Teresa Kelchner

Christian Education Advocate, Champion, and Coach

Teresa Bristow Kelchner has always been known as someone who likes to grow things. Not only is she an avid gardener, she’s been known to grow people, programs and dollars. Working with churches; developing volunteers and problem solving are her strengths. Energetic and passionate best describe her indefatigable efforts when on a mission for Christian education.

Teresa is President of ChristianEducationMatters.com. She encompasses more than 30 years of experience working in clinical practice, medical research, patient education, sales, marketing, web-publishing, venture capital, fundraising, communications, and teaching. She has volunteered for for-profit and non-profit organizations, served on action boards, and has had a myriad of professional experiences which she applies to vibrant Christian school growth. 

Since 2012, she has worked to build capacity with 250+ Christian schools, both large (>1300 students) and small (<30 students). Schools have both maintained and increased their school enrollment; many by more than double digits. She has worked to start up (plant) 10 Christian schools. Christian education clients include schools that are independent Christian schools, Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) schools, Mid-Atlantic Christian Schools Association (MACSA), and multiple schools including full conferences of Seventh-day Adventist schools (the largest Protestant Christian school system in the world).

Teresa is an enthusiastic speaker for both small and large group meetings, conferences, and camp meetings. Her favorite topic is ‘Raising A Daniel In Today’s World’. She is a Christian university guest lecturer for both education and seminary students. 

A soon-to-be-published book on Christian education written by a Conference Superintendent client will contain a foreword scripted by Teresa.

‘52+ Ways to Promote Your School At Church’ was intended to be Teresa’s first book.  The book scripted a weekly message to minister to church members on the value of Christian education.  In 2021, she and her business partner Adam Weeks launched this concept into a turnkey automated customized messaging platform called Ministry Spotlight (www.MinistrySpotlight.com). Ministry Spotlight and other ‘Spotlight’ initiatives offer professional quality customized solutions for busy school leaders. 

Teresa is a board member of the SFFC Foundation. The SFFC Foundation’s mission is to help trusted partners’ philanthropic dreams come true through Partnering for Eternity (PFE) Scholarship for K-12 private Christian schools, Nourish Grants for individuals/families, and Community Grants to support nonprofit organizations’ programming. As of July 2020, PFE has invested over $10 million into Christian education, conducted over 700,000 hours of visits, and created countless meaningful relationships. Partnering for Eternity is currently being operated in over 200 partner schools nationwide.

Having a finger-on-the-pulse of urgent needs in Christian education, Teresa is working to secure funding for a scholarship initiative that will recruit and retain Christian Education teachers.

Teresa served as an invited member on the North American Division Educational Taskforce (NADET), a think tank group to study the state of Seventh-day Adventist education.

As a National Merit Scholar recipient, Teresa holds Bachelors and Master of Administration degrees from the University of Maryland. She prays daily to be God’s CONDUIT. Connecting people, places, and things; Opening opportunities and overcoming obstacles; Never giving up; Developing relationships; Unifying in the community; Innovation and creativity; and Teamed with God.

Before partnering with to form Ministry Spotlight, Teresa worked with Adam as during his time as a full-time principal. She considered him to be an outstanding and actionable leadership client and saw that he fully understood the nuances of Christian education, results-oriented challenges, and the execution of vision-driven goals. Now a team, both Teresa and Adam find it exciting to help schools reach their goals in new ways.