About Us

Cory and Lisa Walker both had the privilege of being raised in Christian homes. Their childhoods were filled with things like camp, kids’ church, Sunday school, and VBS.  They both got involved serving their respective churches in a variety of ways and in their teenage years each felt the desire to minister for the Lord to the fullest extent which to them meant pursuing vocational ministry. 

After a lot of soul searching, Cory determined to pursue training for pastoral ministry.  In 1994 he graduated from Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri.  He spent the next five years as an associate pastor in a couple locations, serving his first year as a youth minister/worship leader, and then the next four years in an associate pastor/executive pastor role, focusing on preaching, teaching, church administration, and pastoral counseling.  In 1998 he met the love of his life, Lisa. They dated, were engaged, and got married all within that same year.  During this period of time they started wrestling with just how much political infighting and division they had seen within the churches they had attended and ministered at.  While they had a sincere love for people and God, they became a bit disillusioned with the power struggles and all of the majoring on the minors that they had seen.

In 1999 They moved to Topeka with a desire to help start a church that would reflect what they believed God was helping them to understand about His church. Cory initially took the senior pastor leadership position with a new church plant already underway with the intention of helping them move forward.  In the meantime, “life happened”.  In 2001, in the midst of a difficult pregnancy, the doctors told Cory and Lisa that their firstborn child would not survive after birth. In order to devote full focus to the remaining months of uncertainty, They resigned their leadership of the church and began attending a different church in Topeka that had very similar values and goals to their own.   

After the death of their firstborn son, they again plunged into full time vocational ministry at the church they had been attending.  Cory served as the discipleship pastor/business administrator and Lisa plunged into women’s ministry and peer discipleship.  It was a good place to experience healing and try to refocus their lives.  But in the midst of a stalled building project, the church came into financial trouble, and they could see the handwriting on the wall.  Having viable skills in the secular work world, Cory went part-time at the church and the couple began acquiring investment property and Cory started doing work for local homeowners to supplement their ministry income.  After the birth of two more sons and further problems for the church where they were ministering, Cory  resigned his official staff position with the church and they started volunteering large amounts of time to hopefully assist the church in their financial difficulties. 

In the fall of 2010, the Lord started challenging Cory and Lisa as to whether or not they were following His leading or whether they were just submitting themselves to their pastor’s wishes by being a dedicated member of the local church instead of pursuing God's plan for their lives.  Cory remembered the exact place during a time of meditation and prayer when the Lord told him that He was called to a ministry of simplification and that he had the capacity to lead others into a simple, personal, relational faith.  God started speaking to Cory and Lisa about using their leadership skills and talents to bring more health to His church.  At first they resisted.  “I don’t remember how many time I told the Lord, “I love my church and don’t see myself ever going anywhere else.”  Said Cory but over the next few months, the Lord started pointing out just how many of their gifts and talents they were not able to use at their current location.  They also started noticing just how much of the church's focus and resources were spent on what was best for the church organization instead of what was best for the people that made up the church.  

In 2011, after much prayer and soul searching, they resigned their church membership and began devoting their efforts to helping de-churched disillusioned Christians learn to love the Lord with all their hearts and love their neighbor as themselves.  This would be done by trying to help people unpack their religious baggage, traditions, and misunderstandings about God and Church, and to focus on improving people’s relationship with Jesus and their relationships with other Christians. 

Their desire to bring health to the church at large and make a difference in the lives of individuals is was now more than ever front and center.  They had been holding weekly gatherings, making disciples, challenging unhealthy church concepts through blogging and speaking, and coaching and supporting local pastors as they face the ever increasing challenges of the traditional church model in an ever changing post-Christian culture.  They enjoyed engaging people challenging them to live out a simple, relational, down to earth faith in Jesus Christ.

In January 2015 During some alone time on the construction site, Cory prayed a simple prayer asking the Lord to give him more opportunities to speak about the things so close to his heart.  That afternoon he received an email from someone he didn't know asking him to consider applying for the Senior Pastor position that had recently opened up at a local church in Topeka, a church Cory had never heart of.  After a couple of interviews and a lot of prayer Cory was asked to speak as a candidate for the position and was elected unanimously by the local body of Seaman Community Church.   He and Lisa are humbled by the opportunity that the Lord has placed before them and they look forward to seeing all that God has in story.