Called to Build with Brooke Domek: Equipping the Church to Rise, Lead, and Multiply

In this powerful episode of Hope Unlocked, host Kristin Kurtz welcomes Brooke Domek, Executive Director of Run Free, to share her testimony of transformation, calling, and leadership. From her radical salvation story to equipping churches through discipleship, executive coaching, and organizational strategy, Brooke speaks on building the local church, embracing hidden potential, and living out your God-given calling. This conversation is a must-listen for women in ministry, faith-based leaders, and anyone desiring clarity in their purpose.

Brooke's Contact Info:

Websites - Run Free & brookedomek.com

Email - brooke@runfree.co

Instagram

Resource Mentioned:

Sermon from Church of the City - Missional Formation | Vocational Mission

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Chapters

• 0:16 Welcome to Hope Unlocked
• 1:20 Meeting Brooke Domek
• 4:47 Fence Post Moment: Finding Faith
• 11:14 From Ambition to Mission
• 18:28 Taking a Leap of Faith
• 31:06 Discipleship Revolution
• 44:03 The Church Beyond Walls
• 57:19 Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:16

Welcome to the Hope Unlocked Podcast. I'm your host, kristen Kurtz, and I'm also the founder of New Wings Coaching. I help and empower wildhearted and adventurous women of faith feeling caged and stuck, unlock their true purpose and potential, break free from limitations and thrive with confidence, courage and hope. If you're curious to learn more about coaching with me, head to newwingscoachingnet and be sure to explore the show notes for ways to connect with me further. Get ready to dive in as we uncover empowering keys and insights in this episode. So tune in and let's unlock hope together.

Speaker 1: 0:48

Welcome to the Hope Unlocked podcast. I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host. I pray this episode is like a holy IV of hope for your soul. Please help me. Welcome Brooke Domek to the show. I am so excited to have her here with us today. She is a mutual friend of a dear friend, amy, and I'm so thankful for the connection. We had a chance to get to know each other recently and even catch up a little bit this morning, and I know that she's going to bring so much goodness to us today. So, brooke, would you be open to sharing a little bit about yourself before we get into your story?

Speaker 2: 1:20

I would absolutely love to Kristen. Thank you so much for the warm introduction and for this new, blossoming friendship. I'm always delighted to get to link arms with a sister in Christ and no doubt my friend. You are a warrior, so I'm just honored to be here.

Speaker 2: 1:37

Like you said, my name is Brooke and I am currently the executive director of an organization called Run Free. I am currently the executive director of an organization called Run Free. In that Run Free space, we have the privilege of working with churches and leaders who are believers. Through our work, we do discipleship design, we do executive coaching and organizational strategies, so it really is kind of a very comprehensive shop, if you will, and I cannot imagine a greater mission to which we have been called. And the mission of Run Free is that we help church teams to run free into what Jesus has started.

Speaker 2: 2:14

And so I have been a follower of Jesus as my Lord and Savior for 23 years, ironically enough, and yet not. I've been married to my husband for 23 years. He was actually the one who led me to faith. We have two beautiful girls, I want to say Kristen, they're little girls, but they're not. My oldest is 18. We will be taking her to college. I'm at this podcast. We'll be taking her next week and youngest is 15. That means that she's driving behind the wheel of a car and she's getting ready to start her sophomore year of high school. So we are proud parents and just delighted with what God's doing in our lives this season. So, yeah, a little bit about me.

Speaker 1: 3:00

So amazing and gosh, what a transitional season. My boys are now 17 and 20, and my son just wrapped up his first year of college and it was such a. You know, you go back to the run free, right. It's this paradigm shift with your children to let them run free, but it's hard, right. How are you guys dealing with that, Like how are things going?

Speaker 2: 3:22

You know what Truly I feel like God has just continued to open up our eyes.

Speaker 2: 3:28

We recognize the incredible privilege of stewarding these two young ladies and praying that they will be God, honoring people, loving, flourishing humans in the world that will make the difference to push away the darkness and to shine the brightest light A little.

Speaker 2: 3:44

I actually, as a mom, I get a little emotional when I think about it, because we're so stinking proud of these kids, their fierce love for the Lord and really how they show up with people in their own unique ways. They're both very uniquely called and gifted, as we all are, and in this season it's just another reminder of the certainty of change, and change doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it's a beautiful thing to consider what is God doing in the midst of it, what is he teaching me and how is he calling us to respond? So that's always just a recentering and grounding way to kind of reflect and then look future forward with our kids. And when we ground not perfectly Kristen very much, so imperfectly it helps us to remember what God's up to and what he's entrusted us with, and that's a gift.

Speaker 1: 4:36

Amen. I love how you just communicate. You are so well-spoken and it just hits me the way you just shared that. So, even over my own heart, could we go back a little bit? 23 years you said marriage and coming to Christ. Those are huge, amazing, impactful moments. Could you share a little bit about what that looked like for you?

Speaker 2: 5:01

Yeah, absolutely. You know, we all have fence post moments in our lives, those moments that mark us and change us forever. And this fence post moment happened just over 23 years ago at a baseball game. My husband and I grew up in Charleston, south Carolina, and we had a mutual friend. She had invited me to this baseball game and also all of her other friends which he was included in that circle, and so what was really fascinating about that night as I was imagining it was going to be just this regular baseball game, kind of goofing off in college with a bunch of friends and making new friends Indeed, it was some of those things, but that didn't quite fully encompass what I didn't realize at the time, what was coming.

