Our Story

Mustard Seed Ranch is an interdenominational Christian ministry serving children who have been neglected, abused, orphaned or are in need of a healthy family environment. In 2006, Rex and Julianne Buckner began pursuing a calling to establish a safe haven for children in the Middle Tennessee area. After a time of soul searching and prayer, they took a leap of faith and walked away from their professional careers to pursue the dream of creating Mustard Seed Ranch. At first, there was no land, no homes, no house parents, and no program design. However, it was a dream that captured the imaginations and hearts of an entire community, and after 115 acres of rural farmland was contributed by an anonymous donor, support began to pour in from every corner of the community. Across the region, materials and thousands of hours of volunteer labor were donated to help build the first two homes, and in April 2009, the first children were welcomed into their new homes. Today, MSR is not only surviving its 6th year of operation, we’re thriving. Like the African proverb, “it takes a village to raise a child,” we have embraced the challenge, and couldn’t do what we do without help from our community.