This year, we are running a new series to give you a true insider look into our Sparkhouse team. Every second Friday of the month, you’ll meet a Sparkhouse staff member. 

To start us off on this grand adventure, we’d like to introduce you to, Carla Barnhill, vice president and publisher, Sparkhouse. Carla is a compassionate world-changer, always advocating for justice and peace, and is a truly incredible writer and leader.

Grab a cup of tea or coffee and sit down to learn more about Carla and her vision for Sparkhouse. 

Tell us what you do at Sparkhouse.

I have the great good fortune to lead a dedicated and astonishingly creative team of resource developers, video content producers, and marketing professionals who are constantly thinking about how to spark faith in faith communities and equip congregations to be a source of hope and healing. 

What is your favorite thing about working for Sparkhouse?

I love the constant creative work. We have made so many kinds of resources for people and are always asking ourselves what’s next. This is a lot of fun, but for me it’s also meaningful, missional work.

Frederick Buechner’s quote speaks to me: “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

I know that the world’s deep hunger is not curriculum. But I do believe that the world’s deep hunger is hope and compassion and love and community and grace and peace and kindness and that by building those values into our curriculum, we are helping churches form the character of the children and teenagers in their care.

And those children and teenagers – and their families and their friends and their communities – are changed by that. That’s kingdom work to me, and I’m profoundly grateful to get to do it.

What’s the coolest thing you are working on right now?

Dialogues On. We recently released the second unit of this new adult small-group resource, which is focused on sexuality and the church. Our first unit provided perspectives on the refugee crisis and what it means to today’s communities.

Dialogues On was born from seeing how these issues have been politicized over the years and knowing that people of faith needed and wanted to break through the debate and actually talk about what it looks like to live out God’s call to love and care for people who are oppressed and discriminated against.

Beyond developing this resource, I love hearing about the incredible conversations’ groups are having about what they can do to advocate for refugees or to put an end to shame-based messages about sexuality. It’s incredible to see something we create to the kind of work we really believe it can do.

What is one fun fact about yourself?

What you should be asking is what facts about me aren’t fun! I kid.
If I have to narrow it down, here’s one: I know a lot of showtunes. Like a lot a lot.

What’s the last book you read?

I’m currently reading “Virgil Wander” by Leif Enger, who wrote one of my all-time most beloved books, “Peace Like a River.”

This one takes place in northern Minnesota in a fictional town on Lake Superior. So, it’s a whole bunch of my favorite things rolled into one: beautiful writing, a haunting story, the Northwoods, and the Big Lake. I’m trying not to read it too quickly because I don’t want it to be over.

Thank you Carla for being the first person showcased on our Sparkhouse team! An excellent way to kick off our "Meet the Team" project. Keep a lookout for more interviews each second Friday of the Month.

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