About

FAQs

June 21, 2016 By karisfellowships

About NHG

Why do you ask for donations at registration?

Offering the NHG book study requires services that cost money. We rely on donations to meet those costs.
The NHG study is 100% volunteer-run. Your donation helps cover the operating costs of Karis Fellowships, which supports those precious volunteers who make this book study possible for you.
Karis is an invitation to a relationship based on mutual generosity. Through your donation you are responding with generosity to the gift of the book study. This generous circulation is a cornerstone of Karis Fellowships training.

Where does my NHG donation go?

Your donation goes into the Karis Fellowships International bank account, which is monitored by a CPA. As a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, we must offer proofs of our integrity to the government at regular intervals. We are 100% volunteer-run, which means we pay no salaries. Nancy and Alison founded the organization in 2010, and since then many grateful KF members have jumped in to make KF accessible to you.

Here’s exactly how we spend your donation:

Products and services we use to bring the study to you: BlueHost, Genesis, WishlistMember, NinjaForms, StartMeeting, and occasional professional services when our volunteers get in over their heads in html, CSS, and .php files
Administrative expenses: Dropbox, Boomerang, MailChimp, and Quickbooks
Occasional accounting and legal services

Still have questions? Ask the person who invited you or email us at admin@karisfellowships.com.

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What Members Say

June 12, 2014 By karisfellowships

Endorsement from Ed Hague, former PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) pastor:

I am a former PCA pastor who is as neurotic as they come. Covering my issues behind a cloak of perfectionistic spirituality, I spent over 30 years in ministry hiding from God, others and myself. I pretended that I was needy for Christ, but lived out of a false religious self that, in fact, wasn’t.

In the past 2 years, I have seen Karis Fellowships reach people with the gospel in ways that, with great hope, exposes their deep need for Christ and then brings healing to the hidden, dead places of their hearts. It has been astounding for me to observe. So much so, that I’m beginning to see that this ministry is even able to help someone as broken as me.

Pastors are the most neurotic people I know. We live with internal and external expectations that demand that we be “spiritual.” Sadly, this makes us reluctant to do our own inner work. Karis Fellowships requires that we drop our spiritual pretenses and walk toward Jesus broken, honest, and with the only hope in our hearts being the gospel. Nancy and her team are committed to walking beside you.

I endorse this ministry and recommend it to you wholeheartedly.

Ed Hague

Feedback from NHG students & KF members:

Picking up Neurosis and Human Growth was one of the best- and scariest- actions I’ve ever taken. My ‘got-it-together’ life was quickly unraveling and I didn’t have the energy to keep up the facade. So when a friend shared with such peace and clarity about her growth and discoveries through studying NHG, I knew I wanted to give it a try. What did I have to lose?

I’ve now been active in this group for 4 years and I’ll tell you what I had to lose: stress and anxiety, double-mindedness, guilt and fear! In their place, I am learning a peace, mindfulness, freedom and courage that are transforming my life, my relationships, and my walk with God.
–30-something mother

While reading NHG, including even the chapter on my neurotic type, I did not experience the self-hate and loathing that I know some other KF members felt when they read their chapter; instead, I often was excited or even relieved to see how things “fell into place” or made sense about why I did the things I did or how the book explained clearly the underpinnings of so much that has gone in my life and my reactions to events around me.
–career Marine officer

Karis Fellowships entails much work, but it is so much more work to stay miserable, holding on to pain, suffering, and anger. This program gave me real steps to freedom.
–woman in Christian ministry for over 40 years

Neurosis and Human Growth explained why my Christian life wasn’t working. I didn’t know how lost I was, but I sure saw the evidence in my life. Karis Fellowships showed me how to look at the source of my pain and anxiety, and dig it out!

— 50-something with years in the ministry

Joining KF has helped me envision a true and glorious life in Christ. Before KF, being a Christian seemed pretty bleak, but I didn’t want to go to Hell so I pressed on in hopes that one day I’d die and be free of my ‘sinful self’ and go to Heaven. Now, I see hope in this life, not just the next. I see redemption through real change, not just through forgiveness or the ‘covering’ of my sins. If that sounds like I am reducing the role of Jesus in my salvation I assure you that is not the case. Rather, I see salvation not as simply ‘making it into Heaven,’ but as a continual process of ‘becoming whole’ that begins in this life, making Jesus more real, personal and powerful than I had ever previously imagined.

