Our Story

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RaiseUpFaith is an international team of Jesus followers with thousands of hours of kids ministry experience, theology degrees, and unique partnerships with leading faith and media organizations around the world. 
We understand the pressures of wanting to run a fantastic program while not sacrificing the depth of teaching. We've experienced first-hand the highs and lows of working in kids ministry and have designed RaiseUpFaith to solve the unique problems facing you today. We love you, we are with you, and we exist to inspire and equip you.

Our Purpose

We believe that the future of the church relies on leaders delivering exceptional ministry experiences for kids, and we understand the pressure that puts on you every week to produce, with almost no support. That’s why we’ve mobilized our experience as kids ministry leaders and content creators and joined forces with industry-leading media partners to build a kids ministry platform that provides everything you need to lead a thriving ministry. 

Statement of Faith

God, in community as Father, Son and Spirit, invites us into community, too. Together we are the Church, and we are God’s plan to reach all nations with the joyful good news of Jesus. Every element in our library aligns with our Statement of Faith so you can plan freely knowing the theology won’t let you, or the kids, down. 

Statement of Faith
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Our Values

At RaiseUpFaith, our vision is to inspire and awaken wonder across the generations. This passion is borne out of our belief that childlike faith empowers and ignites awe and imagination for who God is, who we are because of Jesus, and who we get to be together by the power of Holy Spirit. Why? Because “[we] have no greater joy than to hear that my [our] children are living by the truth” (3 John 4). 

To learn more about our mission and values, read the full article below! 

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Our Partners

We often see our piece of Kingdom like a patch in a giant quilt that the Holy Spirit is stitching together. So, what happens when two or more organizations learn that their patches share a pattern or theme or color scheme? Do they collaborate and sit side by side? Or do they begin to imagine being stitched together for a single purpose?

We are proud to be a great big quilt with these Kingdom-minded partners and love that we get to be part of God’s big story together! 

Our People

RaiseUpFaith is an exceptional collection of disciples spanning two continents who gather every week to pray for you and honor your ministries. We are with you, friends!

For our bios, we are candidly sharing with you two truths and a lie about ourselves... which is which is up to your imagination! 

Christie
Christie Penner WordenChief Mission Officer

With a focus on equipping, coaching, and training, Christie is a strategic leader who is passionate about discipling children, empowering leaders and providing support to those who love and serve today’s kids. Christie is also a credentialed pastor with the BIC denomination, has the Engage Certificate in Children’s Ministry through Bethel Seminary, and is a certified coach with INCM. As an international speaker and writer, she shares her wonder and what-ifs with dreamers and doers alike. All this to say that Christie loves to talk, loves to meet new people, loves to talk and meet new people while enjoying a great cup of coffee, but really loves to talk about Jesus with people over coffee.  

If talking doesn’t work out as a career, her backup plans include:

Garbage truck driver 

Making use of her degree in opera 

Her passion for cooking 

Natalie
Natalie FriskCurriculum Director

Natalie Frisk loves Jesus. A whole lot. She has worked in (paid) ministry for over 15 years, but let's be honest, she's been doing ministry work since 2000 working in youth ministry, as a lead pastor and as the curriculum pastor for a multisite church where she co-created One Story and published Raising Disciples: How to Make Faith Matter for Our Kids. And because she's a sucker for all things academia, she earned an MTS and began pursuit of her Doctorate in Practical Theology with an emphasis on the spiritual experience of children which she plans to finish...eventually. In the meantime, she's delighted to work alongside some remarkable disciples at RaiseUpFaith.

You should also know that Natalie might: 

Be a talented illustrator 

Have played college basketball 

Be a musical theatre nerd 

Jo HobbisContent Manager

As Editor-in-Chief, Jo makes us all sound way better than we would without her. Her Spirit-filled of joy, kindness, and gentleness make us even better than her editing does, though.  

She's also spread joy when she:
Custard-pied a well-known TV host 
Won an award for radio presenting  
Collects vintage fire trucks
Christine
Christine GrattonDirector of Operations

Our beloved Christine can make a spreadsheet out of a brainstorm with a smile on her face. She takes what we love to do and does what she loves to do with it: bringing order to chaos.

 She might also:

Hold a family grudge about beets

Live for DIY home renos

Be rigid about following board game rules

Adrienne
Adrienne FergusonDirector of Product

Our fearless product owner, Adrienne manages all things tech and her heart beats for our users. She loves you, cares for each click you make, and prays for you often.  

She also happens to have: 
Lived in 6 countries  
Been cast in a Star Wars film 
Taught drama at Hogwarts 
Paul
Paul TaylorCEO

As our CEO, Paul is a visionary leader and faithful encourager who will happily (if even moderately impatiently) wait on the presence of God before any next move.  

Paul also: 
Accidentally created a car-jacking
Is a qualified sky-diving instructor 
Thinks a perfect holiday involves a national park 

Our process

User-Centered Design

Our users are central to all that we do at RaiseUpFaith; if it’s important to you, then it’s important to us. We’ve mobilized our experience as Kids Ministry Leaders and pastors, and want to support you creating a kids ministry platform that provides everything you need to lead a thriving ministry. Before we develop anything new, we ask you what you need and co-create a solution. And we love nothing more than connecting with you and finding out what you need. Get in touch below, we’d love to talk to you!

Get in Touch!