Our Story
It began with leaders who kept meeting in the middle of disasters.
Serve Source started as a room of outreach leaders who were tired of running into each other at the worst moments, and decided to do something about it.
Before there was a platform, there were people.
Outreach leaders from churches across the country kept arriving at the same disasters, in the same hard places, from the tornadoes in Tuscaloosa and Joplin to storms across Oklahoma. They were serving faithfully, and they kept running into each other.
In 2017, Dennis Harris of Church of the Highlands called a meeting so like-minded outreach leaders could sit down together and talk about how they responded in times of disaster. Derick Zwerneman, who had met Dennis a year or two earlier, was part of that first round table. They compared how they had served, where they had fumbled, and where they had made a real difference when they took teams into some of the hardest situations. They left with a conviction: they were better together.
That conviction, and the question that followed (should we do something about communication and resource development?), became Serve Source. Joe Carson of Life Church Memphis was in on the early stages, advising on the direction of the platform.
We kept running into each other through these disasters.
How it came together
2015–2016
Two outreach leaders meet
Derick Zwerneman and Dennis Harris meet. Both are outreach leaders who keep crossing paths at disaster sites.
2017
The first round table
Dennis calls a meeting of like-minded outreach leaders to talk about disaster response. They share how they served, where they fumbled, and what made an impact, and find that they are better together.
2017
Hurricane Harvey: a church on the edge of the storm
Celebration Church in the Austin and Georgetown area, on the outskirts of the disaster, becomes a drop-off point for resources arriving from across the country, with pilots helping fly supplies into hard-hit areas. A church away from the worst damage runs a warehouse and shows the love of Christ in action.
2018
Nonprofit leaders join the table
The round tables begin with church outreach leaders, then invite national nonprofit leaders. Many do not yet know one another. By 2019 the room feels more like a family reunion, and one question keeps coming back: should we do something about communication and resource development?
2021
Hurricane Ida and the first shared map
With partners responding and no easy way to see them all, the group launches its first platform during Hurricane Ida: a Google Sheet and a Google Map showing where the warehouses, resource centers, volunteer management and feeding locations are. It informs not only partners but churches and leaders on the edges of the storm across Louisiana. Serve Source becomes the sharing of information and opportunities, not only the collecting of it.
2021
Round table in Birmingham
Outreach leaders and partner organizations gather again, this time in Birmingham, to trade stories and build relationships.
2022
Hurricane Ian: the bridge to the local church
As the group communicates with partner organizations, the national disaster nonprofits that handle feeding, volunteer management and warehouses, something happens: the local church gets involved. That is where Serve Source comes in, building the bridge between local churches and the organizations bringing aid.
2024
A home for the work
Serve Source gives leaders a website and an app: active disaster pages with response maps and partner links, groups for outreach and nonprofit leaders, and a reviewed membership.
Serve Source represents the do something: the communication and the resource development that we can all do together.
What Serve Source is, and what it is not
Serve Source does not run feeding sites, manage volunteers, or build outreach projects itself. It is a platform of communication and resource development: tools and relationships that help the people already serving do it better, in times of disaster and on what its founders call Blue Sky days, the ordinary days between disasters.
It is not Serve Source overseeing the whole world. It is Serve Source coming alongside local and global Christian leaders, so that the local church can be the hero, wherever that is and whoever it partners with.
The model in action
ATX Outreach Connection: leaders who meet before the storm
On Blue Sky days, the ordinary days between disasters, the idea that began at the first round table now works city by city. In Austin, Texas, church outreach leaders formed the ATX Outreach Connection: a group formed by church outreach leaders, for church outreach leaders, who meet to connect, collaborate and share lessons learned.
It rests on 1 Corinthians 12:12 and the body of Christ. How can the church be the body if its leaders are not connecting and sharing ways to grow and serve their communities?
Who is here, not what is the program
Every meeting is built around who is in the room and how they get to know each other: what each is struggling with, and where God is moving in their churches.
