A mom caring for her girls
Real estate in this family started with Emilie’s mom, Betty Ward. Betty was a full-time schoolteacher and a single mom raising her daughters on her own. Emilie was one of them. To provide a little more for her girls, Betty earned her real estate license and began helping families buy and sell homes alongside her teaching career.
That was her ministry: caring for her girls, and caring for the families she served along the way. Emilie watched her mom work hard, love people well and find a way to provide.
Real estate gave Betty a way to provide without leaving her teaching job or the girls who needed her. Every SOLD sign meant a little more breathing room for her family, and a family somewhere starting a new chapter in a new home.
The family lost Betty a few years ago, but her example is where this whole story begins.
Following in her mom’s footsteps
Betty’s example sparked something in Emilie, and she got her real estate license too. She went on to serve clients for more than a decade before her mom passed.
Real estate was something Emilie enjoyed doing on the side, on a schedule that worked for her family, and it brought in a little extra spending money.
She started at a large national brokerage on a 50/50 split. The training was worth it at first. As she grew more confident, she moved to brokerages with better splits, but she kept running into the same two things: a big share of every commission going to the brokerage, and pressure to do more than she wanted to. Emilie just wanted to do real estate on the side and serve people well. Many of the places she worked were built to push agents to perform.
A pastor in real estate
Chris founded Experience Life, a church he still leads today. Its vision is “making disciples who multiply movements to reach entire nations.” That’s where the name Movements comes from: the brokerage exists to serve that same vision.
Chris eventually got his real estate license too, and he started an investing company with Emilie and his dad, Gary. His dream was to one day give his salary back to the church and serve in ministry without pay. They named the company Gem Homes: G for Gary and Em for Emilie. Gary was the main investor, Emilie was the decorator who made each house feel like home, and Chris ran the business.
Over time, that dream came true. Gem Homes grew enough that Chris could give his salary back to the church, and he now leads Experience Life without pay. A pastor’s real estate license made room for the work he believes in most.
Serving pastors and their families
With Gem Homes doing its own transactions and Emilie doing deals of her own, Chris and Emilie started Movements Real Estate so they could keep 100% of their commissions. Having their own brokerage opened another door: they could offer the same thing to other pastors and their spouses, so more of what they earn goes to supporting their ministries.
Chris also created TentmakingPastors.com. The apostle Paul made tents to support his ministry, and the site helps pastors and ministry leaders find ways to earn income alongside their calling. Becoming a real estate agent is one of them.
Supporting your ministry
Today the ministry is helping others do what real estate did for this family. Movements is a home for agents who share its values and want to support their ministry through real estate. Some serve in a church. Some are parents earning extra income for their families. Some do a deal or two a year, and some do a lot more. Many have other passions and callings, and they don’t want to spend too many hours each week on real estate.
Movements started as a way to serve pastors and their spouses, and today it welcomes anyone who wants to support their ministry through real estate, whatever that ministry might be. It’s a ministry-minded, boutique brokerage, and joining feels a lot like joining the family. Chris and Emilie are both in the business, along with several family members and others who share the same heart. The brokers are easy to reach, and there’s no office, no meetings, no quotas and no pressure. Just agents who keep what they earn and want to love their neighbors well as they help them buy or sell a home.
From a mom caring for her girls to a brokerage helping families fund their callings, it has always been about the same thing. Real estate is the work. Ministry is the reason.