Speaker 2: 5:48

And so when I met my husband his name is Adrian he was quite the gentleman and, I must say, quite good looking, and one of the first things he shared with me, outside of his name, was a little bit about himself, his story, and then he asked me if I knew Jesus, a little bit about himself, his story, and then he asked me if I knew Jesus. And to not be a follower, to not be a regular attender of anything affiliated with the church, whether it be, you know, youth camps or church services or groups. It kind of took me aback a little bit and just to be very honest with you and your audience, kristen, my first response was aren't you going to buy me a beer first? Actually, he was very frank and very candid and said as a matter of fact no, I really don't know where you stand with your faith. And I very honestly shared with him I didn't have a faith.

Speaker 2: 6:42

The little bit of faith that I witnessed, experienced growing up, was full of hypocrisy in my occurrence, and so I tried to steer clear of that as much as possible, just not wanting to fall into a religious way of tradition that I felt like was not a real valid thing to begin with, much less the brokenness of the hypocrisy that I experienced.

Speaker 2: 7:05

And so this began a long friendship between the two of us where he would really intentionally disciple me. He invited me to church, he taught me to read scripture, and then he finally just asked me if I was ready and I said yes, and so he prayed with me and we just kind of began the journey, deepening our friendship, but then very quickly into courting or dating, as you might say, and then quickly from there, from the time we met, actually to know, looking back, what babies we were, but how God used the innocence of His heart and my openness to receive the gospel. Now, my openness, kristen may have been because of His good looks but then quickly proceeded to the goodness of Jesus. But no matter what, jesus got me there and that is the foundation of who we are individually and collectively in our marriage and family today.

Speaker 1: 8:08

So beautiful and the fact that like has he shared? I'm sure he shared with you, but like was he thinking that there'd be long-term potential with you guys right when he asked you that question? Is that why he kind of dug in right away, you know?

Speaker 2: 8:23

what. He actually didn't tell me that right away, but in the couple of months to follow he said that he knew that there was something very different about me, that outside of just, you know, easygoing conversation and both of our love of sports probably fueled that. But I really think, you know, going into the next couple of months he said he did want to pursue a long-term relationship that would end in marriage, and again for a girl in college. I'm thinking, okay, I'm still just trying to grasp this idea of Jesus and going to church. What is all of this? But there was just such this simplicity to this conversation and what God was doing in the midst of it.

Speaker 2: 9:05

It still overwhelms me to think about what I left behind and laid down and what God then put in my hands. And it's been a life full of just goodness, not without hardship, certainly, but a marriage and two children and ministry. Impact and the reach of the lost and the things that we're holding onto were so trite. And when I laid that down again, what God put in my hands I could have never have imagined or conceivably prayed for, but that's just the God that we serve.

Speaker 2: 10:30

So prior to meeting him, like what, what was your thought process on where you were going to be going in, pursuit of always something that is strategic and growth oriented. And so in my mind I was not going to get married, came from a broken home and I didn't really want kids. That was not something that I had ever really considered or thought of, just really was kind of in pursuit of self and success and a ladder, and so I was doing a five-year program in four years, going to school year round and making the honors list, graduated with honors magna cum laude, and just really wanted to continue, just to break the glass ceilings, if you will, and just to see how far I could push myself really in the world of business. So that was the current time of pursuit and I would say second to that was just really having a good time. It was wherever the next good time was is where I was going to show up at.

Speaker 1: 11:28

So you had a radical shift throughout that discipleship through with Adrian which is incredible.

Speaker 2: 11:36

It was a saw to Paul, at least in my experience. In my experience as I read scripture, it really was this Scales falling off all the same, and I can tell you that in 23 years of following the Lord, it's never been the same and I've never looked back.

Speaker 1: 11:57

Yes, amen. Well, I share that with you. I think that I don't know if I shared that with you before, but I tell people I'm like I had a Saul to Paul conversion, but thankfully I didn't kill anybody. You know, saul had some problems in that respect, but he had that quick conversion. I like to say that it was like it doesn't happen for everybody. Where there is that quick conversion, where you're on mission, like you went on mission right away, I imagine so, even though you were very driven um back then, what did that look like to take on this shift into the? The quote-unquote say Paulette, we'll call us Paulettes what was that like?

Speaker 1: 12:41

has the? Did the drivenness remain? What did that look like for you?

Speaker 2: 12:47

Yeah. So the drivenness did remain and I would still say it's still there today, but it was just the focus and the ultimate desire of my prize. So you know scripture talks about in the first Corinthians, about running a race and and and running for the prize. Right Through Paul's letters and my prize had changed. You know, my prize once upon a time was a title, and and lots of stuff and trips and basically whatever I wanted at the tip of my fingers. Um and the. The prize changed from the stuff to the souls and very quickly jumped into all things church in a way where I just wanted to pursue not just knowledge but practical ways of living this out. I think that's something that I subscribe to, is that I don't just want to create my head full of knowledge, but rather I really want to put the wheels to the ground and to live it out. And if I only knew as much scripture as I knew today, I could live the rest of my life knowing how to live, how to honor God and what he's calling me to do.

Speaker 2: 13:57

I think oftentimes we miss the opportunity of actually doing what Scripture says, versus just being semi-familiar with it or just reading it at the face value of. And so for me, I just went all in and we immediately began to serve. You know, my husband taught me the practice biblically of tithing, and not tithing from net, but tithing from gross. So we immediately increased tithing. And not tithing from net, but tithing from gross. So we immediately increased tithes. We began leading small groups, began serving in children's ministry, began taking trips and really began to consider what does it mean to love our neighbors as ourselves?

Speaker 2: 14:38

So the beauty of being the church is that that happens the other six days a week, right, not just me serving in children's ministry, holding babies which I did for a long time and attending service, but really the other six days of the week of how do I show up and honor my boss in a way that honors God? How do I meet my coworkers where they are, when they're struggling, not to fix them with the right Bible verse, but rather just to ask questions and sit with them in it? What does it mean to now disciple my children? Because discipleship begins in the home.

