Greetings!
Thanks for taking the time to learn more about Alabaster Church. There is both a weight of responsibility and a breath of joy that we have in inviting others to partner with us in our desire to see, Asheville, a city of spiritual seekers become a family of Spirit-filled saints.
Our hope is that by going through this prospectus you’ll be able to catch a little glimpse of our story, what the Lord has called us to, and the vision and strategy by which he is calling us to do it. Our vision is as audacious as it is exciting and it leaves no room for us to give any method, strategy, or giftedness the credit – only a God at work in our city who is able to do far more abundantly than all we could ask or think.
Please reach out with any questions and feel free to visit our website for more information.
Grace and Peace,
Ryan Smith
Our Story
Erin and I met in college and were married in 2011. From the start, the local church has been at the heart of our shared life and calling. In our first year of marriage, we joined Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and later served at Living Stones Church in Reno. In both places, we witnessed the powerful impact a united church can have on a city—and also the harm that can come when spiritual authority is misused. Those years shaped in us a resilient commitment to Jesus and a deepening conviction for humble, healthy leadership.
In Reno, Erin led in worship and community life, while I served in a range of roles—from executive assistant to youth and college ministry, and eventually as Pastor of Liturgy and Theology. I also earned a Master’s in Biblical and Theological Studies through Western Seminary. During those years, our daughter Emma was born.
In Los Angeles, I served five years as Teaching Pastor at Collective Church, where Erin lead within our church’s care team. That season became one of healing, joy, and the birth of our son Arlo.
From the West Coast to Appalachia
After a decade of ministry on the West Coast, a growing desire to be closer to family stirred something deeper in us. What began as a longing—particularly in Erin’s heart—for proximity and presence soon became a call to plant. We didn’t move quickly. Over the course of a year, we prayerfully discerned with mentors, spiritual directors, and our sending church whether this was a distraction or direction from the Spirit. That process included two formal assessments: one evaluating our readiness to plant, and another exploring the spiritual landscape and viability of planting in Asheville.. Only after that clarity and the sending partnership of Collective Church, did we step out.
In 2024, we relocated, to begin the work of listening, embedding, and slowly preparing for the future. What God is forming here is unfolding in surprising ways —rooted in his pace, and shaped by the city we now call home.
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Introduction to Asheville
Asheville is one of the most sought-after cities in the country—an eclectic, progressive, and spiritually crowded place shaped by rapid growth and cultural reinvention. With just over 100,000 residents in the city and nearly 400,000 in the metro area, it draws artists, activists, entrepreneurs, and seekers looking for beauty, pace, and meaning. But in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Asheville is also a city in recovery—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—re-evaluating who it’s becoming and what kind of future it wants to build.
Long called the “Portland of the South,” Asheville celebrates weirdness and welcomes difference, yet beneath the murals and music lies exhaustion, cynicism, and longing. It is not post-spiritual but spiritually overcrowded, filled with crystals, tarot, deconstruction groups, and new age practices, even as historic churches close or fade into irrelevance.
Closed to church as at the least an obstacle to individual meaning and transcendence, at worst backwards etc. Though over two dozen church plants have failed here in the past decade, we believe the difficulty of the soil is the very reason for hope.
Asheville is full of longing—spiritual openness, deep questions, hunger for wholeness. Many here have walked away from rigid religion but still ache for meaning and transcendence. Instead of finding one story to live by, they assemble a buffet of spiritualities: yoga and Tarot, crystals and Jungian therapy, mushroom journeys and mindfulness apps. Even self-described atheists and agnostics are often drawn to contemplation, ritual, or “energy” work—pointing to a deep, if unspoken, hunger for the divine. And for many, the search is quieter but just as spiritual: pursuing wholeness through career success, parenting, wellness, or personal growth. They are not anti-spiritual—they are spiritual nomads – wandering a sea of options in search of a spiritual home.
TO SEE A CITY OF SPIRITUAL SEEKERS BECOME A FAMILY OF SPIRIT-FILLED SAINTS
Our Vision
Our vision is to meet these seekers with presence, not pressure—a church that feels like family and a gospel that brings good news. In a city marked by increasing loneliness and disconnection, we want to embody a spiritual family—where people are seen, known, and invited to belong as they investigate belief. And we believe the gospel doesn’t just offer comfort—it brings transformation. Seekers become saints—not in a stained-glass sense, but as ordinary people made new, filled with the Spirit, and empowered as witnesses. At Alabaster, we raise the radical minimum standard for discipleship: from passive attendance to the active, biblical call to become saints. This isn’t about creating a holy subculture—it’s about forming a people whose lives provoke curiosity, embody grace, and draw others toward Jesus. Discipleship doesn’t make us less human—it makes us fully alive, so others might see and come home too. We want to reach further by calling deeper. To reach those whose spiritual journeys have not led to any or lasting placement in the church through calling deeper discipleship and experience of the Spirit than most christians have found or churches have cultivated.
