Transforming Center welcomes Executive Director and creates new position, Director of Strategy and Programs
Following a significant search characterized by disciplined discernment, the Transforming Center board is thrilled to announce Rev. Cole Griffin (TC2) as our new Executive Director along with Charity Barton McClure (TC12) in a newly created role as Director of Strategy and Programs.
By way of introduction….
Cole Griffin
We have known Cole Griffin since he participated in Transforming Community 2 and then served as part of the Ministry Community for several communities. Cole comes to us from his role as Executive Pastor of Grace Church in Racine, WI, having served for 27 years in full-time ministry in various capacities. He has led a large staff team, provided key leadership and stability during transitions, and is a trained spiritual director and certified Christian Conciliator™. In addition, he holds a Masters Degree in Counseling and Psychology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Cole worked as a professional mental health provider for several years as part of his Master’s level training. Early in ministry as a missionary, he experienced ministry and relational challenges that opened his eyes to the need for healing among ministry leaders. These experiences, coupled with the skills and gifts he brings in the area of financial oversight, staff and process management, and pastoral care, made him a great candidate for this role.
When Cole applied for the position, he shared:
“Responding to the request to pray for the Transforming Center’s need for an Executive Director, I never expected that God would prompt me to respond personally! Several alumni reached out and shared that God had prompted them to encourage me to apply. I have taken time to fast, pray, and be silent before submitting to this process and I am applying for this position in hopes that my gifts, experience, and heart can bless the Transforming Center and many other ministry leaders in the years to come.”
Charity McClure
Charity McClure has been working and thinking strategically in multiple roles on behalf of the Transforming Center for the past decade—planning events for donors and volunteers, consulting in the areas of donor development and fundraising, guiding our rebranding process, leading strategically in improving the Transforming Community experience and fostering diversity among us. Since completing Transforming Community 12 she has brought consistent passion and strategic thinking to the question of succession and how all facets of the Transforming Center can transition to a younger generation of leaders.
Charity shares…
“After all the years that I have spent loving and serving the Transforming Center, this transition came together in a very unexpected way! Hearing that the Transforming Center was at a crossroads and yet knowing the Executive Director wasn’t exactly the right fit for me, I found myself in a prayerful and open posture over several months — “What, if anything, is God inviting me to bring to the future of this organization?” God met me in several ways during that time, and eventually I felt called to present myself not as “the” person but as “one” person who could bring strategic leadership to the vision and mission of the Transforming Center while maintaining a deep commitment to the essence that has sustained it for almost 20 years.”
Before the Transforming Center, Charity served as Admissions Counselor for Hope College and Director of Development at Flannel, the nonprofit organization that produced the innovative NOOMA videos. Her immersion in the essence and ministry of the Transforming Center over the years— including her roles as Creative Director and Brand Manager and (most recently) Program Director—plus her natural gifting in the areas of strategic thinking and planning, make her a natural choice for helping create synergy among all aspects of the ministry in a way that will sustain us and help guide us into our future.
Cole will begin his tenure with us in mid-October after he takes a much-needed break between his current ministry assignment and his new role with us.
Charity will transition to these new responsibilities in mid-September.
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Congratulations! Such wonderful news! Pillar will be in prayer for flourishing in their new roles and continued flourishing for TC!
Awesome! Sounds like a beautiful melding of their gifts and experiences for the needs of the whole TC community! Feeling thankful along with you!
So incredibly excited for this news and what it means for the future of the TC! I love how God led you all to a surprising new place and how exactly right that place feels! Thrilled to have gotten to witness the journey 🙂 I know both of these leaders will do a fantastic job.
Thanks, Colleen, for your love and accompaniment in all this! Grateful for your sense of resonance with where and how God has led us.
Fabulous news and an answer to all our prayers for the work of the Transforming Center – love how God saves these blessings for us, opening up new ideas and pathways for us. God is good and I pray His holy angles to guard, protect and direct this ministry, Amen and Hallelujah!
Amen, sister!
This feels good and right as I read the background of each hire. Plus, I’m already a huge fan of Charity from TC15! This is encouraging news. Prayers for refreshment, a “light and easy” transition and renewed energy for the future.
Thanks so much, Jessie. These prayers are just right. (BTW–I am a fan, too. 🙂
Praise God for this awesome news! It’s a challenging time for ministries everywhere, and a real encouragement to know that the Transforming Center will continue to partner with leaders on the journey here and toward our home with God. Continuing to pray for this transition in the coming months.
Indeed it is a challenging time for leaders and ministries everywhere, Mark, and that is why we wanted so much to find a way forward. Thanks for sharing in the goodness of all this!
This is so awesome and such an answer to prayer! I love how God lights a heart with a thought that one has no idea is going to lead to something expansive and outside the box. Sounds like that’s what happened in both Cole and Charity. What a blessing to carry on this beautiful legacy. I’m inspired. Continued prayers.
Yes, “outside the box” is definitely what happened, or as we began calling it–a creative option–that we recognized as a hallmark of how God works. I must say that working in partnership with Jimmy Lee, our board chair, was an amazing part of this journey for me. God began opening both our eyes to this creative option separately after both Charity and Cole applied. Both of us actually “saw” how their gifts and experiences could compliment each other and when we finally shared it with each other–we were amazed that God had put the same creative idea on both our hearts. When Cole and Charity responded so positively to this creative option, it became a true experience of communal discernment between the two of us, the two candidates, and then eventually with our whole board. Thank you for recognizing this for the amazing work of God that it is!
Thank YOU for teaching and practicing the spiritual practice of discernment. I am forever changed by what I learned and continue to practice and watching you all model it is just continued teaching to those beyond the walls of their TC experience. I am so happy for all of you and what God is doing and is YET to do!
This is inspired and inspiring! So happy for TC.
Inspired and inspiring…I love that! Thanks, Matt.
How wonderful! Thanks be to God!
Amen!