We will gather for our next Institute class on December 5, 2016 when we are anticipating the coming of Jesus into our world. In this time of celebrating the birth of our world’s Savior, may our hearts be filled with thanksgiving to God. May we also give thanks for the gift of our Church Leadership Institute family and the wonderful opportunities the Institute provides for our spiritual growth and leadership development. At our class on December 5, we are privileged to have Carrie Corliss as our teacher. She will inform us of her dynamic, and sometimes unconventional, approaches to missional/incarnational ministry and church planting.
Carrie Corliss is wife to Alan, homeschool mom to four children ages 6 – 17, and step-mom to one grown son. Carrie is the granddaughter of Robert and Lois Hutson, who served their entire adult lives in pastoral ministry with the Friends Church, and she is the daughter of Randy and Charlene Littlefield. Randy has been a pastor and church planter in Evangelical Friends Church-Mid America Yearly Meeting (EFC-MAYM) and Eastern Region, and he is currently the EFC-MAYM Superintendent of Multiplication Ministries. Like her mom and dad and generations before them, Carrie is passionate about participating in the mission of God to see the Kingdom touch down in the lives of people, especially the broken, the poor, and the marginalized.
Carrie has served on the EFC-MAYM Home Missions Board for the past six years and champions unconventional paths of mission and church planting. She has been in leadership in several church plants and most recently helped to plant Communitas, a network of groups and individuals that exists for and is organized around the redemptive mission of God outside the walls. Communitas is involved in a number of neighborhood ministries and initiatives, several ministries with the homeless in Wichita, and English as a Second Language, where childcare and classes are free of charge. Members of Communitas, in partnership with five other Wichita Area Friends Churches, recently catalyzed the development of Family Promise of Greater Wichita, a program that brings congregations together to provide temporary shelter, meals, and compassionate assistance to homeless children and their families. Carrie is currently leading that effort in Greater Wichita.
We will video record Carrie’s presentation, as we do the presentations each month, and Drew Davenport will graciously upload it to YouTube for Friends to view any time of day or night and in any nation in the world where there is an Internet connection. See YouTube link here.
If you cannot join us live for the class, please log in and view it at your convenience, or gather a group in your church to view a discuss Carrie’s teaching. Sites where we offer live, interactive sessions are: Friends Church at Liberal, New Hope Friends Church, Bangor Liberty Friends Church, Fowler Friends Church, Lighthouse Fellowship Church (at the home of Jerry and Mary Louthan), Faith Friends Church, Friends Ministry Center (Wichita), Friends Community Church (Angleton), Barclay College (Jackson Hall), Noatak, Alaska (Robert Sheldon, Superintendent), Friends Bible Training School (Alaska Yearly Meeting) at the home of David Miller, Neighborhood Friends Church (at the home of Tom and Bonnie Bousman), North Newton (at the home of Merl and Eunice Kinser), Arkansas City Friends Church (at the home of Bud and Pauline Lawrence), and Sudanese Community Church (Omaha).
Carrie’s presentation will be at 7:00 p.m. central time on December 5, 2016.We invite you to log in early for a time of sharing at 6:50. Each month at 6:50 a Friend shares a story, testimony, or something about herself/himself. This is a great way we are becoming better acquainted and building community.
As we celebrate the birth of Christ, we anticipate His final instructions, “Proclaim the Good News to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15 NRSV). This is the heart of “Advancing the Church,” the current course title, and Carrie Corliss’ message to us.
– Dave Kingrey, Director of Leadership Institute
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