The story of Overseed started long before the name existed
Back in the early 2000s
while attending seminary at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Jim Harrell found himself sitting in the pews of an old New England congregation, Byfield Parish Church. It was there, week after week, surrounded by the rich history and faithful presence of that local church, that Jim began to notice something: many historic churches across New England were quietly fading. Once-vibrant congregations that had stood for generations were now declining, disconnected from their communities, and unsure of how to move forward.
What if there was a better way?
Instead of seeing these churches as dying, Jim saw them as seeds. Seeds that still held life, waiting to be nurtured and re-planted.
With over four decades of experience in discipleship, mentoring, church planting, and church renewal, Jim had spent his life investing in leaders and congregations. He holds both a Doctor of Ministry in Renewal Ministries and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell, but more importantly, he carried a deep conviction that no church is beyond hope.
Overseed was born out of this conviction
Jim launched Overseed with a clear and simple mission: to help declining churches thrive again — not by chasing trends, but by returning to what matters most. Overseed exists to help churches re-embrace the gospel, invest intentionally in discipling and developing new leaders, and rediscover their calling to love and serve their communities.
What began as a simple vision has grown into a movement of encouragement, coaching, and practical support for pastors and churches across New England.
Vision & Mission
Hope for the New England Church
Our vision is to revitalize New England Churches by developing pastors, their spouses, and church leaders to overseed their churches with the life-giving gospel in order to make disciples and to Seed the gospel in communities throughout New England.
Most New England churches, especially historic. have been declining for decades. In many cases, the roots of decline stem back to previous church leadership turning from the historic Gospel message and replacing the outward mission of the church with an inward survival mentality. As a result, these once-thriving churches have dwindling congregations that no longer focus on reaching their communities for Christ.
Overseed believes the positive way forward begins with prayer and continues with an intentional embracing of revitalization strategies that address this theological shift and missional drift. Since its founding in 2008, Overseed has worked with hundreds of pastors serving in revitalization situations and has seen many churches become renewed.
Values
At Overseed, everything we do is shaped by a deep conviction about who God is and how He works through His people. Our mission to help churches thrive again isn’t driven by programs or quick fixes — it’s rooted in timeless truths and a relational, gospel-centered approach. These core values guide how we walk alongside pastors, leaders, and congregations as they rediscover health, hope, and mission in their local context:
- Intentional
- Loving
- Strategic
- Collaborative
- Christ Centered
Leadership
Dr. Jim Harrell (President)
Jim launched Overseed in 2008. Jim has over 40 years of ministry experience in discipleship, mentoring, church planting and church renewal. Jim has his Doctor of Ministry in renewal ministries and a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Jim caught the vision of revitalizing/replanting churches in historic New England congregations while attending Byfield Parish Church during his seminary years. Jim applied his background in church planting, shepherding and training towards developing a plan for this vision. The outcome of that process was the formation of Overseed. It is Jim’s passion to help declining churches to thrive once again by re-embracing the gospel, being intentional about developing disciples and leaders, and by moving out into the community with the message and service of Christ. Jim’s email is jim@overseed.org.
Jim is a certified Auxano Vision Strategist and a certified NCD coach..
Jim is the author of Church Replanter: Learning from Nehemiah’s example of leading change when things are really broken and Praying for Church Revitalization.
Rev. Dr. Steve Treash (Chairman of the Board)
Steve Treash is the chairman of the Overseed Board and Senior Pastor of Black Rock Church in Fairfield, CT. In 1985, while a student at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Steve began as an intern at Black Rock, continued on in the role of associate pastor and then became Senior Pastor in 1997. Steve is now in his 39th year at Black Rock and enjoys sharing his long-term experience as an encouragement with fellow pastors throughout New England.
Along the way, Steve earned a Ph.D. in church history from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland where he wrote on the 18th century spiritual revival in New England known as the Great Awakening.
Steve and his wife Jen love travel, long walks, and spending time with their adult daughter, son and daughter-in-law.
Steve’s email is streash@blackrock.org
Rev. Dr. Jack L Daniel
Jack is an Overseed Field Director. He is recruiting and developing a network of Overseed Hub churches to help guide and resource church replanting efforts in their surrounding communities. Jack’s email is jack@overseed.org.
Jack became the Pastor of Free Christian Church, a UCC church, in 1977. There were about 75 people attending and 35 years later, the church was close to a thousand in attendance, was multi-staff and was one of the few multi-site churches in New England.
A Massachusetts native, Pastor Jack graduated from Eastern Nazarene College, Quincy, MA, and received his Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Hamilton, MA. He is an ordained United Church of Christ (UCC) pastor and also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Counseling and Clinical Studies from Andover-Newton Theological School.
Jack retired from Free Christian Church and is now living on Pleasant Pond in Richmond, ME. He and his wife Kathy raised three married daughters.
Jack is the author of Patient Catalyst: Leading Church Revitalization.
Bill Richards, Esq.
Bill Richards is the Corporate Attorney and co-founder of Overseed Inc.
