Mission
Open Hands was established to be a resource to pastors and church leaders who have a desire to experience transformed inner lives that will influence churches, communities and impact the world. We seek to support their growing relationship with Jesus Christ and journey with them in their leadership and spiritual formation.
Goals
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Nurturing pastors to live healthy, prayerful, imaginative and passionate lives characterized by spiritual practices, discipline, freedom and well being.
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Equipping pastors to lead their congregations into both a worshipful experience with God as well as a relevant, prophetic and transformative engagement with contemporary society.
Objectives
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Strengthen Christian character by nurturing spiritual disciplines that sustain pastors through life’s/ministry’s challenges and transitions.
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Enhance competence by honing skills that are needed to flourish in specific cultural/congregational contexts.
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Foster creativity by helping participants think outside of their traditional boxes and imagine fresh approaches to forming congregations that are gracious, profound and truly relevant.
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Develop connections by establishing mentoring relationships between pastors with varying levels of experience.
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Provide opportunities for spiritual direction, coaching, consultations, retreats, webinars, podcasts, worship formation, leadership development and other opportunities to enrich and enhance the personal and ministry life of pastors and church leaders.
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“Eldon’s authentic teaching helped me see the need for taking regular rest in ministry.”
History
Rev. Eldon Fry. D. Min out of the desire to offer greater support to ministry leaders, founded Open Hands in 2011. Initially, the organization began as a for-profit LLC and has now grown into a recognized non-profit ministry reaching 14 denominations. Over the years, we have been encouraged by the stories of others who share about how God’s provided transformation in their lives through the work of Open Hands.
Our founder, Eldon was shaped by the Bitterroot Mountains of his childhood in northern Idaho. During his undergraduate degree, he envisioned a ministry to churches that would foster God at work in the lives of others. Even then he helped plant a church and ministered at a preaching point on weekends. Eldon has been involved in ordained pastoral ministry for over 50 years. He has pastored three growing churches and served as interim for several other congregations.