​Churches are called to be places of welcome and hospitality to all people. Christ the Servant has a vision to be a community of faith where all people can find belonging, where community is central to our practice of faith. Our welcome to others is never perfect and should always be expanding. Over the coming months we will be blessed by four incredible speakers joining us for conversations around hospitality and welcome with particular groups and demographics in mind. Come, listen, and see how we can expand our hospitality and welcome to all of God's children!
March 9
Pastor Emily Harkins will preach during Sunday morning worship and then explore with us the ways we are called to be welcoming of those who are on the margins and what hospitality looks like in action.
March 30
Jamie Bruesehoff will share with us the ways our congregation can support our fellow siblings in Christ in the LGBTQIA+ communities and what radical welcome looks like to these neighbors.
April 27
Kelly Champagne will help us look at our physical spaces and practices as we explore how they communicate a welcoming atmosphere and provide ideas on how to improve those communications.
May 18
Tyra Dennis will lead us in worship and music during Sunday morning and then guide us in conversation about the diversity that can be experienced through music and how that impacts our welcome.
Meet the Speakers
Emily Harkins
Pastor
The Dwelling, Winston-Salem, NC
March 9
​Emily Harkins was ordained as a Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in May of 2020 and serves as the Lead Pastor and Founding Developer of this new community of faith, The Dwelling. Since 2013, Emily has worked alongside persons experiencing homelessness through the City with Dwellings Emergency Overflow Shelter at Augsburg Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem and the City with Dwellings Community First Center. She also was one of the founding board members of City with Dwellings and continues to serve as an advisor to the organization.
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She is a Colorado Native, proud Midwest Transplant, turned Southern Belle by way of drinking Cheerwine and using “Y’all” in everyday conversation.​ She is passionate about faith, service, relationship-building, learning, and love. She thrives on kindness, travel, advocacy and justice, hard work, community organizing, creative and effective communication, organizational systems, fun stationary, and Diet Coke.
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The Dwelling is a place that knows God's love to be fully inclusive and consider all variants of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, housing status, socio-economic status, country of origin, preference of language, addiction history and more, to be part of a persons unique and beloved identity as a Child of God.
March 30
Jamie Bruesehoff (she/they) is an award-winning advocate, sought-after speaker, and heartfelt writer. She is an openly queer woman married to a Lutheran pastor and mom to three spirited children, including an eighteen-year-old transgender daughter. She is passionate about sharing her family’s story, because she believes our stories are bridges to understanding, compassion, and celebration. Her first book, Raising Kids Beyond the Binary: Celebrating God’s Transgender and Gender Diverse Books is available wherever books are sold.
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Jamie advocates for LGBTQ youth and adults creating opportunities for learning and conversation in schools, churches, camps, workplaces, and beyond. Whether it’s in front of ten people or more than thirty thousand, Jamie shares her experience in a way that touches hearts, changes minds, and inspires positive change. She works for legislative change in her home state of New Jersey and on a federal level.
She’s a founder and administrator of New Jersey’s Parents of Transgender Children online community.
Kelly Champagne
Chief Marketer
Evoke Engagement Experts
April 27
Kelly has worked with global brands such as Comcast, Charter, General Motors, Audi, BMW and Volkswagen in her roles as Product Marketing Manager for a cyber security provider and Marketing Director at an automotive live chat company.
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Kelly has extensive experience in building effective marketing and communication plans, seeing results utilizing data-driven processes, and implementing industry best practices within a non-profit environment.
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In 2018, Kelly left a 10-year career in product marketing to pursue her dream of helping non-profits effectively tell their story without the large investment other firms require. She create Evoke which looks to partner with churches and non-profits by providing proven best practices for communication and increased engagement. Evoke not only helps churches communicate more effectively but also helps to identify places of growth and awareness when communicating a wide-open welcome!
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May 18
Tyra Dennis has always been drawn to the stage by her talents: singing, composing music, playing the piano, acting and writing. From performing with the greats such as Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member Jackson Brown, Ray Charles and Slash from Guns and Roses while still being in high school! Tyra’s work spans across all music genres and audiences.
Tyra has also always made it important to share her blessings with others and does so, among other music and philanthropic efforts, with Music Mayhem; a full service entertainment company specializing in music production, artist development, talent management and event curation which she founded in 2012.
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Since 2016, Tyra has been able to show her passion for worship and love for Christ by becoming a worship leader within the ELCA. She has lead the music for many events, including but not limited to ELCA Youth Gathering. She is honored to use her gift in a way that elevates God's kingdom and gives back to the one that has given her everything.