Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Goode.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in the very Christian south. When my family collapsed as a kid, I thought my church would be there for my family. Unfortunately, I found myself disappointed. My now single mother was trying to navigate her new life, alone with two boys, and the people who I thought were supposed to help were nowhere to be found. The Jesus of the Bible and the people who claimed to follow him seemed very far apart to me. Somehow (I believe by God’s grace), I never lost hope totally. I was guided by a belief that if the people who claim Jesus is God would actually follow him, the world would be a much brighter and loving place. So I started working toward that end.
In college and shortly after, I made two full-length documentaries (one on homelessness and the response of the Church and the other on foster care and the response of the church). What I learned as I shared those films was that the institutional nature of our churches actually hindered, not helped, the people who fill them to do good in the world. Overworked church staff, often expected to be all things to all people, had to balance unrealistic expectations of both maintaining the systems in their churches and helping their people serve the world. The problem seemed to be that the internal systems always won and the external world remained untouched. I joined Orchard’s staff to help change that.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course it has not been a smooth road! No one likes hearing their systems challenged — Christians are no exception. Throughout college very few church leaders would pay me any attention. I was more annoying to them than helpful. What I have learned however is that persistence and humility, when paired together, can go a long way. That is certainly not to say that I have been perfect at that, but when I have walked that line well over an extended period of time I have certainly seem that be honored in the eyes of man.
Orchard – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from similar organizations?
Orchard was founded in 1996 to help normal people make extraordinary impacts in the world. We help Christians discover the unique place God has positioned them to shine their lights in the world. We then come around with technical support, prayer training, funding, networking opportunities, and whatever other resources may be helpful to their work. Our ministries have served over 500,000 people over the last two decades.
We are set apart by a few things, but the biggest is the value we place on normal people. In Christian circles things are often very focused on the clergy. We expect the clergy to do everything and everyone else sort of views themselves as the support staff. We flip that on its head! We think the accountant and plumber can have just as much of an impact on the world as the preacher. In many ways, we think they can have MORE of an impact. So we focus our efforts on those who are not professional clergy — although we still love and respect our clergy friends a great deal!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When we realized that we crossed 500,000 people touched that was a pretty big deal! It’s significant for a few reasons. For starters, we are a pretty lean organization. With less than 10 employees, we are not a large non-profit in the traditional sense. Yet our commitment to volunteers making significant impacts has led to some pretty large numbers. I hope this encourages other organizations to consider giving their volunteers more robust and more meaningful opportunities to serve.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3525 Piedmont Rd., NE
Building Five, Suite 705,
Atlanta, GA 30305 - Website: meetorchard.org
- Phone: 404.841.0800
- Email: info@meetorchard.org
- Instagram: meetorchard
- Facebook: meetorchard
- Twitter: meetorchard
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