ALLISON ALLEN

After graduating as an Andrew Carnegie Scholar from the prestigious acting program at Carnegie Mellon University, Allison (Metcalf) Allen landed on Broadway in the revival of “Grease”, and stayed there for almost two years. Following her tenure of 650 performances with the show, the hand-jive from Rydell High still returns to grace her dreams.

For three years (2007-2009), Allison experienced the joy of being Women of Faith’s dramatist, performing her original one-woman pieces for over 200,000 women in arenas around the country. She counts walking the same platform as the Women of Faith “porch-pals” among one of the profound honors of her life.

THE NOW- STORY

Currently, she loves weaving Biblical teaching and acting pieces together in unexpected ways, and is over the moon to teach at conferences and retreats around the country. Saddleback Church, Living the Faith, and Campus Crusade’s National Women’s Conference are just a few of the wonderful places she has been. She started speaking by believing that God is a better door opener than she ever could hope to be. As He opened doors, large or small, she responded by saying “yes”. Exploring themes of purpose, value, and identity in original and sometimes unexpected ways, Allison hopes to lead women on a rare journey toward the fullness of Christ’s redemption. Sheila Walsh says of her, “Allison is a gifted writer, a brilliant dramatist, and a profound communicator or God’s truth.”

VICKI COURTNEY

In the summer of 1985, a friend talked me into signing up for a weekend retreat for college students. The event was sponsored by a local Baptist church. I was a self-proclaimed agnostic and feminist at the time, so a church gathering wasn’t on my list of standard weekend hangouts. I figured the worst that could happen is I walk away from the weekend with one more reason not to believe in God and a lot more ammunition to poke fun at His followers. As you might have guessed, that didn’t happen. The gospel was clearly presented on the first night of the event and my icy heart began to melt. Eleven choruses of “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” later, I gave up the chase and said “yes” to Jesus. (A shout-out to the Southern Baptists who keep on singing until everyone in the room is saved.)

While the highlight of that event was meeting Jesus, I also happened to meet a rather handsome, squeaky-clean, church boy named Keith Courtney. He caught my eye on the first day of the retreat and impressed me with his spiritual wisdom (and cuteness!). It was love at first sight. Well, at least for me. Keith was a bit slow to catch onto the plan. (A particularly low moment was when he called to ask me for a friend’s phone number, so he could ask her to his law school formal. I may or may not have given him the wrong phone number.) It’s all water under the bridge now and that squeaky clean Christian boy and I married in 1987, settled down in Austin, Texas, and raised three kids who have all flown the nest, married, and begun their own families.

God has graciously given me a platform to write and speak and not a day goes by that I’m not floored by that fact. I don’t come with any preconceived notions that He has given me this privilege because I’m qualified for the task. Quite the contrary. I am nothing more than a poster child for God’s grace and mercy. On the average day, I’m still a mess of a girl reminding myself of the same truths I discovered back in 1985 at that weekend retreat. I continue to strive, mess up, ‘fess up, and rediscover God’s grace on a daily basis. I’m a work in progress. It is my prayer that this site, my books, and the messages I present at events will point not to me, but to His goodness and mercy. Apart from that, the rest is just fluff.