Speaker 2: 15:11

So it began this rapid, radical pursuit of okay, I really want to embrace God in every potential facet of my being, of my soul and the way I live, so I would say my Enneagram 3-ness, while I still have my shadows, certainly. It just became this pinnacle North Star of okay, god, like whatever you would want is what I want and what you call me to do. It's that first annual prayer of speak Lord, your servants listening, and I just really wanted to honor him with that.

Speaker 1: 15:46

Yes, it servants listening, and I just really wanted to honor him with that. It's amazing, and you know one thing that's kind of coming to mind that I think many of us collectively might have some challenges, and is how do you know what to say no to and how do you know what to say yes to in ministry? Because serving is amazing, but I think sometimes we can give too much of ourselves and burnout. Has that ever happened to you before?

Speaker 2: 16:11

Oh gosh, ministry will take all that. You will give it, and not because it's on this vengeance to take your soul, but rather just continue to push the mission forward, to take your soul, but rather, just, you know, continue to push the mission forward. I do believe the best about the local church and the local church is served by broken people, imperfect people who are in imperfect progress. And so, yes, you know, over the years I had to get really really clear. You know, we talk about this idea of common calling, which is what we see in Matthew 28 is the great commission of going out into all the world to make disciples, but the uniqueness and the design of each of us in our special calling and I think church misses this special calling because there can be this scarcity we don't have enough volunteers, we don't have enough money, our budget's shrinking, we don't have and it is a scarcity mindset that we have to remember that we serve the God of abundance and abundance is a way of being and therefore a way of behaving.

Speaker 2: 17:11

And so, for me, I needed to get really clear on what my unique calling was, so that I could give an extraordinary, exciting yes with an extraordinary and exciting no. And I think the more I clarified my own unique calling, the more specific I was really able to go into the mission to which I believe God has called me to, in addition to our common calling. Again, it's the Ephesians 2.10, right that we are His masterpiece, that we have been created for good works prepared in advance. So, kristen, your good works are going to look different than my good works, although we serve the same mission, the same God, the same good God, our mission and the way we go about that's going to look a little bit unique, because God has made each of us unique God has made each of us unique.

Speaker 1: 18:02

So over the years, would you say, you know, I believe we have been given an imprint in our DNA of you know, things that we are gifted with and they grow right. So would you say that there was like a pinnacle moment in your life? I think you called it. Did you say fence post?

Speaker 1: 18:22

I love that um moment where you just really were like this is it, like this is what I'm really called to be. You know, on on the mission, you know, of course, going out doing the thing, but the specific thing for you was there a moment when you really caught hold of that.

Speaker 2: 18:44

Yeah, you know, I would say really, in the last five years I've gotten more clear than I ever have. Some of that comes, as you said, with wisdom and age maturity. You know, spiritual formation as you grow closer in Christ In that there requires, I believe, intentional work on what it means for me to be the full person that God has designed me to be, and so I have pursued specific pathways and life plans and even additional assessments through scripture. That has helped me kind of put a flashlight, if you will, to my feet of like. Okay, this is my calling.

Speaker 2: 19:24

And about five years ago, I've always known that God has called me to build His church and I've known that I can do that in the business space, which I did, and I can do that in ministry space, which I did. And even with what I'm doing now, there was this unique opportunity that I began to learn about discovering this hidden potential through intentional living and activating this hidden potential in others. And so, the more I did pastoral work and education and again, the fine-tuning, working with chaplains, executive coaches and mentors, it became very, very clear to me that this idea of building His church was the local ecclesia and that is the call to every believer as they begin to understand their own unique calling and their common calling. How do you continue to unveil that hidden potential, call out those giftedness and have them to be trained and sent? So I would say, some of that language that I'm sharing about now became clear about five years ago and it has just been this unraveling journey, in the sweetest and most gentle of ways, that God has just continued to unveil the.

Speaker 2: 20:39

I always call it. I feel like I can see oftentimes the back of the tapestry, where it looks messy and strings are everywhere and there's no coordination or pattern or rhythms, any of it. But then, as he unveils some of what's happening in the front, as he's weaving that tapestry of your life, it's like, oh, my goodness, that's a sunset, that's the ocean, that's a mountain. It just shows you a little bit more about what that looks like and I would say, while not a fence post moment, exactly the last five years has been that unveiling journey.

Speaker 1: 21:10

Do you find that a lot of people you know I often say like in order to love your neighbor, you have to love yourself, and I think if we don't really know who we are, it's hard to love who we are right? Do you find that a lot of people you talk to really are unclear in what they're called to do or even to be? I would say more so.

Speaker 2: 21:30

I think it's a gift for self-exploration, because you're right, the great commandment to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and to love your neighbor. But oftentimes we forget that last little part of that verse as yourself. And what a gift and a journey to go on a self-exploration, to discern, really, if God has woven you creatively, beautifully, in your mother's womb, what does that mean actually? And the more you know of yourself, the more you know the God that you serve and the more, therefore, you can give yourself to the God that you serve. And it is just such an incredible, remarkable journey. To answer your second question, I find that many people don't. There is an invitation to inscription. What is actually inscribed in the very depths of your soul versus this idea of, well, this is my vocation, this is what I do and this is my family. It gets very, very surface level, but there is an invitation to inscription and I believe that that's clear throughout the scripture passages.

Speaker 1: 22:34

Yes, so overall, who would you like? Who does the Lord say you are in the spirit?

Speaker 2: 22:43

Who does the Lord say that I am in the spirit? Was that your question?

