ABOUT LK10
A training community reclaiming church as heart to heart connection with God and others.
OUR VISION
To see a vibrant family of Jesus within reach of every person on the planet.
OuR MISSION
To connect and equip maturing "spiritual parents" to nurture these vibrant families of Jesus.
LK10 can be hard to visualize because we don't fit the model of traditional "church".
We cannot be defined by where we meet or what structure of church we look like, because we don’t limit ourselves to specific locations or structures.
We are not defined by a person, a program, a denomination, a form of church or a building. We meet in large gatherings, small groups and micro-expressions. We encounter Christ-community in church buildings, homes, community centers, hospitals, and businesses, over coffee and online.
We are more defined by a set of values we embody. Values that move us into practicing church in ways that express the fullness of God’s life-a fullness revealed when the whole community is vibrant and empowered, loving one another as well as those who are different.
Our vision is to see vibrant families of Jesus in close reach of everyone on the planet. We see this as God’s vision for the consummation of history: everything aligned under the lordship of Jesus.
Our core distinctives...
Joy, that feeling you get when you are “glad to be together no matter what” is what fuels and motivates us within LK10 (John 14:10). Instead of living out of shame, guilt, or duty, we take time to connect heart to heart with each other.
We also ask God, “how do you feel about being with us?” This question gets at our root motivations and consistently brings relational peace as it reveals God’s deep enjoyment of us fueling us to move into our world full of life and presence.
Because Jesus desires to have an intimate, conversational relationship with His followers (John 10:27), we train ourselves to relentlessly listen to Him individually and with others.
From our family meals all the way to our board meetings, regarding every single aspect of our lives and work, we ask, “Jesus, what do I/we need to know about this?” We seek to listen and follow what we sense Him communicating/saying.
LK10 is a large Community of Practice made up of many smaller Communities of Practice.
Therefore, everyone is a practitioner and everyone is both a teacher and a learner. Like athletes and musicians, we train in groups.
In our case, the training is relational skill based for the purpose of godliness, or growing in being Jesus-led (1 Tim. 4:7-8).
We see God in His multifaceted wisdom when we function as a multi-gifted, intergenerational, interdependent community (Eph 3:10). We call this an “Ecosystem of Grace”.
Even a church of just a few (like a family) can display this diversity of God’s love and purpose, where everyone has a voice and every voice is heard.
This radical vision of a local micro-community incarnating the reign of God now, of God’s future penetrating the present through a Spirit-led extended family, was vital to the dynamic witness and power of the early church. Since every member has been given a measure of grace, when God’s people gather, it is essential that every voice is heard (1 Cor. 14:26).
We commit to living in and daily nurturing church as family, in the best sense of the word
If church = family, then it follows that leaders = spiritual parents and grandparents (in the best sense of the word). We are committed to training mature spiritual moms and dads who love wisely, and empower others to growth and maturity.
Jesus lived out this value by functioning as a father with his disciples (Jn. 14:9). He spent three years with the disciples “reparenting” them, so to speak, so that they inhabited the Kingdom culture they were to pass on.
Paul and his team also lived out this value by functioning as mothers and fathers among the Thessalonians. (1 Thes. 2:7-12).
our core work
LK10 trains Christians to reclaim church as heart to heart connection. This training happens in "communities of practice" that foster healthy attachment and spiritual maturity, spontaneously multiplying wherever we are.
The backstory...
Luke 10 (LK10) was founded in 2008 by John White and Kent Smith, two men from different backgrounds who shared decades of experience in starting churches, leading churches and training church leaders.
After many years of exploring what would need to shift for the people of God to become a vibrant expression of God’s hands and feet here on earth, John and Kent felt compelled that revolutionary change was needed in Western Christian culture, and LK10 was launched.
During this time, God was also raising up other organizations with the purpose of helping Christians return to a relational understanding of faith. Toni Daniels, a church planter in South America, had trained with several of these, and her passion to BE church in a way that nurtures people’s relational health led her to LK10 in 2014.
Since then, Toni has had a key role in taking LK10’s equipping to new levels of effectiveness in what was by then a growing, worldwide movement.
Today, we hail from over 39 countries (and counting), and number in the thousands, sharing connections with like-minded Christian families and organizations throughout the world.
Our Team
Rooted in the same “rhythms of attention” that our training is built on, our team practices “divine governance”—a way of leading that combines participatory decision-making, listening to Jesus, and relational skill practice.
John White
Co-Founder, Vision Champion
John is passionate about nurturing a self-propagating revolution of joy by seeing a vibrant family of Jesus in easy reach of everyone on earth.
God-given Design: discovers treasure (transformational concepts) and joyfully shares them with friends (the LK10 Community)
Kent Smith
Co-Founder, ECOSYSTEM Champion
Kent’s passion is to live in and for God’s joy while doing his part–no more and no less–to see a vibrant family of Jesus in close reach of everyone. In a lifetime of teaching and service, Kent has seen that vibrancy–the life of God in community–flourishes when the gift of each person is known and nourished in a maturing ecosystem of grace. God-given Design:
Kent thrives as an attention-payer, teacher and systems designer in LK10’s oversight and R&D teams
Toni Daniels
training champion
Toni is passionate about seeing relational restoration in every level of society by awakening, inspiring and training emotional, spiritual ninja warriors.
God-given Design: Toni takes risks and spearheads experiments to find and implement the best pathways to fuel Jesus’ revolution of Joy.
Shannon Debruyn
Board/Mission circle
Shannon is a wife and a mom of a bunch of creative types. She is a lawyer and seminary grad who spent her career in counterterrorism. In this season of life, Shannon is a full-time humanitarian who loves creating safe spaces for emotional and spiritual maturity.
Dennis Podryadchikov
discipleship director
A seminary grad from Abilene Christian University and Church Planter, Dennis has not only translated all of LK10’s materials into Russian but has faithfully nurtured vibrant families of Jesus in Russia for over 10 years now. As our Discipleship Director, Dennis helps people connect to LK10 and get started on our discipleship training pathways.
Zach LaValley
Strategic Communications Dir.
Zach is a husband, father of 5 young kids, and coffee snob. A graduate of Northpoint Bible College and a former pastor, Zach cares deeply for people who find themselves on the margins of Christianity and church life, and loves writing and building systems to help people discover LK10’s safe, formational communities.
Susan Ramsey
donor relations and conferences
Susan’s been there since LK10’s beginnings. She’s fun-loving and passionate about seeing people discover LK10 in new ways through conferences, book launches, and experimental initiatives.
Hilary Kline
Training mentor
Diving into systems and “figuring out” how things go together in the best way is a huge part of Hilary’s design. She loves training facilitators and has a passion for apps and programs that work like they’re supposed to.
Jason Twombly
Training mentor
Jason is a father, husband, Spiritual Development Coach and LK10’s lead trainer. His passion is helping people transform their pain into power, hurt into healing, and wounds into wisdom so they can reclaim peace and power in every area of life.