About 10 years ago, my family and I made a big decision for a smaller life. We left a large church that we loved and a people that we loved in order to pastor a church in a small town. The population of our new town could fit in our old church – could actually fit in our old church.

This small place has restored our souls in a big way. The place and the people have put us back together and I hope, in some small way, we have done the same for them. This is my place, this is my people, I am their pastor. I have gone to seed here in Santa Margarita with Santa Margarita Community Church.

I wrote You Are There: Restoring Churches, People and Places as the next best way to saying, “Come and see” to every Christian everywhere. Come and see the mess that we call grace. Come and see, feel, touch and taste what it is like when God puts people and place back together.

You Are There is a pastoral conversation inspiring Christian people in Christian churches to follow Jesus, all the way down to the dirt.