Our Year in Review

Merry Christmas from all of us at the Sharing Faith Initiative! We are so grateful for all of you who have helped to make this year a success.

Thank you to those who attended our in person workshop last April on Backstory Preaching with Rev. Dr. Lisa Cressman, or our workshop in late August on Storytelling in Preaching with Rev. Dr. Alyce McKenzie, or our online worskshop in October with Christian Educator veteran Carol Wehrheim on telling the biblical story as the children’s sermon. If you missed one or more of them, all of these workshop recordings are available on our website.

Thanks to the Lay Preacher cohort who joined us for the 2024-2025 academic year, and to those who have joined us for the 2025-2026 cohort! Thanks to the Clergy Cohort who has been with us since the fall of 2024 and who will be continuing for another semester. And a huge thanks to my fellow preaching coach, Rev. Dr. Mark Jefferson who now teaches at Acadia Divinity School in Nova Scotia. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and insight with our preaching cohorts!

Thank you to our newest team member, Amanda Herridge, who joined us in the summer, and who has helped us to recruit our first cohort for the Children in Worship program which will begin in January and run for six months. With the help of Amanda, our student worker Kenzie Tuttle, and our media specialist Usama Malik, we have conducted three Listening Tours at churches across central Texas, learning more about how children experience worship and what opportunities they already have to lead in worship. We look forward to continuing our Listening Tour this spring!

Also behind the scenes, we have Dr. Timothy Lincoln who is our outside evaluator, helping us as we keep track of our goals and how we can continue to improve along the way.

We also have a team of consultants who have been helping us talk through ideas and plans for our Children’s Sermons by Children Program: Dr. Sarah Allen, Dr. Andrew Zirschsky, Rev. Amy Sutherlan, and Elizabeth Steel.

And last but not least, a huge shout out to Kelley DeCleene, our Program Coordinator, who keeps these newsletters coming every month and who keeps us rolling along remembering all the details! Thank you so much, Kelley!

Our hearts are full thinking of all the many people who have blessed us this year and who have led to our faithful flourishing! Many blessings to all of you and the ministries you contribute to and the people you bless through your care and energy. We hope you will continue to keep us in your prayers as we seek to empower more people to share their faith in the world.

Most of all, we are thankful for the Christ Child who entered our world in embodied vulnerability, proclaiming the in-breaking of God’s coming reign. May you all experience the Joy, Peace, Hope and Love that this Child brings to this weary world.

Blessings,

Carolyn Helsel