So who (or what) is the “staff” and what do they do?

That’s a very interesting question.  The Chi Alpha staff team is four people who’s full time job it is to enable university students to fulfill the callings that God has placed on their lives.  Well, that’s sort of what the staff does.  Technically, God does all of the “enabling” and the staff tries to stay out of the way, but you get the basic idea.  Practically, what does that look like?  Well, take the responsibilities of pastoring a church, add that to the logistics of running a small nonprofit organization, throw in party planning, retreat facilitating, and training and leading overseas missions teams and you’re getting close to what the staff “does.”  Sprinkle a little coffee on the top, add a side of “the best job in the world” and I think you’ve got a pretty accurate picture.  Have a look at some of our more specific responsibilities so you’ll know who to harass when you need something.

Matt Carpenter

Matt is our fearless leader, the top dog, the big cheese, the head honcho, the... you get the point.  He and his wife, Kiki, came to Arkansas from Nebraska and South Dakota by way of Minnesota and Montana.  They’ve both lost most of their northern accents, although you can still catch a bit of yankee when Kiki says things like “Oh, for the love!”  Their boys, Cort, Lane, and Cason, might be the cutest kids ever and thanks to Grandma and her NASCAR paraphernalia there will be no doubt that those boys were raised in the south.

What does Matt do?  It’s hard to nail down exactly what Matt does because he does everything.  If you have questions, nine out of ten of them will be redirected to Matt because he actually knows the answers.  (That tenth answer is probably made up, and you should double check to make sure it’s right)  Beyond serving as a living version of Ask Jeeves, Matt teaches, speaks, mentors, keeps the rest of the staff out of trouble (or tries to at least), ties up all the loose ends, carries all the slack, and mows the grass at the office.

Chief

Everyone under the age of forty calls her Chief, but you can still call her Jennifer if you want.  The biggest problem will be that no one in Chi Alpha knows who “Jennifer” is.  She grew up as an Army brat and recently finished a graphic design degree at UCA.  She’s really the one you have to watch for made up answers to questions.  Chief has an endless wealth of useless knowledge, everything from random history facts, to proper bonsai pruning methods, but she can also lie through her teeth and keep a straight face... so watch her.

Chief’s job... basically she picks up all the little jobs that Matt doesn’t have time to do.  If you’ve got a bookkeeping or design issue she’s definitely got you covered.  Other than that she spends a lot of time hanging out in coffee shops and tries to remember to take the trash out to the curb on Wednesdays.

Carrie Bowen

The first thing you should know about Carrie is how to spell her name.  There are 18 thousand ways to spell “Carrie” and she is actually quite sensitive about having it spelled correctly, so take note.  Beyond that, Carrie grew up in northwest Arkansas, graduated from UCA with a degree in Religious Studies, and could easily write a dissertation on the mechanics of throwing a softball.  If you want to meet the real Carrie Bowen, you have to go to the Fall Down.  At our annual barn dance/ hay ride the mask comes off, the boots go on and the cowgirl that is always lurking just beneath the surface comes shining through.

D-Groups are Carrie’s domain.  You might even call her the D-Group guru.  Whether it’s filming and editing promotional videos, scheduling meetings and retreats, or training current and future leaders, she takes care of everything.  But by far, her most important responsibility is that she check the mail every Tuesday, and she never misses a week.

Tony Williams

Our friend Tony hails from the thriving Arkansas metropolis of Ozark.  According to him, his hometown is the geographic and ideological center of the universe.  In addition to his many artistic talents, Tony has an amazing gift for remembering people and networking.  Test him in this… you can name anybody, from anywhere, and he will be able to somehow tie that back to somebody he knows from Ozark.  Maybe it really is the hinge pin of creation.

You’ve already experienced Tony’s niche… he’s our resident web master.  Actually, he’s the man in charge of all of our digital media.  He leads the video team, tames the web, and masters Power Point on a weekly basis.  No screen is too big!  Tony also spends a lot of his time mentoring guys, illuminating the Word, and keeping the storage shed neat and tidy.

Jennifer Barnett

Jennifer (soon to be Mouser) is the crafty one in many respects.  For one, she is the most competitive person you will ever meet, so watch her.  Secondly, she’s an expert on anything you can stamp, decoupage, scrapbook, or hot glue.  After she finished a counseling degree at CBC, she saw the light and came to hang out with us at UCA.  We’re good at recruiting that way.

Jennifer keeps our social action programs running like a well oiled, world-changing machine.  Not-So-Extreme-Home-Makeovers, monthly service projects, Christmas outreaches… if you want to get your hands dirty and help somebody, she has all the answers.  She also has a particular gift for making corn quiche, if I do say so myself.

Matt and Andrea

Mr. and Mrs. Marlin continually remind us that all you need is love.  The newly-wed duo is the newest addition to our staff family.  They both finished degrees at UCA, Matt studied English and philosophy, Andrea learned all about psychology, now they are blessing us with their presence while they get ready to move to Mozambique and start a campus ministry at the university in Maputo.  Recently, Matt has discovered one of Andrea’s favorite childhood movies, Fiddler on the Roof, and with that discovery has developed a talent for Jewish dancing.  Feel free to come by the office for a demonstration.

While Matt spends a lot of his time with the UCA men’s soccer team, Andrea fills her time planning and organizing most of our events.  Between the two of them they also make sure that Monday nights look good and run smoothly.  Andrea also holds the title of official thank you card maker.  If you ever receive one of these unique, hand-made masterpieces, you should treasure it for always.