Brian and Dawn Sessions were both raised in Baltimore and in the church, but seeing the beauty of reconciliation through the gospel did not come immediately. God used their love of the arts to help them find their identity in Christ, and now they use the arts as an avenue through which they can share that same hope with youth in Baltimore. Their lives are not separate from their ministry, but shared through it, and their success is not an end-marker, but daily fulfilling the mission of sharing the gospel. Listen to the end to hear a preview of Brian's new song and check out our website for links to Brian and Dawn's ministries.

More Info on Brian and Dawn’s Work:

R.O.C. Enrichment: www.rocenrichmentprogram.com

Brian’s music: “Jesus Loves Me” By Brian Sessions on all digital streaming services

Grace Abounds Dance/Mentoring: graceaboundsmentoring.org

Joining today’s episode is a member of The Garden Church, Kesia Lewis, who grew up on the east side of Baltimore. Although a close-knit community, it was also punctuated by trauma. The grief she lived through, including the loss of her fiancé and teenage brother in a car accident, has allowed her to speak into the lives of kids today, through her work with Baltimore’s Parks and Rec. Even when she didn’t know what she looking for, God orchestrated bringing her from knowing of the Lord, to loving Him and living by His will. As Kesia cares for hundreds of kids throughout Baltimore City, many have faced severe trauma. Kesia is able to say: “You’re not the only one.”

Before he died, Jesus prayed for us. He prayed for our display of Christian unity. In a polarizing culture, even the church can find itself on opposite sides of a divide. In this episode, the Stoop squad calls up Isaac Adams, an associate pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist in D.C., to talks about unity and prayer. Prayer is as simple as it is powerful, but when it is lacking, we are led by our pride. Divisions flourish. What is Christian unity and how does prayer play a role? Listen in as we discuss concerning divisions. Be reminded of the vision for the church as be a powerful witness in the world. It begins with prayer.

Why pray? For some Christians, prayer seems unnecessary. In some churches, prayer has become a mere transition between the songs and ceremonies of the service. In contrast, prayer should be our natural habitat, as water is to a fish. Is prayer absent in today’s church? Does prayer feel too holy, mystifying, boring, or awkward? In this episode, Joel, Eric, and Stephanie discuss public prayer, what holds us back from it, and why it’s vital for our spiritual well being and growth.

Burnout is not simply being tired, but a state of physical, emotional, social, and spiritual exhaustion. Burnout can stem from a wrong perspective, measuring worth in what we produce, and measuring ourselves against others. When our eyes are set on outward performance, our ego can work us like slaves. Eric, Joel, and Stephanie discuss the signs of approaching burnout, and how we can avoid or recover from it, even when our lives are “crazy busy”.

Living in a fallen world, we will at times face discouragement, whether it’s personal, spiritual, or in ministry. Discouragement can stem from a false view of self and of Christ; the feeling of losing ground and losing patience. It can remain and derail us from our mission. Discouragement comes from looking to ourselves for the fix, not Him. In this episode, Stephanie, Eric, and Joel have a conversation on what is right and wrong about discouragement. Exploring Biblical examples and relating them to their work in the inner-city, the crew discusses dealing with their own discouragement through a Biblical lens.

In scripture, elders are addressed as a plurality, not as a role to be served by a single individual. Joel and Eric, both pastors at The Garden Church, share insight into the importance of having both paid and lay (unpaid) elders serving the inner city church. What does it look like for an elder to have full-time secular work, but still hold the same authority as the senior Pastor? Listen in as we discuss various challenges and dangers from the lack of a plurality of elders, to unchecked authority and the weight of ministry. God’s grace remains necessary in equipping all elders.

In this episode, Marla Walker, a member of The Garden Church and ONE HOPE intern, shares her story of addiction, shame, and feeling not good enough to go before God. Being introduced to alcohol at only 8 years old, Marla was put on a path to drug dependency and a series of recoveries and relapses. From trap houses to recovery houses, Marla’s life represents the cycle of so many. Yet, unlike many others, Marla has found forgiveness and healing in Christ. No depth and no transgression could hide her from the reach of God. Through the love of Christ and the church body, listen to how God has set Marla on a new path of reconciliation and redemption.

