Faith at Work has a vision of more and more people living a call centered life. We imagine more people better able to listen for the still small voice of God. We can see the impact on the way those people will do their work, use their free time, manage their resources, parent their children, and care for the world. For this to happen we know it is going to take more staff. So we are stepping out in faith, hiring the people who can help us make that happen. We are very pleased to introduce these two new staff members to you.
Suzanne Schmidt will be our new half time Deputy Director. In
this role she will oversee all internal operations, including the supervision of
staff and our ever growing master calendar. She will also be involved in
targeted program areas. Suzanne will be working three days a week, and has
already begun her employment with us.
In her words:
Call it a miracle. Call it way opening. Call it call! Whatever you call it, I am joining the FAW staff. I can scarcely believe it.
Just a quick story about how I ended up here. A few months ago my business partner, Krista Kurth informed me that she would be exiting our business at the end of 2007. I was not surprised as we both had been struggling with the fact that after 10 great years our business was no longer nurturing us. I was faced with the decision of whether to stay on as a single practitioner, find a new business partner, or exit myself.
Armed with the knowledge that Krista and I have a special business relationship that could not be duplicated, I made the decision to exit the business too. The day I decided this, the thought came to me that I would explore a part time position with a church or parachurch organization while I pursued my Masters in Divinity at Wesley Theological Seminary with the goal of becoming a workplace chaplain. I offered up my prayers to God about this plan. That very day Doug and I talked about the possibility of my working with FAW as the Deputy Director. It felt like the heavens opened up and showered me with the desires of my heart.
I love Faith at work. I love what we do. I love the concept of call. I love to organize people, data, and things so the role of Deputy Director is perfect for me and Faith at Work. And I just love that God has been preparing me all along for a time such as this.
In her role as Emerging Programs Coordinator, Tiffany will help FAW bring our way of doing group process to new arenas. As always, our events
will be focused on relational bible study and helping people listen for God’s
call in their daily life. We are wide open to the new places those events might
happen, and are glad to have Tiffany leading us in this exploration. She begins
work with us in early September.
In her words:
The process of this job opening up has been quite unique; a confluence of many factors. It's taken four months of collective discernment, dreams that encourage me to wake up and live large; my women's group mirroring that it's time to use my gifts a bit more; FAW’s new initiatives (CreationCare, BodySpirit Integration, Emerging Life-Purpose work) exactly matching where I feel personally called; amazing experiences I've had facilitating FAW events; and my strong desire to encourage people to be change agents by connecting to their own holy work in the world.
I have a passion for creating sacred space; for working in teams, for exploring the Biblical narrative in fresh ways, and helping people hear God’s Call in their lives. Working with Emerging Programs will encourage me to learn while living into the gifts I have. I am quite excited to join with other individuals and organizations who are part of the movement to “Be the change you want to see in the world” (M. Gandhi).