Welcome to the Pursuit, a series documenting the experiences of a Colson Fellow-in-Training as they seek to walk wisely in this time and place. Each segment will provide an insider’s look at what a prospective participant can actually expect should they choose to embark on the journey themselves.
In this segment, we sat down with Terri Furton, a middle-school principal and curriculum coordinator, and asked her to share her experience with the Colson Fellows Program. The Colson Fellows Program is designed for busy men and women from all walks of life in mind. Here's a glimpse inside. Enjoy!
The Pursuit: Terri Furton
How a Middle School Principal Does the Colson Fellows Program
As told to the Colson Center communications staff
Where are you from? I was born and raised in San Jose, California, and I’m still here!
What is your occupation? I’ve been in the field of education for almost 30 years. I was a high school history teacher and then a principal in public schools for about 28 years. Now I’m an Assistant Principal at a Christian junior high school.
What stage of life are you in? I'm in my early fifties and I’ve been married about 20 years. I don’t have my own children, but I’m kind of a grandmother, because one of my sisters and her husband passed away. So, my husband and I do a lot of parenting and “aunt-and-uncle-ing” of about 32 nephews and nieces. We’re 3-5 years from retirement.
When did you become a follower of Christ? I was raised in a traditional Lutheran home, so truth was planted in me. I surrendered to the Lordship of Christ when I was a senior in college at age 21, and my faith journey has been steady since then.
What led to your interest in the Colson Fellows program? In my post-college years, I always heard Chuck Colson on Breakpoint. I had a mentor in my faith who worked for Tyndale publishing who had edited Chuck’s book, How Now Shall We Live? I read it then and kept it on my shelf for about 20 years. Around 2020, I’d already been seeing a lot of ideology coming up through public education. I was disturbed by it, but I didn’t have Christians to talk to about it. I pulled out Chuck’s book again and thought, “Oh, that’s what’s happening today!” I thought I was for social justice, but I didn’t realize it was being defined differently from what I now know as biblical justice. When I re-read the book, I was blown away. At the end, the book talked about the “Centurion Program” (Colson Fellows). I was too late to apply for that year’s class, so I waited and applied in 2021.
What Colson Fellows cohort are you in? How many CFITs are in your class? I was in the first San Jose cohort, which grew out of the Fresno cohort. That was 2021-2022. The following year I asked if I could co-lead. This is my third year in a leadership role.
When I was a CFIT, I think there were about 12 of us. It was great. There were people from all walks of life and all ages. My friend who’s a public-school teacher did the program with me. I enjoyed the relationships. I found myself inviting people to go out to lunch after our meetings, so relationships formed between us.
In my work in the public schools, I was living amid all the “cancel culture,” so I needed to be with people who were grounded in their thinking and trying to be godly. I really appreciated that.
I’m a harmonizer and a leader, so I started arranging reunions with our group throughout the year after the program to reconnect.
The thing I loved the most was the devotional. I got so much out of it and I re-do it every year. I was so surprised how much I enjoyed it every morning. It was a really consistent discipline for me. I was a high school principal coming out of COVID; it was a stressful, terrible time in my career. But it was such a joy to put in the time to do the program. I would carve out time by changing my exercise habits so I could read on my recumbent bike. Then, I devoted Saturdays to the bulk of my work, like watching webinars. Sometimes I would listen to them on my commute. I found ways to make it work.
A handful of us went to Orlando for our commissioning. It was so great to be at the conference and worship with likeminded people. I thought, “These are my people.”
How has your experience been co-leading? Every year we have people joining the Colson Fellows because of who they knew that did the program. My first year of co-leading was just five people. It was really small. We had a lot of young professionals, which was so cool. We had CFITS who were working to become psychiatrists amid all the laws about gender ideology. We had a construction engineer and a couple of women who were teachers in the classical Christian model. It was a cool group of people.
Last year’s cohort was great. A lot of them were from my church, and we were all really close. It was a diverse group of people.
This year, we have six people. We might be small, but God doesn’t need big numbers. The program is bearing fruit in people’s lives in so many different ways. I love it.
How did you approach the workload for the Colson Fellows program? Do you have advice for other participants? It took me about 7-10 hours a week. I was already reading books like the ones from the curriculum, so it was not cumbersome to me. I would read, type my notes, and then copy and paste them into Pathwright. I fit the program into my commute, my exercise, and my weekends. It wasn’t hard for me. I had to rearrange my life a little, but I found what worked.
What was your favorite book or topic to study? I loved Tactics. I share truths from that book every year. For me it was the most strategy-changing and thought-changing. I loved Knowing God and Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth. I also loved Our Bodies Tell God’s Story. It blew my mind thinking about what the purpose of sex is. I taught a junior high chapel on that topic.
Where has the Colson Fellows program most impacted you? What transformation did it bring about in your life? I did my teaching practicum in our church youth group over four Sundays. Our church was getting progressive, and my husband and I had been leaning in for several years trying to teach and equip, rather than just leave. That practicum was impactful for some of the kids and youth staff.
I use the program materials all the time. I'm always recommending books, sending people a podcast or a webinar, like Lighthouse Voices and other things like that. This morning, I was just listening to an episode of the Strong Women podcast about parenting adult children, and I sent that to a bunch of women at my church. So, I'm trying to be a resource for others. I’m currently trying to organize an annotated bibliography of resources by topic.
The program has also helped me to pull back and think. I’m at a Christian school where I’m in charge of integrating biblical worldview across the curriculum. It was really helpful for me to have the biblical worldview framework of the Colson Fellows to keep me from getting lost in the weeds. Here’s an example: I helped my school plan a staff conversation about how we think about politics. I talked about core ideas from the program: We’re not to fear, because Christ is risen. We’re not to slander, because we’re all made in God’s image. We’re not to despair. I shared those mantras from the program over and over because we have to be reminded of the truth that grounds us and where our hope is. Being able to teach this way of looking at politics was more helpful than getting into the weeds and addressing individual scenarios like, “How do I respond when someone says X, Y, or Z?” I felt like the Lord used me in that situation.
I’ve learned to pray, “Lord what do You have for me today?” I didn’t start a big ministry with my personal mission plan. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I feel like God has unfolded these opportunities—whether it’s leading my Cohort or taking opportunities to impart truth and come alongside people to help them walk wisely.
What would you say to someone who’s considering the program? You definitely have to shift your life and make time for this. You cannot do it well if you’re not willing to give in other areas. So, there needs to be some other things you take off your plate. Reorganize and reprioritize your life to make time for the work. Go to your commissioning ceremony if it’s financially possible. It’s a really powerful experience.