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HELM Leadership Fellows Alumni
The HELM Leadership Fellows Program is yielding a new crop of leaders. Alumni are paritipating at all levels of the church, serving in congregational pastors, regions, and national panels.
- More than 70 students have graduated or are currently participating in the HELM Leadership Fellows Program since the program began in 2001.
- Several HELM Leadership Fellows have served as volunteers for general ministries such as the 2020 Vision Team, the Disciples Leadership Institute, Global Ministries, the Young Adult Commission, Disciples Men, and the Task Force on Undergraduate Education, as well as regional panels.
- More than a dozen graduates pastor or are in ministry-related professions. Many other graduates are in socially oriented such as teaching, social work, social justice, and environmental causes.
- 24 regions have had students participate in the program.
Here's a quick look at what our graduates are doing now.
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2011
| Class of 2011 |
Sarah Cheon (University of California-Berkeley ‘11, Claremont, Calif.) is an analyst for a website company in San Francisco.
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Caroline Hamilton-Arnold (Texas Christian University, Lewisville, Texas) will begin M.Div. studies at the the Disciples Seminary Foundation / Claremont School of Theology this fall.
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Charisse Knorr (Chapman University, Maryville, Mo.)
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Alan Moore (University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Spring Hope, N.C.) begins teaching in the D.C. Teaching Fellows Program this fall.
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Jesse Stephenson (Transylvania University, Columbus, Ga.)
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Courtney Waters (Rhodes College, Memphis, Tenn.) is teaching English at Noxubee County (Miss.) High School with the Mississippi Teacher Corps.
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Alexis Westerhausen (Culver-Stockton College, Girard, Ill.) will study at the University of Illinois Medical Center with plans to be a pediatrician.
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| Class of 2010 |
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| Allison Enari (Occidental College, Bloomington, Ind.) will be in her second year of M.Div. studies at the Disciples Divinity House at Vanderbilt University this fall. |
Katie Johnson (Texas Christian University, Nashville, Tenn.) works in the public relations and marketing office of Nashville-based Captain D's. |
Georgia Kuss (Kenyon College, Indianapolis) works with Boston's Partners for Youth with Disabilities, recruiting, training and pairing adult mentors with youth with disabilities. |
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| Merillat Pittman (Texas Christian University, Broken Arrow, Okla.) has joined Teach for America and will be teaching math in the Nashville, Tennessee, public school district.
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Kristen Walling (American University, Shaker Heights, Ohio) is in Madagascar serving a two-year stint in the Peace Corps with an emphasis in public health.
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Kathryn Welch (Transylvania University, Baltimore) will be in her second year of M.Div. studies at the Disciples Divinity House at Vanderbilt University this fall. |
| Class of 2009 |
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| Esther Lee
(Texas Christian University, Torrance, Calif.) is design coordinator for Dickies Fashion Company in Fort Worth, Texas. She also serves on the board of directors of the Division of Overseas Ministries. |
Laura O'Donnell (Vanderbilt University, Zionsville, Ind.) works with Teach for America in Nashville, Tennessee. |
David Weuste (Texas Christian University, Guthrie, Okla.) owns his own classical music marketing and artist management firm, Rosebrook Classical and attends Central Christian Church of the Arts District in Fort Worth, Texas. |
| Class of 2007 |
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| Carissa (Cullumber) Manning
(Bethany College, Indianapolis) earned her Master's in Social Work from Indiana University- Purdue University Indianapolis and works for Hamilton County (IN) as a therapist for juveniles in the two lower-security residential programs.
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Tiffany Curtis
(Chapman University, Claremont, Calif.) earned an M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School in 2011 and was awarded the Harvard University Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship for 2011-2012 to study indigenous women's religious practices as they intersect with sustainable development initiatives in Ecuador.
