We are pleased to introduce April Ervin as the new Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving at Christian Theological Seminary. April will lead our outreach and support the Advancement office efforts to secure unrestricted resources for the Annual Fund. Following is an interview with our newest member of the CTS staff.
This is certainly a unique time in the life of CTS, communities of faith and our world. As the newest member of the CTS family, how has your experience been thus far?
Everyone at CTS has been so very supportive in welcoming me into the community. For that, I am truly grateful. I was blessed to join CTS on Monday, March 16th. As the context of our country and world continued to rapidly shift, life for my new team and home shifted as well. I began on Monday and our building temporarily closed on Tuesday. While all shifted around me, I worked to remain in a place of peace. Like others, I could not help but be affected. And while this was a unique way to begin a new opportunity, I was confident this was a part of God’s plan and remain grateful for the opportunity.
What prompted you to consider applying to serve on the staff at CTS?
My faith is paramount to everything that I do. When the Lord placed it in my spirit to apply for my new position, I was exploring my own call to ministry. My prayer was that the Lord guide me in the direction of His choosing for this time. I was definitive in seeking God’s blessing for my new role, only if it was His will. God made His will clear.
What did you do prior to joining CTS?
Prior to joining CTS, I pursued the mantle of God’s purpose for my life and ministry – addressing issues of leadership “burnout”. I experienced my own burnout early in my career and have used my journey to help and support others. In 2018, I published my first book The Burnout Factor: 7 Strategies to Sustain Your Leadership and Your Life dedicated to helping address this issue across multiple sectors, including ministry. Prior to this, I also served as the Senior Manager of Development for the Center for Leadership Development (CLD) leading philanthropic and fundraising efforts. As an alumna of CLD, I was honored to sow back into an organization that had such an impact on me as a youth.
What are you hoping to achieve in your new role?
As the new Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, my primary goal over the next few months is to listen and learn. As one of my personal “sheros” Maya Anglou eloquently shared “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been”. To do so, I along with the CTS Communications Team plan to leverage multiple online platforms to engage with our alumni and hear their goals, needs and ideas. I want to partner with our alumni ensuring we have a robust community that feels connected and supported.
Over the next several weeks, our primary engagement will be through the CTS Alumni Facebook Page. If they have not already done so, we are hopeful that many more CTS alumni engage with us on social media to stay connected during this time.
Is there a message that you would like to share with the CTS Alumni Community?
I cannot share enough how honored I am for this opportunity and am very much looking forward to engaging and connecting with many in the CTS alumni community. As I embarked on this new journey, I had hoped to visit churches and organizations learning about their experience and relationship with CTS. Most importantly, I looked forward to learning how we at CTS can be of service to our alumni. That desire has not changed. I am hopeful that through technology I will have the opportunity to meet many of our alumni soon, virtually in the near term.
