Nate Ledbetter is an explorer, storyteller, and urban minister at heart. He is passionate to apply the love of neighbor in every context, including urban development, vocational relationship, and practical theology. He and his wife, Melissa, celebrate nearly 10 years of marriage with four children, and they live in South Atlanta just south of Turner Field. His global travels and urban living have allowed him the opportunity to learn from neighbors in many contexts, and he enjoys writing, basketball, beatbox, and sharing in life’s crazy stories.
Nate is founding director of Metro Merge, a non-profit division of FCS Urban Ministries, and a former Co-Executive Director of FCS (Focused Community Strategies), an urban collective made up of multiple organizations focused on restoring under-resourced communities. Nate also serves on the pastoral team of Community Life Church in South Atlanta.
Nate holds an M.A. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, is a CQ Certified Facilitator via the Cultural Intelligence Center, and is completing a two-year national emerging leaders cohort with the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). Prior to moving to the South, Nate was a Local Outreach and Regional Pastor for six years at Mars Hill Bible Church in West Michigan. Invite Nate to speak to a group in your context for Sunday services, one-time events, or conference workshops.
Learn more: www.awakenneighbor.com
Staying Connected
Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for the Common Good
Written by nate
Dr. Amy L. Sherman’s newest book release is an instant classic for pastors and professionals.
And check out the following web for additional resources: http://www.vocationalstewardship.org/
Kelvin Murphy with Mars Clothing in South Atlanta
Written by nate
Thanks to Friends
Written by nate
Friends are a gift from God, and the friendship of God is a gift to offer others. Sometimes the simple act of a phone call, watching a ball game, or sharing a lighthearted story can do wonders for the soul. Those times when my friends stop to say hello are some of the most meaningful moments of newfound strength for me. In those moments, even the spontaneous ones when people swing by for a visit, we often share the hope, concern, or need of the hour. We have no agenda except the need for each other’s presence as God-given friends. We’re with each other, and that’s all that matters.
As the journey unfolds with all of its unexpected avalanches or unforeseen challenges, I often thank God for friendships, for the people in our life who hold our arms up when we feel a little worn out, isolated, or discouraged. Through neighboring friendships near and far, the presence of God is experienced as we impart hope, offer a word of encouragement, or simply enjoy someone for who they are. In that way, God is still on the move; the work of upholding justice is still at play, and the restoration of impoverished communities happens through friendships marked by the pursuit of God’s joy, wholeness, and character.
For without each other, the work stands still.
Celebrating life,
Nate
“Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble.” –Ecclesiastes 4
Remembering Mary & Joeseph
Written by nate
Learning to See
Written by nate
2012 CCDA National Conference Promo 2
Written by nate
Rudy Carrasco on Transforming Communities
Written by nate
2012 CCDA National Conference
Written by nate
The Ripple Effect of Love and Entrepreneurship
Written by nate
This is a clip from Alfa Demmellash’s talk entitled “The Ripple Effect of Love and Entrepreneurship” given at the 2010 Entrepreneurship Initiative (Ei) Forum. The Ei Forum is the foremost gathering of investors and entrepreneurs committed to building a movement of innovative, gospel-centered, culture-renewing institutions and ventures. For more information about the Ei Forum, visit: faithandwork.org/eiforum
Kingdom of Risk
Written by nate
I wrestle daily with what it means to fully give myself to the way of Jesus, and what that looks like as a family. God has called us to learn beside our neighbors, and that seems to require some risk of relationships. I remember the day we packed up to move to inner city Atlanta from Grand Rapids, Michigan. The reality of that moment was both joyful and painful as we left neighbors and extended family who were close to our hearts. Our community risked their love on us, and the chance they took marked the way we hope to love others. When we arrived to “the united states of Atlanta,” we joined into a beautiful community of homegrown neighbors who have lived here for decades. Our neighborhood was founded in the late 1800s for freed slaves in Georgia, and this place we love is now home.
We moved into a great family home that had gone into foreclosure, and began to set down our roots. The Spirit led us to a tough street that allowed us to step into a movement of God already in motion. Here we met neighbors like Miss Annie, who passed away this summer. She endeared us through her willingness to reach out and risk her love on us-like the time she sent over baby gifts when our son was born. In remembrance of Miss Annie, neighbors recently gathered in a circle during a community prayer walk to honor her life. She loved our children, and we loved her.
Now is the moment to really go for it-I’m convinced that risking love is critical in today’s global climate, and that risk is linked to establishing the new diverse family Jesus came to establish. It is time to dream new dreams, and step up to the risk, now. History precedes us and tomorrow is upon us, and risk, especially Kingdom risk, will shape the future.
Jesus came to us, became flesh and blood like us, as a child growing up among us, befriending us, risking with us and for us, joining us in our poverty. Jesus embodies risk. Risk is a good thing when measured in prayerful discernment, and risk triumphs over folly when wisdom guides our action. Risk may mean danger, and danger can be safer than never risking at all, especially when discerned and lived in community.
We serve a boundless God who has always called people to make high-risk decisions under seemingly daunting circumstances. The author of Hebrews wrote, “Abraham obeyed and went, even though he did not know where we was going.” For thousands of years, followers of YAHWEH remained a remnant of risk takers, and the practice continues today.
Even when rest and Sabbath is a priority, stress is a normal part of following Jesus. Who told me that God is safe and balanced? Could faith equal risk? No doubt. And it seems that walking humbly with our God is a process of risking love for others. To love my neighbor, I must share my life with vulnerability. And as I learn to enter my neighbor’s story, I receive an open exchange of risk and learning, my narrative with his. We love out of risk and we risk out of love-for each other.
In today’s economy, the cost of love is Kingdom collateral with a high return on investment. Becoming a diverse community of faith is a dangerous yet joy-filled life never to be traded once experienced. Risk isn’t unique or heroic, but it does require intentionality. Risk extends a hand, evaluates value and explores the future potential of a community. Risk leads to an unexpected creative process, where we develop new friendships and discover new dreams. Risk jumps into the mix, launching a vision planned for and prayed about. Healthy risk cares first about the other, putting the neighborhood interests above its own, in the tradition of Jesus.
In God’s Kingdom, risk and vocation work together, searching for places where God-given talents find expression in the love of neighbor. Exploring the frontiers of new relationships, especially across the chasms of class and culture, is an essential priority if the great Command is to be realized. In this era of history the neighborhood with its diversity is becoming a central place for life and faith. It is the intersection where the Western church can join our global brothers and sisters as a community of risk takers.
“Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us.” II Cor 4:11 (The Message)
