Lindsey Runyan seeks God in the daily rhythms and spaces of life. While a student at Asbury Seminary, she spent 10 months as part of the St. Anselm Community in England learning the priorities of prayer, evangelism and reconciliation. Now, as the Pastor of Community and Spiritual Formation at Evergreen Church, she helps others grow to know more about themselves in Christ.
Evergreen Church, pastored by Asbury Seminary graduate, Derik Heumann, seeks to build the church around discipleship and community. The Evergreen vision is “to be a people who gather and scatter living out the hope of Jesus.” The church gathers one to two times per week to learn to be everyday missionaries where they live and work, but then scatters to live out the daily rhythms of Christ.
“Formation is a journey,” Lindsey said. “I want to meet people where they’re at and to challenge and encourage them in their walk with Christ.”
Lindsey oversees the curriculum and the Wesleyan bands, encouraging people to gather and equipping them to live Christ-like lives after they leave.
“We’re different because of the way we approach worship,” Lindsey said. “We engage in three streams of worship that incorporate and embody the sacramental, evangelical and charismatic expressions. We incorporate intentional discipleship with sending people out because they go hand-in-hand.”
When Lindsey was an undergrad student at Texas A&M, she never thought of planting a church. Instead, she dreamed of being a neurosurgeon. During her final year of undergrad, she discerned that she was becoming too competitive and worshipping school too much.
“I discerned that I should set this dream aside and see if the Lord would resurrect this dream another time,” Lindsey said. “Either way, God wastes nothing that we do.”
After graduating from Texas A&M in 2012, she interned at the Wesley Foundation. Her boss and Asbury Seminary grad, Max Mertz, encouraged her to come to the Seminary to grow in community and be transformed as a whole person. Lindsey prayed, applied and was accepted.