A Letter From Chip Dodd

To Sage Hill Participants:

A long time ago, longer than the time the following few words can speak or describe, I had the inspiration for a thing called Sage Hill: A Social Impact Organization. There are so many stories, memories, risks, trials, and people who could fill this letter that it would be a book instead.

Sage Hill was formed to have many avenues that led out of the same central idea: Helping people see who they are made to be, so they can do what they are made to do. Everything Sage Hill was based on the premise that we are “created as emotional and spiritual creatures, created to do one thing: live fully. We live fully by doing so in relationship with ourselves, others, and God.”

The name Sage Hill is meant to reference two things: Sage Hill is a place that is easily accessible, a hill not a mountain, where the one who goes there can receive a balm, i.e., sage, whether it be of healing, or wisdom, or encouragement, or knowledge through people who have needed and received the same things.

Stephen James was there from the beginning of the Sage Hill idea. I met Stephen in 1999. He was the wonderful editor for The Voice of the Heart, a book that had been a rumbling ache in my heart for over a decade. He awakened through what it meant, left the publishing world for Seattle School (then Mars Hill), and returned to Nashville because of this idea. He and I basically started Sage Hill Counseling in the rooms of The Center for Professional Excellence (CPE). CPE was a treatment center that I began in 1996.

CPE was a place where the Spiritual Root System was a potent catalyst for helping professionals get recovery from “the wounds of living,” so that they could get recovery of the lives they were created to live. In 2014 Stephen risked stepping out of the rooms of CPE into growing the counseling center idea into what it is today, and is still becoming. For those of you reading this letter, you are probably familiar with the Sage Hill name and its benefits.

Stephen describes what he is doing as “stewarding” an idea. I describe what he is doing as leading and directing. As the Executive Director of Sage Hill Counseling, he has matured an idea into an ongoing, beneficial organization. I am proud of what we have done. And because of our age difference, I think it appropriate for me to say that I am very proud of what he has done.

With that said, I am announcing my departure from Sage Hill Counseling. It is in competent hands and hearts, with people who can take it where they envision it going. My personal mission in this life is to help people see who they are made to be, so they can do what they are made to do. Sage Hill Counseling is doing what it is made to do. It has grown up.

Of course, I will continue to contribute to Sage Hill Counseling where needed, but my energies have turned to growing a mentoring and consulting concern called chipdodd.com, which focuses on advancing wellness in individuals and organizations. I will also, of course, still be focusing on helping people “Live Fully, Love Deeply, and Lead Well.”

God bless those who carry the vision and mission of what Sage Hill has always been meant to become.

Chip Dodd

Creator and Founder of Sage Hill