We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matt Nash. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matt below.

Matt, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The vision for Kardia Community came out of more than 25 years of my work as a pastor and missionary and realizing that the person I cared about least during all those years was myself. Soul Care is not something that was really ever discussed among pastors and ministry leaders and I wanted to create a community where pastors, priests, missionaries and ministry leaders could be themselves and receive care for their soul. Especially during the last several years, pastor burnout and stress has been at an all time high. Barna Research group did a study in 2020-21 and discovered that more than 43% of pastors and leaders wanted to quit because of job related stress. I got the idea for Kardia Community after doing intense research for a paper in my doctoral program and began to dream of a community where pastors and leaders could receive soul care and spiritual formation for themselves, not the people they are serving.

Matt, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have spent most of my adult life working with churches and mission organizations. I became a follower of Jesus at age 16 and when I graduated from high school I wanted to learn how to work with students in youth ministry and also do missions around the world. I was able to spend two summers traveling throughout Western and Eastern Europe and got a wide view of the world and how to serve people. After spending almost 20 years working with students, I did some teaching at a Christian high school in San Diego and eventually that led to being able to teach at an International school in Rwanda. We moved as a family to Rwanda in 2010 and spent 4 years living and working there. When we returned to the States, I spent the next 7 years working with two different international ministries doing leadership training and church planting all over the world. This is where I really gained a love for other pastors and leaders and I believe is the reason why Kardia Community exists today, because of the value that these leaders bring to their communities.

I want Kardia Community to provide spaces for pastors and leaders to receive soul care for themselves through support groups, online learning cohorts where we discuss a topic or book that will help them take time to do soul care so they can build resilience in ministry. We also offer one-on-one spiritual direction and Enneagram coaching. Spiritual Direction gives pastors the space to share any issue they are personally dealing with and makes space for healing and transformation. Many leaders also have benefited from the Enneagram tool to better understand their core motivations, fears and ways of interacting with others. We offer coaching with the Enneagram and a learning cohort for groups.

We also will be offering in person retreats and workshops throughout the year for pastors and leaders to gather together and be encouraged that they are not alone in their work. Kardia is the Greek word for “heart.” Our desire is to journey with pastors and ministry leaders by providing the tools and experiences that help them flourish. The goal is to help men and women build resiliency and reignite their KARDIA for ministry through spiritual practices and connection in COMMUNITY.

This is so important because, as Dallas Willard says, “Our soul is like an inner stream of water, which gives strength, direction, and harmony to every other element of our life.”

One of the challenges facing pastors and ministry leaders today is the time they invest on their emotional health as a leader. Most of a pastors education journey is about learning how to understand the Bible and how to understand the people they will work with. There is little to no time spent on what is going on in their own heart and head underneath the surface of ministry.

Some of the most powerful words that Jesus spoke are recorded in Matthew 11:28-30. Here is what it says, in the Message translation –

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Jesus is saying that recovery comes through rest. Learning unforced rhythms of grace requires a deep dive into our emotional health. Pastor and author Pete Scazzero says, “It’s impossible to be spiritually mature, while remaining emotionally immature”

One practice that has been helpful for me is asking myself three questions.

What is mine to carry?

What can be carried by others?

What is God’s to carry?

These three questions have increased my emotional intelligence and helped me grow in my emotional and spiritual maturity. It is often in the questions that we learn more than the answers. Take some time this week and find a quiet place and write these three questions down. Then take some time and pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom on what is yours to carry, what others need to carry so that you can lead from a healthy soul and what you can release to God to carry.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In 2010 my wife and I were praying about what the next chapter of our life was going to look like. I had spent the last 20 years serving in churches as a youth pastor but we sensed something bigger was coming. We took a leap of faith and I applied for a teaching position at an international school in Rwanda. I interviewed for the teaching job on July 1 of that summer, my wife also interviewed for the Registrar position, and four weeks later we were on a plane for Africa. We sold most all of what we owned and that month sent letters out to raise the financial support we would need. On the day we were driving to the airport we learned that we had about $400 a month that was committed but we needed about 3 times that. We trusted that God would provide and fortunately our housing and flights were covered by the school that we both would work at. We had a 3 year old girl at the time and we had no idea what was going to happen. Every month we were there, our support grew until we had more than enough to cover our expenses and also be able to enjoy a bit of traveling around Africa. These four years really taught me a lot about the need for resilience in life and ministry. The key is to remain open to what is possible and see everything as an opportunity for growth, no matter the hardships.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn came to me after I burned out in ministry in 2020 and had to step away from the church I was leading as senior pastor. I had spent the last four years there and really put all of myself into it and became exhausted because I was leading with my ego more than my reliance on Jesus. The church did not belong to me and I acted like it was all up to me to make is successful. Fortunately at the end of 2020 I was able to get some counseling and discovered what was underneath the surface of my striving. I never took time during these four years to care for my own soul and spend time on my own spiritual formation as a leader. This is why I wanted to start Kardia Community so that I could spend the rest of my days being a pastor for other pastors and come along side leaders and support them in their work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kardiacommunity.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kardiacommunity/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089136907391
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nashmatt/
• Other: Email: [email protected]