About Wade...
Hi, I am Wade, the founder of Tumbling Walls. I am the chief cook and bottle washer (meaning I do whatever work gets done and can’t blame anybody else when it doesn’t). Tumbling Walls was supposed to be my career. It didn’t turn out that way. Strangely, I think my life is a “Mr. Holland’s Opus” rerun. While Mr. Holland's dream job had to take a backseat he was able to pursue his interests in many other ways. After completing a B.S. in Christian education and Bible at Ft. Wayne Bible College and M.A.C.E. at Winebrenner Theological Seminary my career path didn’t go as I planned. However, looking back on it, I see it went God's way. I have been a youth pastor, director of Christian education, youth camp director, ministry director, concert promoter, producer of a Christian music show for CBS affiliate WDOH, vice-president of TCA Artist Representation (a Christian artist management and booking agency), pastor, speaker, workshop leader, licensed social worker, program director for a juvenile court system, and director (superintendent) of a junior high/high school recovery school. Ministry, for me, came in all shapes and sizes. And it has been a blast! Now retired, I have returned to Tumbling Walls. Whatever is next is up to God.
The Beginning...
Formed in 1990, Tumbling Walls has always been about helping people build stronger relationships with themselves, families, the church, community, and Jesus. It has never been about the ministry being seen or heard, but about Jesus being seen and heard. Whether Jesus is seen in what is written or heard, it is always about HIM. He gets the last word!
Tumbling Walls is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, faith-based organization that engages with people to offer hope and help. We want to come alongside people and help them work through the issues and obstacles that impact their relationship with each other and Christ.
The Calling...
We are people engaged in a desperate war of faith versus faithlessness, belief vs. unbelief, trust vs. no trust, and building on the Rock or on the sand. We consistently find ourselves searching for solutions to our issues, strained/ broken relationships, life’s storms, brokenness, failures, and hardships (i.e., substance use/abuse, violence, delinquency, broken marriages). How we resolve these life impacting difficult interruptions makes or breaks us. To that end, Tumbling Walls seeks to provide 21st-century tools (intergenerational resources for parents/teens, bible studies, blog posts, and podcasts) for 21st-century disciples, equipping us to live healthy and fulfilling lives and enabling us to grow in our relationship with Christ.
One of our resources, "Fun, Meaningful Meetings for Parents and Teens" (can be downloaded for free on the Resources page) will intervene amid turmoil and/or crisis and help preadolescents, teenagers, parents, and families assess their needs/damages and rebuild/restore the relationships that has separated them from each other. Part of the focus in each session is to inform family members about personal accountability, assist in their faith development, challenge and equip parents to walk and talk their faith with their children, and then expect nothing less.
Additionally, we are strategizing initiatives that serve the Church to fulfill its mission. When Jesus left Earth, He left the Church to tend to His business. It is through the Church that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to work. Jesus didn’t say that if the Church failed, there was another possibility…No, the Church is His solution…His only solution. Since Jesus said the Church is to lead people to Christ and disciple them, we must be part of His solution. Consequently, Tumbling Walls is committed to participating fully in assisting the Church to be the Church.
Our Mission...
Tumbling Walls is on a mission to provide faith-based resources (intergenerational family sessions, bible studies, blogs, podcasts) that focus on helping people figure out how to live life with each other and with God. Since relationships are as fragile as the egos involved and can easily become damaged, we sometimes feel like we are up against a wall or it is about to crash in on us. We need each other – there is just no getting around it. When chaos emerges, we must confront it so the relationships that matter the most can mend and heal.
Let’s be honest…relationships are hard work, shouldn’t be taken for granted, and require our attention to the details. It isn’t just our relationships with others that we must protect; it’s our relationship with Christ. How is it between God and you? If there is room to grow and you want to wrestle with biblical truth that will impact your relationships with each other and with God, then join us on this journey of a disciple striving to live a life of faith and to be faithful.
Our Beliefs...
...the Bible is God's written revelation to us, and that it is verbally inspired, is of supreme and final authority, and is without error in the original manuscript;
...in one God, eternally existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;
...in the deity of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, sinless life, miracles, death on the cross to provide for our redemption, bodily resurrection, ascension into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father as our mediator and advocate, and is coming soon;
...that all of us everywhere are lost and face the judgment of God and need to experience a saving personal relationship with Jesus Christ through His shed blood on the cross;
...in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, that He performs the miracle of the new birth in nonbelievers and lives in believers;
...in holy Christian living, and that we must have concern for the hurts and social needs of others; and
...in using every modern means of communication available to us to help families experience the meaning and hope available through the Gospel of Christ.