The Chalmers Center loved hosting Kingdom Partners and dreaming together about how to connect churches to local leaders in ways that activated volunteers and encouraged community flourishing.
Director of Innovation
The Tend Fold Initiative
Caring for the local community, together
The Tend Fold Initiative is a year-long leadership cohort designed for pastors and key lay leaders who sense that the future of the church requires deeper connection—to God, to one another, and to the neighborhoods they serve. Rooted in Kingdom Partners’ decade-long work across Chattanooga, Tend Fold responds to two realities many leaders know well: the growing isolation of pastoral leadership and the urgent need for congregations to move beyond inward focus toward faithful, contextual engagement. Through a shared learning community, participants explore a rich theological vision for life in the city while gaining practical tools to strengthen leadership capacity, cultivate healthy teams, and translate calling into action.
The next Tend Fold cohort brings together churches from across traditions, races, and neighborhoods for monthly city engagement sessions, executive-level leadership development, and personalized coaching—training typically reserved for top corporate leaders but made accessible to pastors and lay leaders who are shaping congregational life on the ground. Participants don’t just learn together; they practice together through neighborhood listening, collaborative projects, and concrete experiments in ministry that meet real community needs. The result is not a program to add, but a formation process that helps churches rediscover their purpose, share leadership more sustainably, and join with others for the flourishing of the city.
Churches interested in participating please complete the following application.
I found the experience to be a privilege, both to be asked to share and to whom I would be sharing. Church leaders seldom get the opportunity to be poured into on subjects not theological but still of major importance to their operating survival. If sharing highlights from a lifetime of leadership practices helps their corner of the Kingdom thrive and God to be better glorified by efficient administration, then I’m humbled to have been a part.
Co-Founder
It was a privilege to participate in the Tend Fold Project, an initiative that will surely have long-term impact on our city. The conversation about leading vs. doing, management styles, mediocrity within nonprofits, and organizational culture seemed well-received and provoked healthy conversation. As a speaker/facilitator it was personally enriching, and I was both inspired by and humbled to be with these ministry leaders that are serving the people in our city.
Chief Financial & Operating Officer
It was an honor to share my experiences with and learn from a very important group of church and non-profit leaders. The greatest impact we can make for the Kingdom is through the close collaboration of businesses, community organizations, churches, and government agencies. Anything we can do to improve capabilities and capacity of the like-minded leaders of these great organizations is more than worth the time and efforts to do so.
CEO
2026 Cohort Curriculum and Event Schedule
The Tend Fold Project is designed to equip Pastors and non-profit Administrators to professionally manage and lead their enterprises. In short, we help Pastors and Administrators become leaders of employees, teams, and entire organizations. Evolving from a calling of preaching, care-giving, and administrating for congregants and volunteers to also include managing and leading employees and organizations. The Leadership Development component of the program is delivered over 8 sessions by experienced organizational leaders, supported by a dedicated management researcher and instructional design expert.
Leadership Development Sessions
Speaker: Scott Quatro
Celebrates the fundamental role that business plays in prospering God’s world through the pursuit of profit, while concurrently helping to ensure secure civil society.
Place: Covenant College
14049 Scenic Highway
Lookout Mountain, GA 30750
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Rodger Piersant
Delineates the heart orientation, mindset, and practices necessary to practice management and leadership focused on others and their success.
Place: Northshore Fellowship
109 Building, 109 Frazier Ave.
Chattanooga, TN 37405
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Dan Wykoff
Empowers the transition from “doing” to “leading,” focusing on the nuanced practices of effective leaders, and highlighting the central gratification that comes from getting the best out of others.
Place: Branch Technology
1530 Riverside Drive Suite B
Chattanooga, TN 37406
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Shannon Weber
Unpacks diversity from a multi-faceted perspective, emphasizing the individual and organizational benefits of embracing individual uniqueness.
Place: Kenco
2001 Riverside Drive
Chattanooga, TN 37406
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Lesley Scearce
Covers the complexities and distortions that make even “simple” organizational communications and “minor” conflicts very difficult, and the processes and tools that make both more optimal.
Place: United Way
630 Market Street
Chattanooga, TN 37402
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Scott Quatro
Reinforces the strategic drivers and legal constraints related to attracting, developing, and retaining the best employees.
Place: Common House Chattanooga
1517 Mitchell Street
Chattanooga, TN 37408
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Melissa Blevins
Delves into the benefits, and perils, of teams and teamwork, and the characteristics of winning teams.
Place: Chattanooga Area Food Bank
2009 Curtain Pole Rd.
Chattanooga, TN 37406
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm
Speaker: Greg Pawson
Emphasizes the essentials of strategic planning and execution that lead to individual, team, and organizational success.
Place: Card-Monroe Corporation
4841 Adams Road
Hixson, TN 37343
Time: 11:45am to 1:45pm