Speaker 1: 22:47

Yeah, do you have? Like, has he given you just kind of an overarching like I'll share with you? Like he shared with me that I'm a woman of wonder and I was like, oh, that is amazing. Have you like? Is there something that kind of comes to mind? I don't know if you've done this before, but I know I'm totally putting you on the spot on this one. But if you were to tell somebody kind of this overarching, like, who is Brooke?

Speaker 2: 23:14

I would say my two words and that's how I would clarify that for myself. The work that I've done is my two words is that I exist to honor God by manifesting movement. Manifesting movement and ironically and yet not, if you've ever done the discovery and the definition of your names first name, your middle name, your last name, maiden name, nicknames, etc. That's a really fun place to explore more about yourself is by starting with your name. Names in biblical times and even as you read throughout scripture is significant. Even Jesus used names, right, and how he renamed people Peter known as the Rock, james and John known as the Sons of Thunder, right. So even the playfulness of scripture looking at that. But my name actually means movement of water and this idea of manifesting movement.

Speaker 2: 24:05

I believe God's called me to manifest the movement of people's souls for the purpose of His kingdom mission in their lives. Which goes to that special calling, what is their unique design? And then, second to that, their common calling in their everyday lives where they live, work and play. How are they showing up in their space to bring this good news? Not just verbally or by passing out a Bible those are not wrong, those are great but how they show up in those worlds as God has uniquely placed them in their context.

Speaker 1: 24:36

So I would say my two words are manifesting movement. That is so powerful. I'm going to write that down. That I mean just knowing what I know about you. That is so when you say it, how does it resonate with you? Do you feel fire on it?

Speaker 2: 24:51

It is the most. It's fiery but it's also liberating. It's like when you can step into God's calling for your life and be so clear about the values that you hold to, to the personal mission that he has given you and the invitation that he has placed you in to live it out. It is the most freeing, fulfilling place to walk in every day. And knowing that again in Scripture talks about seeking the kingdom first. After you seek His kingdom, then you know what His call is on your life and the unique gifts he's given you. You get to walk in freedom and full confidence and knowing that whatever seeds that you're sowing, god is going to multiply in exponential ways that we could not think or fathom, because he's God and that's the faithfulness that will always produce the fruit. Obedience always produces fruit. That's the faithfulness that will always produce the fruit. Obedience always produces fruit. So the more clear you are about your unique calling and design, the more faithful you can be into the walk that he's already called you into.

Speaker 1: 25:57

So good, oh my gosh. I feel like you could just say like write this down and you've got books in you.

Speaker 2: 26:03

I know you do.

Speaker 1: 26:05

But I was wondering so, as you have been taking these steps of obedience and we, we do as we are shown. You know he gives us a go right and at times there can be some goes that, um, maybe your, your, your body, wants to say no, but you know, k N O W, that he's calling you into something that is beyond you. Um, can you tell us maybe a moment that you've stepped into something like that and given a radical obedient yes, yeah, I talk about those fence post moments I have clearly marked, defined, yes moments, uncertain of what was to come.

Speaker 2: 26:43

But knowing, while I make my plans, he determines my steps. And so the most recent fence post moment, if you will that my risk to go happened 18 months ago. Actually, I was a pastor at a local church and I had been at this local church for just over a decade serving on staff and then, eight years prior to that, serving as an unpaid staff, if you will. And so I had just this inkling, probably about three years ago, that God was doing something, and I didn't know what it was, but I knew that I needed to have time for prayer, time for wise counsel, time for scripture searching His word will never leave me astray and then, obviously, deep conversations with my spouse, and so I often say Adrienne, my husband is my megaphone to the Holy Spirit. So when I know he's aligned with me, it's time for me to take an action, to make a move, and so it was just over 18 months ago. He looked at me and said, hey, I think this is time. So I left, I gave my church a six-week notice. I wanted to make sure I saw us through our Christmas Eve services. We have a pretty big church, so I wanted to make sure I honored the staff team there and also those who were going to be in attendance over our eight Christmas Eve services. And so Christmas Eve was my last time there, december 24, 2023.

Speaker 2: 28:10

And I wasn't sure what was next. I just knew that it was my time to step out. And so, after months of counsel and wisdom, and I took a week-long quiet retreat, just went through the book of Nehemiah, went through several Psalms, got back into the Sermon on the Mount, I just asked God to illuminate my path. And it was about three weeks into my exit that I had a phone call with Will Mancini, who is our CEO and founder of Run Free, and he just said Brooke, I think that I would love for you to come join us and be a part of our team and help build what we're doing within the area of the church across North America. And so, again, my husband's like I think this is right. And so I told Will yes.

Speaker 2: 28:57

And that was now, like I said, 18, almost 19 months ago now, and I have been building out the business of Run Free since January of 2024. So it didn't take long for me to land on two feet, but I was prepared, with the Lord, for it to take as long as it needed to. Now that's a little scary, because we do have a dual income. We have two kids and we're getting our extended child to college. If you've ever done that, you know it's expensive, and but we just knew that God's bigger than our bank account, god's bigger than our house payment, god's bigger than plans our kids have for college. And so we took the leap and God was faithful. And again, it was three weeks by the time I ended my last job, I began this new work and I've been trailblazing with Run Free ever since.

Speaker 1: 29:47

I love it. The build. You know the build out. The builder in you, like the. I've called some people like an architect A-R-K. You know, like the architect, you know helping build out things that are just beautiful in ministry and doing things different in business, right. So as you stepped into this role, it sounds like it was just almost made for you.

