Your journey, our mission!
We see faith as a journey, a journey of discovery. Discovering what faith entails, getting to know God, and much more. We want to do this together. In a way that suits you. At your own pace. With room for (your) questions, doubts, and uncertainties.
We are a (small) group of ordinary Christians trying to put Jesus’ teachings into practice. For us, the Christian faith is about relationships, not religion. We value genuine relationships and friendships. That’s why we not only open our homes where you are welcome, but we also share our lives.
We believe that the church is not a building, but a group of people. In that sense, we do not go to church, but we are the church. We have no paid staff and no building. Therefore, we are not dependent on financial income.
We are not part of a denomination, but feel connected to the following organizations: The Order of Mission (https://www.missionorder.org/), Kairos Connexion (https://kairosconnexion.org/), Communitas (https://gocommunitas.nl/), and Nederland Zoekt (https://www.nederlandzoekt.nl/).
Geschiedenis
The initiators of Stepping-stones are Mark and Jacolien. In the late nineties, early 2000s, they were involved in the start of a church plant in Nieuw-Vennep. This was the beginning of a process of thinking about how to be a church in a different way, more outwardly focused. This also led them both to complete the Religious Pastoral Work education to have a solid foundation. At the end of their studies, they ended up in Rotterdam, where they were involved with Crossroads Rotterdam. Mark in a paid position and Jacolien as a volunteer.
Around 2008, they strongly felt that their time in Rotterdam was coming to an end. On advice, they set up a foundation without knowing exactly what they would be doing. They had already come into contact with Mike Breen and his organization 3DM, which was involved in communities in both England and the United States. Long story short, Mark and Jacolien lived in England from 2012 to 2017, where they were part of 3DM Europe and Network Church Sheffield. During this period, they started a community themselves, coached other (church) leaders, had several young adults living with them who did a Discipleship Immersion year, and wrote the book ‘Stepping-stones to a day-to-day missional lifestyle,’ which has since been translated into Dutch. Its content forms the basis of Stepping-stones coaching.
Since 2018, they have been living in Gouda, and in 2019, they started Stepping-stones Gouda.