Welcome Nikki Collins!!!

We're so excited to have Nikki Collins join us at Future of Faith as our new Storytelling Ministry Director! She's no stranger to us here at Future of Faith as she's a friend and a great partner! Nikki will be a big part of leading the storytelling work for a new, five-year ecumenical project supported by a $5 million grant awarded to Virginia Theological Seminary through the Lilly Endowment National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life. We can't wait for you to see all the work that Nikki will develop, but in the meantime let's get to know Nikki's dreams for this new role!

Nikki Collins serves as Storytelling Ministry Director with Future of Faith, where she leads a national initiative to gather and share stories of people reconnecting with faith and community through new expressions of church.  

An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Nikki brings more than 25 years of experience across congregational, presbytery, and national leadership. Her work has included launching innovative ministries, coaching leaders across denominations, and helping to cultivate and support hundreds of new worshiping communities in diverse contexts.  

Nikki is especially drawn to the practice of listening for signs of hope in unexpected places. She believes storytelling and deep attention to one another’s lives can rebuild trust, deepen connection, and reveal the presence of God already at work among us.  

What excites you most about stepping into this role as Storytelling Ministry Director? 

Looking ahead to a five-year project like this one, I am most excited about the stories I will get to hear and the people I will meet across the country. I’ll be listening as people tell what God has been up to in their lives and in their communities… which, somehow, gets to be my job. 

I am thinking of this role as a chance to pay close attention… to notice and gather the signs of hope that might otherwise go unseen. 

What kinds of voices or stories do you feel most called to elevate in this role and why? 

I find myself genuinely curious about all of the stories, because each one will carry its own distinct witness to hope. And I suspect the stories or people I think I already understand may be the very ones that surprise me the most. 

At the same time, I am especially drawn to the courageous stories of people who have been wounded within the church and who are, somehow, willing to trust again. There is a kind of mercy and grace in those stories that feels both costly and profound. As someone who has largely experienced the church as a place of safety and welcome, I receive those stories with humility. They expand my understanding of what healing, faith, and community can become. 

How do you see storytelling helping reimagine what faith can look like in the future? 

I am not sure storytelling reimagines faith so much as it returns us to its practice:  trust. 

When we listen to one another’s stories, especially across difference, we begin to notice God’s presence in each other—the image of God revealed in lived experience. That kind of listening can rebuild trust: trust in God, and trust in one another. And where trust grows, there is often more room to abide together, even when we do not agree on every aspect of belief. Storytelling, then, becomes less about redefining faith and more about helping us inhabit it more fully.   

What impact do you hope storytelling will have on individuals, communities, and the broader faith landscape through your work? 

I hope storytelling, and the careful practice of holding one another’s stories, helps us recognize ourselves in our neighbor. 

When we begin to see something of our own lives reflected in someone else’s story, empathy has room to grow. And sometimes, that recognition comes in places we did not expect… in people we assumed were very different from us. When that happens, empathy deepens and, over time, can give way to a more genuine acceptance. 

My hope is that this kind of storytelling helps shape communities that are more open, more connected, and more reflective of the diversity of God’s people. In that sense, the impact is both personal and communal… forming us, individually and together,  little by little, into something that more closely resembles the reign of God. 

If the story of your life right now were a movie, what genre would it be and who would play you? 

At the moment, my life probably looks a lot like a romantic comedy… though one with a very full cast. 

I am a newlywed with a big, blended family that stretches well beyond The Brady Bunch, with seven young adult children who are each living out their own storylines. From our vantage point as parents, those stories are often comedic… and sometimes not so much. 

There was a season when I might have claimed Elastigirl (Thank you, Holly Hunter.) as my patron superhero… always stretching to meet the moment. These days, I am letting go of the need to be incredible, and am learning instead to stay grounded in my own center. 

Given the size and personality of this crew, it would need to be an ensemble film… which feels about right for this chapter of life. 

Connect with Nikki on LinkedIn and Facebook!