Speaker 2: 30:14

It is funny that you say that because it has felt a little hand in glove and just like kind of the God wink of hey. So I'm going to take that business background of yours, I'm going to take your ministry experience, I'm going to take your love for me and just a sprinkling of that Enneagram 3. And we're going to put all of that into motion. For now, this new company called Run Free, and it has been such a gift. It has been the deepest stretch where I have learned to embrace and even love the gap, recognizing that my skills and talents will only take me so far. But there is this deep, deep dependence on Jesus because I've stepped into something that is so significantly bigger than me than my resume, than my certifications, than my Bible classes. It is so much bigger and in that, just like this little David and Goliath moment where it's like okay, lord, like we can save a giant, we can take the hill, we can, but emphasis we. Because if it would be so much easier for me to take a job in a business that's already built, in a corporate sector where you know there's protocol and procedures and ROIs and PNLls and all the fun acronyms that business brings, but in this it's like, okay, what is god up to? And we can't make the ocean waves. We could just get to grab the surfboard and ride it with him. And that's where the freedom comes in, where it's like I am not responsible for creating the wave, I, I'm responsible for watching it, staying ready for it and, when it comes, to get on it as fast as possible and end wherever that waves washes ashore, that's where we go, and so we have a deep, deep pioneering spirit at Run Free.

Speaker 2: 32:00

We are very agile and nimble, and it's primarily because we just want to see where God is at work and we want to join him in it, and that requires this loose hold to the agendas and the knowledge and expertise that we all bring. We have a team of 15 and collectively the 15 of us have over 300 years of ministry experience. We have covered every position in the church staff, from worship communications, executive pastor, senior pastor, church planner, next-gen pastor, missions pastor, discipleship pastor. We have covered every position. So there is so much talent to this team it can almost create a mirage to make you believe. Oh well, we can do this, oh my God. And the funny thing is that God is building His church and we have a part in that, but we certainly don't lead that he does.

Speaker 1: 32:53

Yeah, I mean I'm just seeing, like you know, the Nehemiah, the wall that they rebuilt, and there's all these people stationed. They all have their special stations right and they helped build the wall in such an expedited amount of time I think was it 52 days or something like that 52 days, that's right and to knowing Nehemiah's posture, like if you go back into those chapters of that beautiful book, it's just so pronounced with leadership, philosophy and methodology.

Speaker 2: 33:22

As he lives, the first thing that he does before he does anything is he talks to God, he prays. Nehemiah prayed. He prayed again. Like his prayer, life is the direct result of the accomplishment of what he did, not because of his hands and because of his genius or his experience. It's because he was simply a conduit, a faithful conduit, and God just used that and did this miraculous thing and God got the glory for it so so much.

Speaker 1: 33:53

Goodness, Nehemiah is like one of my favorites, so good. Yeah, I can't remember. Is it Nehemiah 6, 3 or no? That's not the right.

Speaker 1: 34:02

Um, sometimes I've had time with addresses where it's like I'm doing a good work and I'm not coming down. Um, I know that there's moments, as we're pioneering um, cause I'm also pioneering as well, Like the trailblazing aspect of you know you're gonna have moments where it feels like, um, you know that, that temptation of, hey, you know, come down, this, this, this is over here and you have to keep focused on the mission at hand. Um, I guess there's kind of a two-part question here of um, what has been most stretching for you. I know you mentioned the stretching cause I, I'm in it with you. I feel like I'm going to be as flexible as Gumby someday and um, kind of the, the other part of you know the having to say I'm doing a good work, I'm not coming down. Have you had people that have kind of tried to kind of dissuade you from what you're doing? Maybe, like, but what if you know that kind of stuff when you first kind of came into this?

Speaker 2: 35:01

Yeah. So to answer your first question, just about being stretched, you know it's interesting. I almost can equate it to what I can imagine being a parent to a grandparent. I'm not a grandparent Kristen One day I pray I will be but this idea of being a pastor in the church, like you are very tactically moving, strategically moving and even paradigmatically through paradigm shifts, trying to move things in the church. But when you are working inside it's almost as though you can't see the forest through the trees. So, coming on the other side of now working if you can imagine now parenting my children to now grandparenting a number of children, aka churches around the country it has been a stretch for me not to just candidly grow cynical because you're seeing this local church and after years and years of experience and even brokenness and stuckness and complexity and confusion you know it's not that you want to come in with a quick solve, but you ultimately have to get down to the way that you're thinking and then to begin to consider what would it look like to think differently? And that's the paradigm work. So I would say, moving into this role, specifically from working in a church for so long to now working with a number of churches.

Speaker 2: 36:21

There is a shift in how I've had to approach my ministry work even different denominations because we work with various denominations, all faith tribes and churches of all sizes, and so there is a nuance that I've really had to lean on the Lord to just give me the words to speak and thinking about the questions that I'm asking, because it's very different to work with a number of churches versus working at a church. So I think that's different. The other thing I've had to really stretch and learn into is just this idea of my own way of thinking. You know, I know I have a deep belief that we are all a part of the pastorhood, if you will, the pastorhood of all believers, and not coming in in such a way where I want to dictate and tell, but rather, as a church vision coach, I really want to come in and be curious and find and unveil, because oftentimes people cannot see when, again in the church, the forest through the trees, but rather when you stand back it's like, oh my goodness, the trees, but rather when you stand back it's like, oh my goodness, actually discipling people for worship services. Are we discipling people to worship God and then to live that out in their everyday life. So being able to minister, to facilitate towards and coach around those has been a deep stretch for me personally, even though it's a deep-seated belief, I think, coming to a way of meeting people where they are, which we know Jesus was so brilliantly perfect at doing that right Versus just telling the Pharisees or telling Peter or telling the woman at the well, he so deeply, carefully, thoughtfully, curiously met them where they were. So that's been a learning curve for me.

