By Meg Biallas Henry and Mary Kathryn Daigle
Editor’s Note: This is the final in a four-part series featuring the 2020 cohort of Sacred Sector Fellowship, which equips current and recently graduated seminarians for service within the faith-based nonprofit sector. This month, 2020 Fellows participated in a weeklong learning intensive with Sacred Sector staff, and are now completing a 9-week placement with a faith-based organization. Read the full series here.
Meet Dianne Faust
Dianne is a graduate of Payne Theological Seminary (Ohio), with a Masters of Divinity. For over 26 years, she has led the real estate industry as a top-producer with National franchises on the east coast. Dianne's passion is rehabbing properties in gentrifying neighborhoods to reserve them for low-income families. A significant part of Dianne's life has been dedicated to church ministry. She is currently embarking on a vocational journey to explore areas beyond the walls of a church, answering the call to engage more deeply as a political disciple.
Dianne plans to use her experience in real estate and seminary to help faith-based organizations to become equipped for community engagement. She creatively finds links between biblical principles, public policy, best practices, and advocacy that she can use to heal fractured communities, which also serves her well in the Sacred Sector Fellowship program.
With regards to the Fellowship, Dianne shared that her goal is to "ensure that clergy are equipped with tools to help serve those in their congregation with something supplemental to what I call 'God talk'", such as resources related to housing, health, food, and employment. "I feel we as Clergy are not meeting the needs of many who sit among us on Sunday," Dianne said.
Faith propels Dianne to engage in service and citizenship. Amid COVID-19, Dianne has connected church leaders to resources, including a recent webinar that involved a panel with an immunologist, scientist, and physicians who shared how to prepare congregations and sanctuaries for the realities of a coronavirus world. Dianne is currently in conversation with her local health department to host a similar event for parishioners so that they can be safe at church and home.
Dianne is an associate minister in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the historic Grace Baptist Church of Germantown, where she preaches and teaches the gospel of Christ. Upon her graduation from seminary, Dianne has been offered a fellowship as part of a doctoral program in ministry that will allow her to "cultivate new skills, and pursue the passion and ministry calling to care for the Lord's people."
Meet Girien Salazar
Girien Salazar received a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Southwestern Assemblies of God University, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in leadership studies from Dallas Baptist University.
Girien resides in Houston, Texas and serves as executive director of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and its subsidiary the faith and education coalition. He currently volunteers as a minister at El Tabernáculo Church, a board member for the Latin American Heritage Society, and previously served as president of the City of Houston Super Neighborhood 34 and on the board for San Antonio Parks and Recreation. In 2019, Girien was appointed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to serve on the OneStar National Service Commission Board.
Girien’s experiences have encouraged him to think deeply about the role of clergy in political engagement, and he is excited about how Sacred Sector Fellowship will equip him further in this area. His work stems from his awareness of his spiritual and vocational calling and his conviction that “the church, the body of Christian believers, is the most powerful force on the earth.” He strongly supports society's “sacred sector” because he is convinced that “people do their best work out of a call to service and love,” what he calls, “the human component for which faith-based nonprofits are best poised.”
In 2014, after many years of struggling to grasp his calling, Girien knew the Lord was asking him to impact both the church and civic community, although not entirely sure what that would look like. While he wrestles with the particulars as to how biblical values are applied in the public square, he seeks to approach civic engagement and leadership from biblical understandings of mercy, freedom, justice, and peace. He is persuaded of the need to empower strong Christian leadership in both faith and civic spheres.
Girien is passionate about the intersection of faith and politics, Hispanic education, and issues of mercy, freedom, justice, and peace. He hopes to inspire and cultivate Spirit-filled servant leaders who engage and lead at all levels of civic and political institutions. Girien received a Bachelor of Science in church ministry and he was honorably discharged from the United States Navy Reserve.
Meet Max Spoelstra
Max is a seminarian at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, where he also received his bachelor's degree in ministry and nonprofit business. He currently serves as a student ministry coordinator at Chapel Pointe Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. A passion for student engagement and kingdom expansion has led him to consider the relationship between spiritual growth and community impact.
Max sees the Sacred Sector Fellowship as an opportunity to grow professionally in the faith-based sector. “Seminary is a time we do a lot of theological work,” said Max. “Stepping into a program [like Sacred Sector Fellowship] that focuses on practical aspects of ministry would be healthy for me, and for my organization. Being in this Fellowship will help me understand the systems and policies that need to change.”
Max is eager to learn about the structures of faith-based organizations. "It can't just start with an organizational chart, it has to start with how we see God transforming [us]. In my current organization there has been space to theologically reflect on organizational practices and identify leaders.”
With a love for the culture and people of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Max has grown to deeply respect nonprofit organizations who work in the city. He finds that partnerships and involvement with nonprofits allows the church to be a light in the community.
Through his years serving in church ministries, Max has continually come back to the question, "how do we serve the community by being the embodiment of Christ in the community?” For Max, recognizing the value of the community-serving nonprofit sector was key: “Beyond church ministry, nonprofits are crucial for how community functions. Those of us in ministry leadership, then, have the responsibility to champion and partner with the organizations that serve hurting communities to succeed in their mission and advance the Kingdom.”
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
Know a seminarian or a faith-based organization? Connect them with Sacred Sector’s Fellowship and Community, designed to equip individuals and organizations to live out their faith-shaped callings. Email virginia.creasy@cpjustice.org for more information.
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