"This past week, I attended one of the best conferences ever with my fellow puppeteers in ministry."
Deborah Streicher (Ridgely, WV)
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Experiencing New Beginnings
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Attendees from 11 states - ranging from NY to IL to WA - came together for our National Conference in Hagerstown, MD July 17th through 22nd. We were so blessed with the time we invested together and would love to share a taste of our experience with you.
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We asked our attendees to describe their FCP experience in their evaluations and created this word cloud using their words. The larger the word, the more frequently it was used by attendees in their evaluations.
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Each morning we kicked off with a word of prayer by an attendee and segued into worship with actions led by conference co-director, Gabriel Galdamez. From there, each day featured a different devotion leader that would share a word or testimony with attendees.
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"We were so blessed by the testimonies, classes, devotionals and the people we got to meet. Can't wait to do this again."
Elizabeth Otero (Haverstraw, NY)
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Mornings and afternoons were filled with 50 classes and workshops in puppetry technique, construction, creative ministries and special topics like script-writing, blacklight, and ministry leadership.
Dave Privett lead Fun Blacklight Puppets & How to Use Them.
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Puppeteers learned how to push their skills to the next level in Intermediate Puppetry.
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Attendees in a Dowel Rod Workshop led by Rebecca Ennis performed for the conference.
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"After coming I feel that I can do puppetry and lead a team to successfully use puppets. Before this, I was 100% clueless. Thank you so much!"
Wendy Ryan (Lexington Park, MD)
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Kristofer & Kendra Sommerfeld led a discussion on ministry leadership in Before You Step on Stage.
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An attendee builds her own puppet in Linda MacAuslan's Full Body Puppet Construction class.
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This year we introduced a series of Fellowship Activities designed to facilitate deeper connections through discussions, games and activities.
We truly rejoiced in hearing the laughter, lively conversations and creativity attendees shared during these sessions!
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"The fellowship of like-minded believers in Jesus along with a heart to glorify God made the conference a success!"
Vonnie Pratt (Port Orchard, WA)
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FCP President Kristofer Sommerfeld worked with a local caterer to offer an on-campus meal plan this year.
As we hoped, meals now were not only time to energize our bodies with food but also opportunities to continue to foster the fellowship!
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Each evening featured of variety of delightful public performances by puppeteers, creative ministry teams, professional artists and even attendees who participated in performance classes!
Brent Vernon closed FCP with Audrey Amaka's Storybook Christmas.
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Evergreen Creative Ministries showcased an explosion of arts.
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Michael T. dazzled with Magic with a Message.
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G.L.O.W. demonstrated passion in their dowel rods and choreography.
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Create, Minister, Teach! captivated with whimsiness and a strong story.
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"I always leave a FCP conference inspired by the performers, new techniques from the workshops, and refreshed by the fellowship."
Joe Dunfee (Gordonville, PA)
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There's plenty more to see and read. Go on Facebook or Instagram and search "#fcpnational" to see more.
Get Connected!
We've launched a Facebook Group to build a stronger online community between Christian puppeteers and artists. Join today!
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FCP was a time of renewal, faith, fellowship and creativity. We are encouraged by this year's results and have big dreams. We would love to see FCP flourish and inspire a new generation of Christians who creatively reach hearts for Christ. How can you help?
Pray for us! Send us your ideas! We are beginning to pray and plan for next year's conference and all that will occur between now and then. We will gladly receive your prayers and suggestions via email. Your encouragement means much more than you know!
We have many exciting things on our agenda and can't wait for what these "new beginnings" hold in store. Expect more news in the weeks to come!
In His Service,
Gabriel & Kristofer
Your 2017 Conference Co-Directors
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