Speaker 2: 38:06

But it comes to your second question around people trying to either convince or be concerned or even questioning some of my decisions. A hundred percent, a hundred percent of, like bro, this doesn't make any sense. I've been offered multiple jobs at nonprofits, other churches, and again, that would be the easy and the wide road. For me those aren't wrong positions or bad positions, they're fantastic. I've done both.

Speaker 2: 38:35

I just think that the road that I've been called to is narrow and it's hard and it's long and it's arduous and still freeing. So just listening to the still small voice, right Like we know that the world will be loud. But that is just all the more reason for us to get incredibly quiet with Christ in abiding, in confessing, in open handedness, in quiet and just your regular practices of fasting and you know seeking counsel, fasting and you know seeking counsel. All of that has to come into play before I think any, any life decision is up for grabs. And I will tell you, kristen, I do.

Speaker 2: 39:19

I begin each day before my eyes open, I open my hands, I'm like Lord, what will you and I do together today?

Speaker 2: 39:23

Why don't you surprise me? My answer is going to be yes. And when you live in such a way, it is totally scary, by the way, like that's not secure or known or controlling, but there's a wrestling with your flesh and the spirit. We see that all throughout scripture and it's like, okay, if we're really going to follow Jesus, if we're really going to do that, there is a cross to take up. And Jesus' cross was not light, nor was it easy. But yet when we see that scripture passage in Matthew 11 about how His yoke is easy and His burden is light, it's because he has the outcome already. Like we don't have to control or manipulate those things. We just have to be so clear with what God is up to, what he is calling us to, and faithfully walk in it. So it becomes a little bit more easy for me to quiet those noisy voices, because I have an enthusiastic yes, and so, therefore, I have an enthusiastic no.

Speaker 1: 40:21

Ooh, can you say that again? Somebody needs to hear that.

Speaker 2: 40:25

It becomes. Let me see if I can rephrase and paraphrase to hear that it becomes. Let me see if I can rephrase and paraphrase. Once I have abided and really discerned the voice of what Jesus is calling me to do, the power of the spirit in my life, it becomes very easy for me to give an enthusiastic yes, because I've already defined what that clarity is. So therefore I can also give an enthusiastic now.

Speaker 1: 40:53

Yes, oh, it's so good man, like, let's just sit there for a moment. You guys need to just take that to the Lord. You know, later today what does that look like for you listeners, wherever you're listening? So, as you've stepped into this role, I would love to hear you know the work that you do. Obviously you're having impact, right, you're seeing it, you know. Maybe it's not immediate, maybe it is, with some cases without you know, disclosing who you're working with or what have you, unless you're, you know, privy to that, would you be open to sharing, you know, maybe a testimonial of maybe some people that you've worked with that literally couldn't see the forest for the trees and you got to help them just transform.

Speaker 2: 41:34

Yeah, yeah, no, I actually have one team that comes to mind. It's a church in Florida. I can't share that. There's a lot of churches in Florida. But leading out through this idea of common calling, of how we just go about making disciples, who make disciples, what does that actually tangibly and practically look like in the local church? And so we're walking through you know, various tools and creating really sound, safe conversations, wrestling even, because in the local church, people oftentimes are attracted to what we would call the lower room, meaning that they're emotionally tied to the place oh, the building is very close to where I live. The personality they love the teacher, the teaching pastor is the best. The programs gosh, like my kids love the next-gen programs in the kids' room. Or the people, right. So your four Ps of the people, the place, the program or the personality.

Speaker 2: 42:41

And oftentimes, as I was meeting with this church team and we're talking through the number of things, what does it actually mean to be called to the upper room, which is their purpose, which comes down to a common call and special call? So we're talking through this dialogue and one pastor looks at me and it's like Brooke, why, why do we make this so hard? Like we're looking at scripture, we see what Jesus did. It's like the ultimate amateur hour when he calls the 12. And then, like they're fighting with each other and they're asking all these questions that Jesus has already answered, and like we're going to strike them down. You know, trying to punish the people who question Jesus, and Jesus has given us such a clear model. So we go back in the scripture and we see in Luke 8, 1, luke 9, 1, luke 10, 1, and Acts 1, just this beautiful pattern of how Jesus disciples. And this pastor looks at me and he's like Brooke, why do we make this so hard? And it was like this illuminating moment, just for a second, to realize the Holy Spirit's working in the lives of these pastors and this idea of who are you pastoring, how are you practicing what it is that scripture is telling you has revealed to you already, and how open posture in your spirit is, open for what God wants to reveal to you next. And then how do you begin to live that out?

Speaker 2: 44:05

And so we started talking about just kind of like your traditional North American church, and I'll share with you what we did through the storytelling with this conversation, you know, okay, so I want my girls to learn how to ride horses. Okay, so they're going to go to this church in Florida and the first thing they're going to do is they're going to go to a big room and they're going to hear all about horses and it's going to be great, like all, like the different kinds of horses and sizes, and how you get up and put the saddle on and then how you get on top of the horse to begin riding, et cetera. And then from there you're going to go into a smaller circle during sometime during the week and then you're going to talk more about horses and what you learned from the big room horse conversation. Okay, then you're going to come back before you hear more about horses and you're going to clean the stables. All the horse stuff has got to be cleaned up and the serving of that has got to be done. Never, any point, are people, are my daughters actually getting on a horse?