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Rebekah (Cypert) Krevens (Bethany College, Allen, Texas) earned her Master’s in Divinity at Brite Divinity School is the associate minister at First Christian Church in Owensboro, Ky. She spent the fall of 2010 as a student at the Bossey Ecumenical Institute at the University of Geneva.
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| Emily Brooke McIntyre (Hampton University, Beaumont, SC) is pursuing her master’s degree in counseling education in Virginia. |
Cassie Poncelow earned her master's in education from Colorado State University in the spring of 2011 and is spending the summer working for a rafting company in the Rockies.
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| Titus James, Jr.
(Kansas State University, Wichita, Kan.) currently lives in New York City. |
Amanda McFarland (Centre College, Paris, Ky.) graduated from Northern Kentucky University's law school and now works for a law firm in Lexington, Ky.
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| Class of 2005 |
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Sara Blackwood
(Texas Christian University, El Paso, Texas) is the Image/Graphics Coordinator for the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
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Sarah (Carter) Merz
(William Woods University, Garden City, Kan.) teaches high school English in the Fairfax County, Va., district in suburban Washington D.C.
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Natalie Dixon
(Eureka College, Wellington, Kan.) received her M.Div. from Phillips Theological Seminary in May 2009 and is associate minister
to Altoona Christian Church, Altoona, Iowa. She also serves as a spiritual coordinator (chaplain) for Mercy Medical Center Hospice in Des Moines.
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Laura Jennison Reed (Mount Holyoke College, Spokane, Wash.) is an M.Div. student at the Disciples Divinity House of the University of Chicago and serves on term on the General Board.
Prior to moving to Chicago, she was involved in the Northwest Region's transformation process.
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Brandon Johnson (Transylvania University, Cedar Falls, Iowa) graduated from the Yale University Divinity School in 2008 and is an associate pastor of United Church of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
| Krista Johnson
(Chapman University, Greenwood, Ind.) is the Peace Program Coordinator for the Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, Penn. She is also a member of the Week of Compassion Board of Directors.
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Emily Klingenfus
(Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Mich.) is a graduate
student in civil engineering at the University of Kentucky. She is also active in
children's and youth ministries at two congregations.
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Jeremy Spitzer (Virginia Tech,
Winchester, Va.) lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina.
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Valerie (Steffen) Foltz
(Drury University, Shawnee, Okla.) is pursuing her MA in the Christian Formation and Soul Care program at Denver Seminary. She and her husband, Lewie, are members of Riverside Baptist Church.
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Ralph Wesley
(Delaware State University, Washington, D.C.) is associate producer and
on-air personality for WTEM SportsTalk 980 in Washington, D.C., and is
pursuing a career in voice-over. He also serves on the General Conference of Disciples Men's Executive Committee.
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Alison Williams (Indiana University,
Indianapolis, Ind.) teaches middle school in Columbus, Indiana. She served three years on Disciples Home Missions' Young Adult Commission, including a year as co-moderator.
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| Class of 2003 |
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| Diana Batzka-Hodges
(Lynchburg College '03, Jacksonville, Fla.) earned her M.Div at the
Disciples Divinity House at Vanderbilt in 2009. She has served on the Young Adult Commission since 2007, including two years as the moderator. She currenty serves as the resident minister at First Christian Church in Montgomery, Ala. |
Kelly Johnson- Hill (University of Otago '03, Dunedin, New Zealand) is an M.Div. student at Duke University. |
Laurie Budlong- Morse
(Pacific Lutheran University '03, Kirkland, Wash.) earned her M.Div at the Pacific School of Religion (affiliated with the Disciples Seminary Foundation) and is the co-pastor (with her husband, Scott) at First Christian Church in Helena, Montana. |
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| Sarah (Olson) Bradbury
(Northwest Christian College '03, Ontario, Ore.) is working with her
parents in a hospice program. She and her husband, Mark, live in
Meridian, Idaho. |
Jessica Wright (Culver-Stockton College '03, Lorena, Texas) now lives in Waco, Texas |
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Higher Education & Leadership Ministries
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
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