Today, Legacy Coalition is celebrating 5 years of ministry!
On January 14-15, 2016, fifteen children’s, youth, and family ministry leaders gathered together in Streamwood, Illinois, for the purpose of seeking God’s leading about launching a grandparenting ministry.
On the second day, all fifteen signed a charter indicating their affirmation and support of a brand new, nationwide ministry that would focus on encouraging and equipping Christian grandparents to be intentional in passing on their faith to their families. Larry and Diane Fowler were chosen to lead this new ministry, as it was their vision primarily that led to launching the organization.
Of the fifteen who were in that first meeting, two others besides Larry and Diane are still on the staff of Legacy Coalition: Wayne Rice, who is also one of the fathers of the youth ministry movement in America, and John Coulombe, long-time ministry leader from First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton, California. Nearly all of the others are still involved as ministry partners in various capacities. Under the Fowlers’ leadership, the Legacy team has grown to over 60 passionate and visionary people.
Becoming Independent
Initially, Legacy Coalition was underneath the umbrella of Awana Clubs International as a subsidiary. Awana provided donor management, accounting services, warehousing, and order fulfillment. In 2018, however, Awana leadership notified Larry that they would need to become independent by January, 2019.
Within a couple of weeks, two men contacted Larry, offering to join the staff in some capacity – not knowing of the need. Steve Bradford, who was formerly Chief of Staff for Chuck Colson at Prison Fellowship and had led the birthing of the Colson Center, joined as director of operations. Terry Donnelly, who had vast financial experience as CFO of ministries and a Christian credit union, also joined the staff as the director of finance. As a result, there was a smooth transition from dependence upon Awana to independence, and in January of 2019, Legacy Coalition became officially recognized as a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Immediately upon organizing, the original team determined to create resources, and to host a national conference upon grandparenting. By May of 2016, four resources were ready, making the Legacy Coalition the largest source of Christian grandparenting in the world! In November of that year, the team launched the Legacy Grandparenting Summit in Frisco, Texas, with 780 attendees, making it the largest ever single gathering on Christian grandparenting.
Expanding Our Reach
The team’s desire was to work through local churches and see grandparenting ministries launched in them. In January 2016, when they started, they could only find one such church.
Today, on their fifth anniversary, they have seen the number of churches with grandparenting ministries swell into the hundreds. The number of resources has vastly increased, with many other authors and organizations now having an audience.
Jane Larsen, the very first addition after the original fifteen, joined before she was a grandmother. She and her husband Scott are going to enter grandparent world in February, and she says, “I have been so encouraged and inspired from involvement with Legacy Coalition. We are so thankful for the blessing of starting out our grandparenting journey already understanding our God-given role. We will cheer our son and daughter-in-law along as they seek to raise this little girl to know, love, and serve Jesus. I believe wholeheartedly in the mission of Legacy and in God’s timing of raising up grandparents during this time in history. I cannot imagine our grandparenting journey without the vision, resources, and encouragement from Legacy Coalition.”
Thank you for being a part of our ministry, and for your continued support. We look forward to the next 5 years of ministry and beyond!
Legacy Coalition Blog Team
