Teresa Francis: A Collection of Clippings

A Collection of Clippings—

Shepherding to Teresa Francis

Amy Boyle

Teresa Francis’ shepherding story is a series of full circle moments.

It was her youth sponsors who showed her the love of God as an adolescent, inspiring and informing her own investment into youth ministry later as a leader for her own kids, and those their age. Her helping with SPLASH has been a coming back to former things as well, having previously served in the nursery, she’s now returned with the additional company of grandchildren. Even her retirement has been a full circle, with the first-year teacher who she’d pass down her classroom down to, having been a former student of hers.

For years, in her kindergarten classroom, Teresa collected clippings–a tapestry threaded together by visual reminders of past students that she had taught. The board of her clippings has become a testament of the sheep that she has shepherded. It is a signpost for anyone stepping into her room to see her care in small acts of “saving” remembrance and grace.

Similarly, the experiences God has led her through are clippings—a curation of different spaces where she has been shepherded by and called to shepherd others—within and beyond the building walls of the Sunday gathering space.

Some threads in Teresa’s shepherding story? South Marion Friends Church—where she was raised—her “Mother Teresa” days as “youth group mom” for JCB, and Mississinewa schools—where she spent most of her days. The connections formed with colleagues, parents, and students, are the threads in the tapestry God has woven together out of her willingness to “be there,” teaching for over thirty years with care.

And though she’s now “retired,” Teresa continues to serve in several different spaces, from the SPLASH nursery on Sundays to “putting more time toward pouring into teachers,” showing them special treatment in ways beyond what she’s ever been able to do before. From hosting a school sandwich shop to facilitating annual “first day” prayer gatherings in her classroom, the Holy Spirit has steadily shown Teresa how to live a life that lets other people know He cares. 

And while caring is fundamental to shepherding, foremost is her realization that if “God is our shepherd,” then “we follow him” first. 

It has been in following Him first that Teresa has learned and demonstrated how to listen to the Holy Spirit, through the scriptures that He inspired and the promptings that He provides. 

Teresa’s shepherding story is reassurance that “God will lead us to the people we need to invest in and talk to.” Shaped by following and caring—whether it looks like picking up the phone to invite a student’s parent to lunch, volunteering in the local school system, or “being a consistent face” in for parents to see in the children’s nursery—her life is a collection of clippings that demonstrate God’s care. The shape of her shepherding is unavoidably defined by how she has depended on Him first, in every season, occupation, and interaction.