In this episode, our continued conversation on addiction looks at how the church should respond to the broken and downcast. Churches can become structured only for the “clean-cut” of a certain socioeconomic status, neglecting those who may disturb our comfortableness. Discussed are ways in which the church can be a community that humbly works towards restoration for all, knowing that God’s grace reaches to all. How to love the addicted with Biblical wisdom, in the hope that they will experience the community of church, and find it more loving than the community of the street. 

In the previous episode, Stephanie, Joel, and Eric define addiction from a Biblical perspective. Recognizing what it is, what can we do about it? What are some practical ways to care and help the addicted? In this episode, a question arises on the use of Methadone and Suboxone.. How should we think of using drugs to treat drugs? The team makes a random phone call to Dr. Mark Plaster who shares his own insight. At its peak, a single methadone clinic in Baltimore can see 3,000 patients a day, from within only a 2-3 mile radius. Accessing help from a clinic often requires the patient to remain within a community of drug culture, often lacking support for addressing root causes, preventing relapse, and rebuilding lives. How can the church and the medical community work in tandem to see individuals freed from the slavery of addiction? 

Dr. Mark Plaster’s Information: https://www.tenthousehealth.com 410-394-9594

When the subject of addiction enters a conversation, it is easy to deflect and downplay its gravity. It is easy to dehumanize those caught in substance abuse, failing to recognize their worth; people made in the image of God. Addiction is both willful rebellion and simultaneously held in bondage to a substance. It devastates, not only the individual, but families and communities. Substances can alter the mind and mute suffering, but suffering plays an important purpose in our lives.

This episode seeks to define addiction and humanize the addict. It looks at the hard realties, necessary humility, and hope of a savior for the addict. Jesus knew the pain of living in a world broken by sin, and took on suffering greater than any of us face. Jesus is the only hope that offers an eternity free from the bondage of all sin.

In 2007, Mez McConnell was hired as a pastor for an outreach post in a Scottish scheme. As a scheme is similar to any project or inner city neighborhood, few members of this “mission” actually lived in the neighborhood. Mez, himself, was encouraged to live elsewhere by those who hired him. Listen to our conversation with Mez on how he moved into this neighborhood, re-planted a church, and now leads a congregation who lives there. In this episode we discuss living near your church in poor communities, safety issues, the idolatry of family, and why Mez tells Christians who live elsewhere to find a church where they live.

Intentionally living in a poor neighborhood for ministry might appear spiritually upright, but it can easily give root to gentrification and a savior mentality. In the third episode on intentional living, conversation centers on how to love your neighbors and be witnesses, without the goal of fixing a neighborhood to fit your preferences. How the wrong approach, the wrong hope, brings about despair, but the revitalization all are in need of, is only through the transforming grace of Jesus Christ. 

Darkness is potent in many neighborhoods of Baltimore, where violence, poverty, addiction, and corruption, is an everyday reality that can weigh heavily on the soul. 

In this second episode on the theme of intentional living, Joel, Eric, and Stephanie, share some of the reasons why they have come, committed to, and continued to counter darkness in a Christ-like manner. In having hearts grieved by sin, there is opportunity to trust that God is the only one who ultimately saves and redeems. There is a privilege in praying for the souls of those forgotten by others, in being reminded that we are all in need of the same savior. Also discussed is how being on mission together, fosters humility, combats individualism, and forces us to acknowledge that God is for radical grace, not personal ease. 

“Intentional” may be a buzzword of contemporary Christianity, but what does it tangibly look like for the church to be living with intention? 

Joel Kurz, Eric Hill, and Stephanie Greer discuss the benefits and difficulties of intentionally living in the same neighborhood they serve. In a city like Baltimore, where many might see only a ministry “project,” they have seen a home and how a constant presence, and investment, extends the scope of evangelism. 

In this episode, we hear what shaped their decision to be planted in the uncertainty of violence, and how intentional community helps the church fulfill the commands of Jesus, to love, encourage, and bear the burdens of one another. 

Welcome to The Stoop Sessions. These weekly sessions present candid conversations about life and ministry from the stoop in Baltimore, MD. Join Stephanie, Joel, and Eric and catch a glimpse of their ups and downs, challenges and celebrations, discouragement and encouragements. All ministry is hard. Inner city work has its unique challenges. That's what this podcast is all about. Listen in to this three minute intro, as Joel and Stephanie talk about The Stoop Sessions.