Our Beginning

Our founder, Rev. Dr. Galen Ryman writes this in his own words:

Imagine being 18 years old in a jail cell after making some incredibly poor life choices. You would think that would be a wake-up call to change your life. It would be a full year later, at 19, until I finally decided to follow Jesus. A few months later, he called me into ministry. Another year later, at 20, I began my first internship with significant oversight. 

On my first day on the job, the youth pastor sent me to Walmart to buy literally one item he needed for the youth group. Imagine his surprise when I returned, an hour later, telling him I did not get that single item, because I couldn’t find Walmart. (And apparently couldn’t figure out Google Maps either.) I wonder what he thought my future might be in that moment. I can guarantee it wasn’t too bright.

Fast forward to when I was 33. By this point, not only did I survive that internship, but I went on to graduate college with a Pastoral Ministry degree, received my Master’s of Divinity Degree, and my Doctorate in Spiritual Formation. I had led successful youth ministries, young adult ministries, served as a Discipleship and Teaching Pastor before, at 33, serving as the Lead Pastor at a church that was in the top 1% in size and finances in my denomination, preparing for an 8-million-dollar vision initiative. 

What had happened in those 13 years between a failed Walmart run and leading a thriving church? One word: Mentorship. 

I will always give credit to the wise and humble leaders who invested their time with me, coached me after my failed experiments, and intentionally formed, taught, and prayed me into becoming the pastor that I am today. I look back and realize that I am who I am today because of God’s grace and the intentional effort of high-capacity leaders who poured their lives into me. 

I created this non-profit because I want to provide this kind of mentorship, discipleship, and leadership development for others. 

While I certainly want to share anything I have learned that would be helpful for younger pastors, my main intention is to bridge the gap between generations. This organization is a tool for me to connect my older mentor friends who serve at the highest levels of church leadership with my younger friends who are emerging leaders in the church today. I want to see my friends help my other friends grow, just as they have invested in me. This organization is a way that I can connect them through intentionally structured mentorship and retreat experiences where they will spend time together and learn from one another.

What is 11:1 Leadership?

1 Corinthians contains one of the simplest lines in all of the Bible, yet its impact on what it means for discipleship, mentoring, and leadership is enormous. It gives us the roadmap for how we become more like Christ, how we make disciples, and how we develop the future leaders of the church tomorrow. In its beautiful simplicity, it reads:

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

Paul was an incredible leader in the early church. His impact through church planting, pastoring, and his theological writings can not be understated. It would be impossible for him to pour out everything he had learned from following Christ in just one visit to a church; therefore, his instruction was to simply follow his example, to follow him and learn from him, just as Jesus’ disciples did with him. This example of discipleship from chapter 11, verse 1, has become the shorthand “11:1” that is used in reference to what kind of mentorship this business hopes to embody.

The heart behind 11:1 Leadership is to connect the incredible leaders of the church today, who obviously follow the example of Christ, with the future leaders of the church of tomorrow, so that they can follow their example by learning from their years of leadership, communication, pastoring, and relationship with Christ.