Speaker 2: 45:03

As we began to spell this out in the local church, the context of worshiping on Sundays, serving on Sundays and getting to a small group that's your traditional assimilation funnel, and what we're missing is the multiplication funnel. We actually want people and in this story, as I told it my daughters to get on a horse. They might get hurt, they might fall off or, you know, they might ride faster than they want to, but there is this beautiful opportunity in the learning to actually practice it and then to get feedback from it right. So that's what this group, what we were doing with this executive leadership team, is that we were practicing, we're learning about it. Here's the tool for it. And then the next seven days, your commitment is what They'd make a commitment. Next week, we would share our commitments Like this is what I learned, this is what it looked like, this is how I messed it up, and this person that totally said no to Jesus, basically because I think I shared the gospel wrong, or you know, we celebrate all of it because it's all progress, but it's this idea of just where are we helping our people to go to their higher calling, that upper room purpose for their lives, the vision and the mission of Jesus for the local church, for them.

Speaker 2: 46:17

So that was one of the things when you asked that question. It's just this. It was this beautiful like oh, wait a minute. And these guys and gals are paid pastors, so yeah.

Speaker 1: 46:29

So I love the analogy too, right, the horse Like you got to get on the horse and actually go and just look at a horse all the time and just wonder, right? So the discipleship framework I heard you say like is very clearly written in the Word and I would love for you if somebody is going, okay, that's great. Maybe I've read it before Could you share that revelation with what you saw specifically in the Word. Maybe somebody is listening from Africa today who has a church and they're like, oh my gosh, that's what we're doing. I love it?

Speaker 2: 47:11

How do we flip the script? Yeah, absolutely so, specifically when you watch the pattern of Jesus and his disciple making. What I love about the work that we get to do is that Jesus didn't dismiss what we would call today in the church the assimilation funnel, where it's the gather, connect, serve. We want to gather on the weekends, connect in a group and serve in the church. That's beautiful. Jesus did that. He called masses of people and he talked to them and it was great because he did have an assimilation funnel. Then Jesus also had what we would call in our work the multiplication funnel, where he spent time specifically with this few men and women that he called and invited and he discipled and trained them and in the ultimate amateur hour he let them practice Like they weren't just sitting around the campfire day in and day out. They were, but he also gave them the opportunity to go out. He sent them out two by two, and then we see this beautiful proliferation of growth, when we see the early church begin to expand, in Pentecost, the upper room with 120, then all of a sudden, 3,000 are saved and baptized, and so there is this beautiful growth from assimilation to multiplication. So what we don't tell churches is like hey, like, throw away your funnel, don't gather on the weekends, Don't put people in the group. It is just the genius of what Jim Collins would say is the end. The future of the church is really found in a few, but those faithful few.

Speaker 2: 48:46

Jesus multiplied the mission. It doesn't mean that he did not call the others, he invited those. But then those who came and stayed and were trained, he sent. So he equipped them, he called them, he trained them and he sent them. And we see that that's some of the brokenness. And even you look at church dashboards and metrics and some people call it nickel and noses, just kind of what people are counting today. But it's like gosh, what if your church is actually bigger than what you're counting on the weekends?

Speaker 2: 49:22

One of my favorite tools that we have is called the crowd cloud and it's this idea that every believer has their own church, if you will, if you think about the expansion of their influence the other six days of the week. So having them practice in the church is we're equipping them to then send them out into their workplace, into their neighborhoods, into their children's schools, into the volleyball courts or soccer fields or, you know, into all these places as you're traveling in the everyday world. What does that actually look like? To equip them to be sent in their local context by their local church and that's the beautiful part of our process is the multiplication funnel. So we want to layer those two.

Speaker 2: 50:00

We don't throw the baby out with the bathwater because there's a beautiful opportunity of the assimilation funnel, because there is a beautiful opportunity of the assimilation funnel, but we call it instead of the Great Commission. We call it the Functional Great Commission, where we don't want to go out into all the world and make worship attenders, baptizing them in the name of small groups, and to serve a few hours a month. That's actually not what Jesus died for. We want to move the finish line and we want to continue to build out so that this local church, based upon their local calling, can have specific design, ministry, innovation around their local contacts to call and train and send the people that God has entrusted them to do that with. So yeah, that's a little bit more framework around that.

Speaker 1: 50:47

You said it was crowd. Cloud was the terminology that you use.

Speaker 2: 50:50

Yeah, yeah, that's one of the tools that we use and it's just again this idea. There's a really neat story from a church, because again, you think about the church dashboards and what they count this lady in this church. She worked at Ace Hardware, so she'd come on the weekends. Of course Sunday attendance and she'd serve. I think she served coffee was a part of her story. But the other five days that she went to Ace Hardware she knew every person that came into her store by name, whether she met them for the first time she wrote it down or if they were regular customers, she made sure that she knew them by name and she prayed for them and she would offer as they came to check out hey, I've been praying for you, Is there anything that you want to share with me? Is there a prayer that I can pray for you today? Hey, do you have a local church that you attend? As I've been praying for you, I felt prompted to do this. It is a bold testament that this woman is behind the cashier your customer. But the reality is is that last we checked, she had over 400 names that's bigger than some churches and here she was being called in the church and the church was like well, we need someone to lead this small group and we need someone to hold babies and we need someone to serve coffee and hold the door, and that's great, like we need those things. And we're not saying no to that, we're saying yes and and here she was.

Speaker 2: 52:08

The church had never really told her hey, in your workplace, what does that ministry actually look like? How do you continue to expand your gospel reach and be a crazy farmer throwing those gospel seeds where you live, work and play? She just took it by her own, calling for the power of the work of the Spirit. And we're thinking like how do we create more ACE hardware workers to embrace that incarnational, missional practitioner spirit that I am a pastor wherever I go, to lead people to this incredible Savior who has changed my world, and I want you to know Him. His name's Jesus. So that's just kind of an example with one of the churches that we worked with. And when that story, that testimony, came through, we're like, okay, and are we going to count her on our church metrics for her local ecclesia, her local church, through Ace Harbor? This particular church was not, but I would argue, why not Exactly? Why wouldn't we count that. Why wouldn't we share that? Why wouldn't we replicate that?

