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About Damascus Road
Our Mission
Damascus Road Collaborative, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to helping churches thrive. Founded and led by Paul Feiler, David Clark, and Eric Bryant, we work with pastors and their church boards to develop strong, Christ-centered, Bible-based, and perpetually-relevant organizations, churches that are invitational, excelling at inviting people into a relationship with Jesus Christ, transformational, continually nurturing and developing the faith of believers, and impactful, powerfully changing the world through thoughtful and sometimes disruptive dialogue, and through lives of service and love.
Our mission responds to two related concerns: (1) our society is fractured and divided, plagued by an abandonment of traditional and spiritual values, political polarization, cultural hostility, and technological change, which, for many, create a sense of hopelessness, resentment and an erosion of trust in traditional institutions; (2) the church is losing its moral voice, becoming increasingly irrelevant.
We have launched Damascus Road because we believe that a stronger, invitational church, led by transformational leaders with a powerful moral voice, the ability to transform lives, and the will to overcome evil with good, can heal our fractured society.
We understand the magnitude of the problem we are setting out to address. We understand the role we will play in solving that problem. Collectively, our knowledge and experience, joined with that of our partners, gives us confidence that our impact will be significant and exemplary.
Our program for healing and reforming the church is built upon the best practices of thriving churches and the resources of our partners, who have committed to work with us in this effort—national and regional denominational leaders, the leaders of thriving churches, Christian business leaders, para-church organizations, seminaries, community service organizations, counseling centers and our financial and supporting partners.
Our Beliefs
We have many beliefs. Some we discuss. Some we defend. Some we would die for. Here are our foundational beliefs, those at the core of our Christian identity:
We have faith in God, nurturing a spiritual expectation of God’s power in us and among us. God is not an idea, a myth, or abstract concept. God is a personal and communal driving force, the transforming source that inspires abundant life. We strive to keep ourselves in the love of God.
We honor Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We come to know about God by listening to Jesus, the Son of God, and observing how he treated others. We develop a profound understanding of human potential and the purpose of our lives by following Jesus, learning how he, both as God and as the human being most intimately connected to God, lived in this world. As is true of all disciples of Jesus, we strive to be with Jesus and to be like Jesus, in world and deed.
We are empowered by God’s Spirit in us, which provides confidence in God’s constant presence with us, convinces us that God knows and understands us, and gives us the ability to be God’s loving voice, face, and hands in every human encounter.
We are Bible-based. In the Bible, God reveals to us who He is and how He wants us to live. The Bible is transformatively relevant for us: informative, formative, comforting and challenging, revealing God’s intentions and guidance for our lives as we engage the world.
We believe that the love of God extends to all people, that we are all part of the same family. Therefore, we aim to impact our world for Christ and are committed to bringing God's love to those outside the church campus. It is a Christian’s joy-filled, exuberant imperative, empowered by God’s Spirit, to invite people to faith in Christ and to help them be transformed by His love and grace. In many ways, the church (we as Jesus' disciples) exists for its non-members.
We pursue personal growth and the imperative of lifelong learning. We mentor others, sharing our skills, knowledge, and expertise to equip all to flourish.
We encourage entrepreneurial community engagement. We structure and animate creative ways to embody the Gospel and God's love in our neighborhoods and workplaces.
We care about each other. Affection is at the heart of every Christian encounter. We are a welcoming community. We embody hospitality, foster loving relationships, and encourage constructive dialogue around our differences.
Our Name
Before becoming a Christian, the Pharisee Saul (who became the Apostle Paul) zealously opposed the early church. He believed that God wanted him to destroy Christianity, that the Messiah could not come until every Christian was eliminated. Determined to terrorize Christians, Saul was on the Damascus Road when, in a flash of light, he encountered Jesus Christ. Christ changed everything for him. From then on, he served God without reservation and became Christianity’s greatest proponent, propelling the Good News about Jesus throughout the Roman world—he still proclaims the Gospel today to us through his New Testament letters.
We believe that all people, like the Apostle Paul, need to experience the abundant life found in Jesus Christ. Many churches have lost sight of the mission to help people find Christ. They have turned inward and focused primarily on their own members. Sadly, most of these churches are in steep decline. Nevertheless, other churches have refocused their ministry on reaching out to help their neighbors encounter Christ. Their members are maturing in their faith, and loving and serving in their communities. Not surprisingly, these churches are thriving—growing, sometimes rapidly, even in our turbulent, fractured times.
We are “Damascus Road” because we exist to help churches thrive by developing strong Christian leaders and dynamic capabilities that bring people to a Damascus Road experience of faith in Christ and then transform their lives through God’s love and grace.
Damascus Road Leadership Team
Paul Feiler, Executive Director
Paul served as the pastor of churches in Cambridge, MA, St. Paul, MN, and Houston, TX. He also served as a C-Suite Executive and Leader of Global Strategy for two large consulting firms. He has coached and developed leaders in over 80 organizations. PhD, Princeton, Biblical Studies; Graduate Leadership and Strategy Program, Harvard Business School; MDiv, Bethel Seminary; MS, Psychology, University of Houston, BA, Wheaton. Beloved wife Andrea.
David Clark, Executive Director
David is the former Dean and Professor of Theology at Bethel Seminary, and has been the pastor of several churches. He served on the Board of Intervarsity, has authored 10 books and published 24 articles. The son of missionaries, David has led many mission trips. He teaches change management and leadership development classes for Eagle Brook Church. PhD, Northwestern (Theological Studies); MA, Trinity Divinity School; BA, Houghton. Beloved wife Sandy.