Our Mission
At the center of our life together is the call to follow Jesus—not just to believe in him, but to walk with him. This means more than ideas or inspiration; it means becoming his disciples—people formed by his presence, shaped by his Word, and empowered by his Spirit. We take our cue from Jesus’ own self-description: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” To follow Jesus as the Way means adopting his patterns—living into practices like prayer, rest, hospitality, and service. To follow him as the Truth means grounding ourselves in the full story of Scripture, letting it reframe how we see God, ourselves, and the world. And to follow him as the Life means receiving his Spirit and participating in his renewal of all things.
We believe discipleship is formation, not just information—and that becoming like Jesus is how we join in his work in the world.
Following Jesus
We are not just individuals following Jesus—we are a spiritual family, called to walk together in grace and truth. In Scripture, the church is most often described not as a building or a service, but as brothers and sisters—a people bound by the Spirit and the gospel. At Alabaster, we want to recover that vision. We eat together, pray together, carry one another’s burdens, and speak blessing over each other’s lives. We believe in sharing rhythms, homes, and stories—in slowing down enough to really know and be known. This kind of community requires presence, patience, and commitment, but it also produces joy, strength, and deep transformation. Ours is a life of mutual devotion—where grace leads to truth, and truth is always held in love. As we grow, we aim not just to gather crowds, but to build a family—a people formed by Jesus, for one another, and for the life of the world.
As a Family
Jesus’ call to make disciples is global—but it’s lived out locally. We believe God has planted us in Asheville for a purpose: to embody the kingdom in the neighborhoods, trails, homes, and businesses of this city. To be for Asheville means we live here with intentional presence and sacrificial love. But it also means we delight in Asheville’s beauty, weirdness, and creativity—not to erase it, but to sanctify it. We believe the gospel doesn’t flatten culture; it fulfills it. So we seek to honor the city’s gifts—art, music, food, justice, story—and offer them back to God as acts of worship and witness. Our lives become signposts of resurrection: not escaping the world, but serving and renewing it. We want to be the kind of church that feels deeply Asheville—rooted, joyful, and alive—while pointing beyond ourselves to a Kingdom that is coming, and already breaking in, here and now.
For Asheville
Our Vision
Inspired by our namesake – the woman with the alabaster jar – these are the culture-shaping commitments that define how we follow Jesus, as a family, for Asheville. They guide how we live, lead, and love— they’re the values we’re called to embody.
Sacrificial Worship
Worship means offering our first and finest—our time, energy, resources, and attention—as a response to Jesus’ worth. Like the costly offering of the alabaster jar, we pour out our lives in love toward God and others.
Prophetic Discernment
Like Mary, we want to act in step with what God is doing—not rushing, reacting, or copying trends, but listening carefully and responding with prayerful awareness. Wisdom is our pace.
Quiet Mission
We believe quiet faithfulness speaks loudest. Like Mary, who said nothing but poured everything out, Jesus declared her act would echo wherever the gospel goes. In the same way, we trust that humble, Spirit-led presence can shape generations.
Radical Hospitality
For Jesus, for the outsider, for one another. We welcome with joy and excess, curating spaces of belonging where grace surprises and the Spirit is truly invited. Hospitality is how we embody the gospel together.
Courageous Presence
Like Mary, we risk being misunderstood and let Jesus defend us. We stay present when it’s hard. We name reality, offer compassion, and speak truth in love. Leadership means being both bold and grounded.
Our Partners
Ed Stetzer says that an ideal church-planting candidate would have support from family and friends, local church(es), and from his denomination or relational network. It’s truly a blessing to see this pattern working in our church planting endeavor. We have all three of these support resources partnering with us in planting, establishing, and leading Alabaster Church. And out of our commitment for plurality of leadership, as we gather our core group, we’ll identify key individuals from within the community to serve as a wise voice for the pastoral direction of the church and as key voices for the advisory team.
Collective Church
Sending Church
Los Angeles, CA
Mission Church
Morganton, NC
Living Stones Churches
Reno & Sparks, NV
Leaders Collective
Church Planting Cohort
Steadfast Church
Incubating Church
Asheville, NC
New Life Church
Asheville, NC
Parish Church
Petaluma, CA
Where We’ve Been
2023
Summer 2024
Fall 2024
Winter 2025
Where We’re Going
First “planting” membership - milestones over timelines stuff
Interest Dinners
Interviews
Discernment Phase
Monthly Rhythms
Vision & Mission Nights
Social Nights
Prayer Nights
Core Group Phase
Public Planting Phase
Sunday Gatherings
Monthly Prayer Nights
Weekly Discipleship Cohorts & Occasional Events and Classes
Bi-Monthly Family Dinners
Monthly Membership Classes
Ways to Support
01 PRAYER
The single greatest need of a young, budding church plant is prayer partners willing to contend for revival in Asheville, establishment of the church, direction and protection for its leaders.
02 PARTNERSHIP
Partnership is key to our continued development and fruit in ministry. We have a deep desire to learn from and serve alongside other pastors and leaders who have gone before us.
03 MONTHLY DONATIONS*
As is common with most church plants, our budget leans on the generosity of private and institutional monthly financial support.
04 ONE-TIME DONATIONS*
Some of our ministry partners have graciously given one-time donations to allow us the necessary capital for new ministry ventures.
05 JOIN US
We need people willing to plant roots, serve with love, and help build something lasting from the ground up.
*All donations are tax deductible