Best practices, not reinvented wheels
Leaders capture what works, so no one has to start from scratch or repeat mistakes others have already learned from.
A map of the whole city
Serve Source maps the churches and nonprofits across Austin, searchable for needs like food banks, help finding a job, and health care, so a leader can see the whole city at once.
When a tornado swept through the city, one leader had no idea what to do while people from their church were already asking how to help. Then came the thought: there is a pastor I can call right now. His church would be on the ground the next day, and they could join forces with what he was already doing.
Leaders say it changes how their whole churches do ministry, not only missions but discipleship, youth, and the pastors around them, and that it replaces competition with partnership as parts of one body.
We can do so much more together than we can do on our own.
When volunteers or relief people leave, it’s the church that’s still going to be there.
Our vision
We see a connected and prepared Church, strengthened by relationships, knowledge, and technology, ready when crisis strikes to serve communities, demonstrate the love of Christ, and advance the Gospel. Every Church positioned before it matters most.
Our mission
We develop and deploy customized relational and technology-enabled solutions that build the connections and shared infrastructure needed for local and global leaders to effectively deliver the hope of Christ in every community they serve.
Serve Source functions as a connective and supportive backbone organization that helps others serve with greater clarity, trust, and impact.
What we hold to
Kingdom focused
Jesus Christ is the hope of the world. Serve Source, and the partners and churches it supports, believe the same.
The local church is the hero
When resources and organizations are connected to a local church, the whole community can find its way to that church. That is the goal.
We are better together
The first round tables proved it, and it is why Serve Source exists: to build relationships on purpose.
We value uniqueness
There are many kinds of organizations and many ways of doing ministry. Each is valued and supported, as long as it shares the first three values and is reaching people.
We discovered that we’re better together.
A protected space for leaders
Everyone who asks to join is reviewed by the team, because Serve Source is meant to be a protected space for disaster response leaders, nonprofit leaders and church leaders. The public can still follow active disaster events; the groups and conversations among leaders are for those who have been approved.
The leaders who started it
Derick Zwerneman
Founder and CEO - Austin, TX
Derick Zwerneman is the founder and director of Serve Source, a nonprofit equipping churches and communities to respond to crises with greater coordination and collaboration. A second-generation firefighter and 28-year veteran of the Austin Fire Department, Derick also served over nine years as Outreach Pastor at Celebration Church under Pastors Joe and Lori Champion. Co-founder of the Disaster Response Relational Network (DRRN), Derick focused his efforts to create and launch Serve Source in March 2022 to support faith leaders and response organizations nationally and internationally. He and his wife, April, live in Round Rock, Texas, and have three adult children.
Dennis Harris
CO Founder - Birmingham, AL
Dennis Harris is the Outreach Director and staff pastor at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama. With over 40 years of ministry experience, he leads Disaster Response efforts locally and globally, bringing practical help and hope to communities in crisis. Dennis also co-founded the Disaster Response Relational Network and Serve Source, fostering collaboration among churches nationwide. His passion for outreach has shaped city-wide initiatives, international missions, and impactful church partnerships. Dennis and his wife have been married for 37 years, sharing a lifelong commitment to faith, service, and transformation.
Dr. Joe Carson
Advisor | Columbia, Tennessee
Dr. Joe Carson brings more than 30 years of experience in business, executive leadership, church ministry, and nonprofit development. Formerly a leader with The Life Church in Memphis, Tennessee, Joe helped advance community outreach initiatives through the Memphis Dream Center, connecting churches, nonprofits, and community partners to serve families in need. He is the founder of Carson Development & Consulting, where he helps churches and mission-driven organizations strengthen leadership, develop healthy systems, and achieve sustainable growth. Passionate about collaboration and equipping faith-based leaders, Joe brings extensive experience in organizational development, community transformation, and compassionate service as a Serve Source advisor.