Welcome to the final chapter of our special series detailing the history, trials, and forward-looking vision of the Soma family of churches! In this definitive episode, hosts Justin Westcott and Paul Dean sits down once again with founder Jeff Vanderstelt to take a deep look at the post-COVID landscape, the realities of institutional growth, and what it looks like to collaboratively build for the next generation.

The conversation starts with Paul Dean opening up about his transition into the Executive Director role during a season of heavy church fatigue and global cultural shifts. Grounding his vision in a systematic study of the Book of Acts, Paul outlines a clear, biblical blueprint: the early disciples didn’t just plant churches—they planted connected churches. Discover how this fundamental truth drove the restructuring of Soma around robust regional support teams, ensuring that no church planter ever has to struggle in isolation or face institutional crises alone.

Jeff and Paul pull no punches as they analyze the current state of North American evangelicalism. They candidly tackle major modern barriers, including the dangerous resurgence of singular-leader celebrity church models, a toxic scarcity mindset, a culture of radical individualism, and the concerning trend of disempowering women in ministry. They challenge networks to shift away from passive, consumeristic models and step back into a collective, strategic posture—where resources, treasure, and people are sent dynamically to unreached fields and hubs like Tokyo, Seattle, Austin, and Charleston.

This series finale is a powerful call to move past the temporary hype of "trendy" church movements and return to the simple, gritty, and enduring lifestyle of making disciples in the everyday stuff of life.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• The Acts Model: Moving beyond a loose confederation to true, connected regional ecosystems.
• The Watershed Meeting: A look inside the raw "players only" circle in San Diego that established radical transparency over ego.
• Intentional Obedience: Breaking down the myth of a busy schedule—learning to overlap your faith with normal rhythms like table fellowship.
• Creative Funding Models: Moving toward marketplace-minded bi-vocational and micro-church expressions.
• The Kingdom in the Tension: Why true unity requires diversity of perspective and giftings, rather than strict conformity.
• The Calling to Hurt: Real-life testimonies of neighborhood transformation, counting the cost, and why we must never grow weary of doing good.

Soma is a family of churches across North America and around the world working toward gospel saturation. We are passionate about connecting, equipping, and mobilizing disciple-makers to live out the gospel in community on the mission of Jesus in everyday life.

Connect & Support Website: https://wearesoma.com to connect with regional leaders and find equipping opportunities.

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Produced by Zach Smith

Co-Hosted by Justin Westcott & Paul Dean

Welcome to the third chapter of our series uncovering the raw history of the Soma family of churches. In this highly emotional and vulnerable conversation, host Justin Westcott sits down with founder Jeff Vanderstelt to confront the most difficult years of the movement. They step directly into the seasons marked by structural attrition, leadership fumbles, intense geographic transition, and ultimately, the tragic loss of their dear friend and pastor, Randy Sheets.

Jeff takes us back to the early 2010s, reflecting on the rich, gritty, and deeply creative communal space of the downtown warehouse in Tacoma—where art, visual expression, and world-class teaching converged into a large-scale "living room" experience. But space and strategy carry real weight. Hear the story of what happened when the church was abruptly removed of their physical hub, forcing a rapid, culturally jarring migration to church gym bleachers and late-afternoon time slots.

As structural foundations fractured, the global pull of the missional movement began to hurt the local church. Leaders faced intense choices between maintaining the local home base or launching new city hubs. Jeff shares the intense internal conflict of stepping into ground zero during the historic implosion of Mars Hill in 2014, leading to the painful replanting of Doxa Church in Bellevue.

Ultimately, this episode confronts the deep cost of ministry and the vital necessity of leadership soul care. Jeff details his own experience walking through a profound "dark night of the soul" following Randy's passing, how it completely altered his understanding of internal hypervigilance, and his journey toward finding true emotional healing and redemption.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

The profound role of physical space and aesthetic beauty in shaping church culture. The high cost of sending key leaders out and the organizational blurring of lines between Soma and the nonprofit Saturate.

A look behind the curtain at the Mars Hill collapse and the massive, generational spiritual fallout in the Puget Sound area. Critical perspective shifts from merely "abounding in the work" to truly learning how to "abide in the Lord" through silence, solitude, and Sabbath.

A candid post-mortem on how the perfect storm of 2020 exposed divisions over masks and politics. The ground-zero "Council of Soma" meeting that saved the family of churches from fracturing.

Soma is a family of churches across North America and around the world working toward gospel saturation. We are passionate about connecting, equipping, and mobilizing disciple-makers to live out the gospel in community on the mission of Jesus in everyday life.

Viewer Discretion Advised: This episode handles highly sensitive topics, including relational hardship, mental health struggles, PTSD, and suicide. Visit our website https://wearesoma.com to connect with a regional leader and access equipping webinars Support: Subscribe on your favorite platform and leave us a review!

Welcome back to the second episode of our series exploring the history and heartbeat of the Soma family of churches! In this conversation, we pick up right after the launch of the first four missional communities in 2004. We sit down for a deeply transparent look at the "momentum years"—a season marked by massive expansion, structural breakthroughs, and the raw leadership realities that shaped our movement.

Jeff opens up about the early days of trial and error in Tacoma, admitting that the team didn't start with a perfect roadmap. Because of his highly intuitive leadership style, they quickly realized that a fluid, week-by-week approach wasn't easily reproducible. Discover how this realization, paired with the structural insight of Caesar Kalinowski and the theological influence of The Crowded House (Tim Chester and Steve Timmis), birthed the foundational "Gospel Operating System" framework. Jeff breaks down the critical shift toward grounding everyday discipleship in our fundamental baptismal identity—Family, Servant, Missionary—and filtering life through core gospel questions.

We also explore the origin of the "everyday rhythms of life". Jeff takes us back to a raw whiteboard session in a downtown Tacoma warehouse where they mapped out the ordinary things human beings do no matter what—eating, celebrating, listening, and recreating—and infused them with gospel intentionality. You'll hear the inspiring story of the Shakabrah, a beloved local diner that the team bought out of back taxes to bless the community, which unexpectedly transformed into a vibrant hub for local artists, musicians, and missional business expressions.

But a true movement story isn't just a highlight reel. With refreshing candor, Jeff and Paul pull back the curtain on the painful realities of church conflict, the traps of valuing competency over character, and the hard lessons learned through leadership transitions. They openly share their own personal journey of relational breakdown and subsequent gospel reconciliation, modeling what it looks like to move from systemic self-protection to true intimacy in the body of Christ.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

1. The structural architecture behind building a coaching network and the "Training Wheel" framework.
2. How "Breakfast Clubs" unlocked neighbor engagement by using Sunday mornings for local hospitality.
3. The birth of Soma School, an immersive, everyday learning experience that has trained thousands of leaders worldwide.
4. How Redemption Groups and DNA Groups were introduced as necessary shepherding structures for soul care.
5. Radical lessons on shared leadership, dying to ego, and keeping Jesus at the true head of the church.

Website: We Are Soma (Connect with regional leaders and find equipping opportunities).