From our National President:
August 6, 2016
Hello everyone,
My name is Kristofer Sommerfeld. In 2004 I attended my first FCP conference in Harrisonburg, VA. I'll never forget the amount of people packed into the auditorium at Eastern Mennonite University. I remember the floor and balcony being full of puppet loving, creative minded ministry people who were JUST LIKE ME!
I'd like to thank each of you who helped FCP grow to what it was - without you I wouldn't be where I am today as a puppeteer, ministry leader and teacher.
Sadly, FCP isn't what it used to be. Attendance has been dropping steadily over the past ten years due to various reasons and most of them were out of our control. FCP is a very special organization to me and it's been hard for a lot of us to see FCP struggling... but something has changed.
During our annual business meeting held at the conference this year a decision was made for the future of FCP. Change. It's time to change the way the conference is run, it's time to change the way the conference looks and it's time to bring FCP into 2016/2017... a goal that was presented, motioned and carried.
Will FCP still be around?
Will there be a conference next year?
What do these changes look like?
I'm glad you asked.
Mark your calendars for July 17-22, 2017! Yes, that's Monday through SATURDAY! We will be returning to Broadfording Christian Academy in Hagerstown, MD. We've done our research and we believe this is a central location for teams. We're going to be having our conference run Monday evening through Saturday afternoon. Why? A reason I'm happy to explain. Some of you may be interested in attending, but don't think you can for 6 days. What if we told you that you could attend the full 6 day conference OR just PART of the conference? Yes, we will be offering registration packages for either the full conference or part of the conference (Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon)! But that's not the only change... We are going to be making Puppetry our main focus again - offering a wide variety of classes related to puppetry - but don't worry... there will still be many classes promoting the other creative arts! We're also planning to expand into classes for church leadership and children/ youth ministry in general. Potential leadership is being contacted, classes are being organized, and plans are in motion.
I have a good team around me in the leadership of FCP and I would like to introduce them to you here. During the next 11 months we will also be restructuring the organization itself by updating the FCP constitution and bylaws.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to invite you to pray with us. The leadership of FCP and those who attended this year's conference have been praying every Sunday at 12:30pm EST for guidance and for the leadership of FCP to know God's heart for the organization as we move forward.
I'm excited to see how God moves in FCP!
Blessings,
Kristofer Sommerfeld
President
Fellowship of Christian Puppeteers