Speaker 1: 53:12

And have her get up on stage and testify.

Speaker 2: 53:15

Uh-huh Right. Practical tools Like this is practicing. How can we help our people practice to be equipped and trained as they come to us? I love John Tyson. He's one of my favorite pastors. He is the pastor of the Church of the City in New York and he is probably one of the closest pastors that I've seen. That really embodies this, and he had a sermon not too long ago where he said hey, you know what the game is actually? Your six days of life, the hot days. So we're gonna help, we going to get the playbook, we're going to practice it up and then we're pushing you guys back out into the game. What a mindset, what a mission. And so that's the privilege of now, kristen, what I get to do with Run Free versus just doing that in one church. I get to do that with as many churches as God would send to me.

Speaker 1: 54:08

So beautiful. Oh my gosh, I am like just how he's moved you into this position, to be this, you know, woman of manifesting movement, and it's happening in ways that you know. 25 years ago you probably never would have imagined this right, you know 25 years ago, you probably never would have imagined this right.

Speaker 2: 54:35

Right, that's right. The church has never been more primed and positioned for what God is up to right now and just the movement of this next generation watching these sparks of revival. Like the church is moving in college campuses, praise God. And the church is moving in the workplace, praise God. And it's like local church, like you get to equip and deploy your people. Let's do it, and let's do it well, because it's the stewardship crisis. What a privilege and responsibility we've been given. And too much is given. Much is required.

Speaker 1: 55:03

Well, I love everything you've shared today. Well, I love everything you've shared today. If people are listening and maybe they're a pastor or they're they're they're really getting fired up by what you're talking about. How can people reach out to you and hear more about how you can come alongside them?

Speaker 2: 55:18

yeah, that's um. I love the question. Our website for run free, specifically, is just run free dot co, run free dot co, and it's spelled just exactly as it's pronounced just run R-U-N-F-R-E-Eco. And I'm all over social, so Brooke Domek, instagram and Facebook and X and so LinkedIn. It's a great place as well. And then, of course, my email is on the Run Free website. If there's questions or just to continue conversation, just to pray and even get equipped, I'd be honored to serve.

Speaker 1: 55:53

Well, just one more question for you. What are you looking forward to most over this next year?

Speaker 2: 55:59

Yeah, I am looking forward to how God would use me as a conduit for His church, for believers who are hungry, for pastors who are hungry for these incredible believers, no matter the context, any sector, who feel as though God is doing something, but they can't quite name it, they haven't quite codified it, they can't quite articulate or inscribe exactly what that means. In my church, on my team, in my home, with my children, I am deeply passionate about unveiling that hidden potential and calling it out and equipping it to move forward, which again manifesting movement. So I'm excited to see how God is going to use what he has entrusted to me the last 18 months and how he will what I believe and anticipate propel me forward to steward what he has given me for the sake of the gospel.

Speaker 1: 56:57

Yes, amen. I am cheering you on, my friend. It's so beautiful and thank you so much for your yes. As we close today, I would love for you to just speak over the one and I'm always focused on the one that's listening in if you could just get a vision. Obviously, most of the time it's it's women who are listening in, but, um, if you could just speak over them, if there's something that's coming to mind to encourage them, if you have a word of wisdom, word of knowledge, and then would you pray us out today I'd be honored for the one one I just want to tear out, because I feel like what I'm hearing right now from the spirit is that you're called yeah you are called, do not wait and sit idle, do not believe lies from the enemy that you are not enough, that you are not able or capable, that your past dictates your future.

Speaker 2: 57:53

for the one I want you to know, to believe and to receive, you are called today. Um, and with that I would love to pray us out. Thank you, lord Jesus, king, author and perfecter of our faith. Our Father in heaven, the lover of our souls, holy Spirit, speak in this moment. What a privileged time we've had together, god and I.

Speaker 2: 58:23

Just I'm so curious about what you're up, to God, and I just I'm so curious about what you're up to, feeling the stirring in my spirit, god, knowing that perhaps today is simply for the one to receive this good news in a fresh, new way, to be reminded that they are called.

Speaker 2: 58:40

There is a uniqueness to them, to each of us, and what a responsibility and a privilege and an invitation it is to consider what that actually means, what does it look like and how do I begin to live it out with clarity, knowing that clarity doesn't change everything, but certainly claims clarity into next steps.

Speaker 2: 59:04

So, god, we lay our agendas down and we ask that you would just continue to guide the steps to which you are inviting us into next, god, I thank you for the people who are listening, whether now months or even years to come, lord, and for our hosts and becoming very quickly a dear friend, kristen. Lord, I'm asking for a blessing and your favor over her ministry, over her marriage, over her family, god, as you continue to call and equip her into where she should go, lord, that she would be so tethered and anchored into you, into your word, that she would know exactly which way to go, whether it be left or right. May that be true for her, myself and everyone tuning in today. God, we love you and is worthy of everything we have. You are worthy of it all. So, lord, we pray this in the holy name jesus, amen amen.

Speaker 1: 59:55

Brooke, thank you so much for coming on today. I'll probably have to have you on again in the future with updates and more testimonies. Um, I am going to close with the anchoring verse over Hope, unlocked it's. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope, and that's Romans 15, 13. So thank you again, brooke. Thank you for being a brave voice. Who's setting so many free? I'll be back with another episode next week. Bye.