part of following Jesus, not a tactic we drop when it’s inconvenient. Stanley Hauerwas, Walking with God in a Fragile World, by James Langford, editor, Leroy S. Rouner, editor N. T. Wright : “The call of the gospel is for the church to implement the victory of God in the world through suffering love.” Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good. In other words, we answer evil without mirroring it. David Fitch : Our culture runs on an “enemy-making” dynamic; even “the political rally… depends on the making of an enemy. Don’t let that train your soul.” The Church of Us vs. Them. Sarah Coakley : Contemplation forms resistance, not passivity. For Coakley, sustained prayer trains perception and courage so Christians can resist abuse and give voice against violence (it’s not quietism). “Contemplation, if it is working aright, is precisely that which gives courage to resist abuse, to give voice against violence.” Sarah Coakley, God, Sexuality, and the Self. Coakley would say that far too often we react before we reflect. This is the problem that Fitch is getting at in much of his writing, that our culture actually runs on antagonisms, the conflict between us. We need to find a better way.