Bill has a Juris Doctorate degree from the Massachusetts School of Law, Andover, Massachusetts and an undergraduate degree in Biology from Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts. Bill’s professional background is in business law, sales, and marketing. He recently retired as VP of Sales & Marketing for a company that manufactures sensors for medical devices in Wallingford, CT.
He came to Christ in his thirties while attending the Byfield Parish Church in Georgetown, Massachusetts where he has served on numerous committees and taught Sunday school with his wife Aileen for the past 15 years. It is at Byfield Parish Church where Bill was introduced to the renewal movement and came to believe that God was calling him to that area of ministry.
Chris Dubay
Vice President and Chief Engineer at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Chris is an experienced senior leader and registered professional engineer with a demonstrated history of global technical leadership and change management with a BS in Fire Protection Engineering from University of Maryland College Park.
Chris is also an elder at Christ Community Church in Taunton, MA. He is also an experienced Community Group Leader. He and wife Andrea have three boy, Benjamin, Nicholas, and Silas.
Rev. Deryk Richenburg
Deryk is the Lead Pastor at Hope Community Church in Newburyport, NH.
Before that, he served as the lead pastor of the First Church of Christ in Wethersfield, CN and prior to that as a patient catalyst pastor of First Congregational Church in Woburn.
Deryk and his wife Christy have two boys, Samuel and Elijah.
He holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Rev. Jere Vincent
Jere is president of Family Builders Ministries and executive director of the NE Mission Foundation. Jere has over 30 years of church ministry and leadership experience in marriage and family ministries. Jere is a graduate of Trinity Seminary
He and his wife, Brenda, have two daughters and live in Durham, New Hampshire. Jere and Brenda enjoy sharing their lives with couples preparing for marriage and those going through challenging seasons.
Rev. Jim Pocock
Jim is the founder and CEO of Elevate New England, a non-profit working in the cities of New England with the mission of building long-term, life changing relationships with urban youth, equipping them to thrive and contribute to their communities.
Prior to launching Elevate, Jim was a Senior Pastor, having served two New England churches and one in the distant land of California. All three were distinct cases of churches in need of renewal. Jim and his wife Beth reside in Gloucester, MA, where in his spare time he builds dry stone walls. .
Jim holds a Masters of Divinity from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
Dr. Kevin Lawson
Kevin is the Global Affiliate Professor of Educational Studies at Talbot Seminary. He has recently retired to Maine but continues to teach one course a semester in the PhD and EdD programs and supervise dissertation students in their research.
Kevin Lawson cares deeply about strengthening the educational ministry of churches. For 11 years, he served on church staffs as a minister of Christian education. He holds degrees in Christian education, biblical studies and educational administration, and carries out research on local church educational ministry, church staff issues, theological and historical foundations of Christian education, children’s spiritual formation, and other related topics. Kevin has written a number of books on Christian Education and Thriving as an Associate Minister.
Kevin is married to his wife Patty .
Rev. Rick Francis
Rick is a graduate of the University of Mass in business administration and holds a Master’s degree from Trinity Theological Seminary. After a 20-year career in agribusiness, Rick was called to the ministry in 1986 and has led churches in NH, MA, and ME. Additionally, he served as the sixth president of New England Bible College in South Portland, ME.
With a particular interest in helping ethnic and immigrant churches, Rick has worked with established churches helping them to revitalize by intentionally opening their doors to immigrant communities.
Currently serving as New England Consultant for the Cecil B. Day Foundation, he works extensively with ministry leaders throughout New England focusing on whole-life disciple-making.
Rick and his wife Heather have three grown daughters and live in Scarborough, ME.
Team
Maureen Smith
Office Manager
Maureen has over 25 years of experience in non-profit management. Along with her work at Overseed, she is the Missions and Community Service Director at Free Christian Church in Andover, MA. She has been involved with New England church leadership for fifteen years and is passionate about connecting people to advance the Good News.
Sharon Harrell
Pastor Wives Field Director
Sharon has been involved in church ministry and leadership since coming to Christ in college. She has a lifelong passion to study and apply the word of God in collaboration with other women. Her desire to love people well led to her certification as a MyersBriggs consultant and to the development of a yearlong curriculum for women to see that their lives are By Design. In the summer of 2022, she retired from her job as Senior Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Brandeis University to focus her attention on ministry to women.
As a ministry wife, she has journeyed with her husband Jim through various ministry settings. She understands the many ways a husband’s ministry may impact a woman’s life. She is honored to be able to apply her heart for women, her collaborative leadership style, her years of experience ministering to women, and her love of God’s design in people and His kingdom to nurture and support the wives of pastors.
Julie Abraha
Virtual Assistant
Julie is a dedicated professional with a passion for supporting mission-driven organizations. A graduate of the University of Maryland in 2017, Julie brings over five years of experience as an executive assistant, having worked closely with owners and CEOs in various industries. Raised in a nurturing environment within the church, Julie developed a strong sense of community and service from a young age. This upbringing instilled in her a deep passion for the non-profit sector, where she seeks to make a meaningful impact and contribute to positive change.