Vetted instruction
Our content comes from a variety of sources who have been personally invited to contribute to The Build.
Jay Slife
Jay is the Founder and Senior Pastor of reBuild, a harp-and-bowl style House of Prayer, and the Co-Founder and Chief Educator of The Build, a live and online training, empowering, and releasing center, aimed primarily at the Millennial generation. His specific callings are to teach, preach, and prophesy. With his wife and best friend Julia, their extensive life and ministry experiences have prepared them well to raise up others in all facets of life, including and perhaps especially the life of ministry. Their passion is to help people find their niche, their place of depth, service, and ministry, to and with their Lord; thus, bringing fulfillment to their walk with Jesus and glory to his Name.
Jay and Julia came to the Lord together in 1979. Upon their entry into the Kingdom, several wonderful things transpired. Almost immediately Jay began to flow strongly in various aspects of prophetic ministry. This calling was and is coupled with an overwhelming hunger for the presence of our Lord and for the Word, along with a strong and ever-growing compassion for people and passion for ministry.
Jay brings forty-plus years of ministry to the table, having walked in the shoes of Planting and Senior Pastor, Associate/Staff Pastor, Small Group Pastor, Elder, Deacon, sound guy, and janitor! He was active in the Assemblies of God for nine years, having been Licensed to Preach in 1987. He operated in the Association of Vineyard Churches for fifteen years, having been Ordained to Ministry in 1991. He currently holds Ordination with Free Indeed Ministries. He holds a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Doctorate in Applied Leadership from Wagner University.
Jay was invited to lead his first small group early in his walk with Jesus and has been flowing fervently in that realm ever since. Regardless of how it might be labeled or configured, small group ministry, and the building and expansions of same, has been a strong component of all that Jay and Julia have pursued and accomplished in ministry. It is their contention and assertion, based on what they see evidenced in Scripture and in all of life, that small groups are that place where God’s people develop the quickest and go the deepest in their walk with Jesus. It is in that light that they have recently developed a Home Gathering Network start-up. They envision the continuance of this network, partnering with other networks similar to it, well into the future. They see it as the ongoing, but also upcoming, expression of the Father into the lives of his children, on a broad spectrum and for many years to come.
Jay and Julia have been married for forty-five years, live in Colorado Springs, and have four adult children, all serving Jesus. Some of their enjoyments in life include spending much time with each other (they can often be found on the local hiking trails!), baseball, good coffee, good jazz, and fun, mountainous camping sites. Jay is also the proud owner of a vintage Honda Gold Wing, which they love riding in those same mountains.
Matthew Slife
Matthew is the Co-Founder and Leader of The Build, a live and online training, empowering, and releasing center, aimed primarily at the Millennial generation. He is the primary Builder of this ministry, having built it from a Vision and with subsequent interchanges from his Lord. He has accomplished most of what you see when you are online with us! Matt’s specific callings are coupled as a prophetic evangelist, having been prayed over and anointed for this at a very young age.
Matthew came to Jesus at an early age and has developed a deep and rich connection with Jesus. He has cultivated an intimacy that is a constant in his life. He has a very strong passion for people, especially those who do not yet know Jesus.
Matt brings a dozen-plus years into the mix, having spent three years at International House of Prayer in Kansas City, as well as a number of other points of exposure and experience with the Lord in a variety of ministry/worship settings and gigs. He also graduated from Icon Collective with a degree in Music Production. He was Ordained to Ministry with Free Indeed Ministries in 2018 and holds good standing within that ministry.
As a very creative individual he is highly skilled as a musician, as a musical producer, and as a teacher in percussion, keys and music production. He is also a quality teacher from the Scriptures.
Torry Ebell
Torry has been involved in church music since kindergarten, participating as choir member, bell ringer, sound engineer, bassist, vocalist, guitarist, and worship leader. Though raised in church, his key moment with Christ came in the middle of post-communist Russia while on tour with the Santa Clara Chorale, birthing a passion for international missions that is intertwined with his love of music.
Raised in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, Torry graduated with a degree in computer science,
and promptly moved to Silicon Valley.
While living there, he encountered the charismatic side of the church, a
personal relationship with Christ, a calling to the nations, and the love of
his life. Shortly after being married,
Torry and June moved to Madrid, Spain, where they worked with a local church
for six years, leading small groups, coordinating worship rehearsals,
duplicating and distributing Christian literature and music, and even re-wiring
the building’s electrical circuits.
Returning to the United States, they landed back in Colorado Springs,
raising their two children, and patiently (at least sometimes) waiting to
return to Europe.
As both an engineer and a musician, Torry’s brain frequently conjures up ideas that are not only outside the box, but often on the other side of the warehouse—from setting up a sound system with the speakers in the back of the room, to shopping online for castles to use as ministry centers. When he isn’t making music or working on his computer, you will likely find him homeschooling his son or driving his convertible with the roof down (perhaps even if it’s snowing).
Doug Scott
Doug has been in ministry for over thirty-five years, as a Youth Pastor, Pastor of Prayer, and Senior Pastor. As well, he has been part of a Leadership Training Team overseas. His life experience is vast, as he has always sought the genuine transformation that comes from becoming more and more like Jesus. He loves to spend his time in God’s word, worship and intercession.
Doug holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from West Coast Christian College, Fresno, CA. It is from his earliest days in the Kingdom, and into the present, however, where his fascination with the presence of the Lord has so defined his walk.
Doug and Kim have been married for thirty-nine years and have two sons, in Georgia and Colorado. They recently moved to the Atlanta area, having lived in Colorado Springs for twenty-nine years prior. Doug enjoys watching sports and reading, while Kim loves to cook and entertain friends!