–Peace Corps volunteer

My Karis Fellowship group is the single most supportive, practical, genuinely helpful small group I’ve ever been in. And I’ve been in a lot during my years in the church.
– young married woman

Before the book study in my mind I was doing life perfectly, no flaws. I was a narcissist and proud of it. The book study showed me how weak and ineffective narcissism is, and also by discovering those weaknesses I could start working on it to be truly glorious and build real self-confidence. I came across to others as self-confident, but I was driven by what my audience wanted from me.

— 20-something bi-cultural American professional

I used to think that other people were the cause of my pain and that as long as I had to deal with my own and other’s humanity, I couldn’t enjoy a peaceful or happy life. However, the more I utilize the NHG study and KF resources, the more I seem to be growing towards a truly peaceful, loving, and fulfilled life.
— young mother

It really struck me that Karis Fellowships is about self-healing. From the beginning I learned that my healing is my responsibility. That is how I want it. I am ready to learn what I need to do about my own healing, and how I want to get there.
–campus missionary, pastor’s wife, & founder of a Christian school

They diagnosed me with PSTD, a 70% disability. The symptoms have decreased since I have been in KF. Karis has been pivotal in my own personal development. Without it, and the relationships developed through the fellowship, I would not have been able to develop the tools and understanding for my own growth. Taking up this responsibility, and that of my own relationship with God, has been truly transformative. I’m thankful for the fellowship and the opportunities it has afforded me.

— Iraqui war veteran

KF has made our marriage. We couldn’t be more grateful for all that you, Alison, and the team have done. You have blessed our marriage enormously. We could talk for hours about how much it’s helped us foster compassion, honesty, and love. So, THANK YOU. The KF ministry has deeply touched our lives and the lives around us as a result!
— MPC (Masters in Professional Counseling)

I wouldn’t be able to survive school without Karis Fellowships. Too much stress, pressure, and expectations. Before KF I would completely lose myself, depending on what others expect. You get punished or rewarded–always the fear of failing. You just dissolve or get miserable. I was in a cage of all the things I had to live up to. It is not a sustainable situation. KF helped me get out.
— veterinary school student

Anxiety. Guilt. Fear. If I could describe my life prior to Karis Fellowships, those would be the words I would choose. I was a successful business consultant who had been a Christian since childhood. On the outside, I looked very put together, but on the inside, I was suffering terribly. Most of my friends would have described me as one of the “sweetest people they knew,” and yet my constant frantic acts of kindness and service were driven by a frightening sense of obligation rather than genuine love. Now, after being introduced to the concepts in Neurosis and Human Growth and after training in Karis Fellowships for just over a year, I have a sense of hope for the very first time. I am successfully working to free myself from the fear and lies that entangled me for so long and to truly love God, myself, and others. As far as tangible evidence, my marriage is more peaceful, I am excited about my growing relationship with God, and I am on the path toward a fulfilling career for the first time. It is so exciting, and I am so grateful for this program.

–young professional

I felt like I had a pretty stable faith life and participated in a daily relationship with God, but . . . I felt a strong desire to be set free from what I had come to over the last few years been able to identify as fear based behaviour, which was limiting my ability to fully realize my freedom in Christ and was keeping me from realizing the life God desired for me.

Now I feel like God answered my prayer in such a direct way! Behviours that I had once feared would forever rule my life have slowly but surely been fully identified and worked on, as well as some strongholds in my life that I didn’t even know existed. The life of Peace and calm that I truly never believed would ever be possible for me, because it never had been in the past, is with each day being realized more and more. I am amazed at all the ways God has set me free in the short time I have been in Karis Fellowships, I cannot even begin to imagine the person I will be in a year and so on.
— graduate student

KF has opened a perspective into the truth that I would never have dreamed possible. Humility, hope, rest, acceptance, and trust are some of the words that come to mind when I think of ways that it has helped me.
–thirty-something professional woman

Before KF, I was drowning. I wouldn’t and couldn’t open up and let those around me know how badly I needed help. In college, I had always appeared to be a bright, successful person, but I actually lived in great suffering about my imperfections. My intense desire for God was buffeted by my inability to banish the realization of what a terrible person I truly considered myself to be. Somewhere along the way, I entered a relationship that seemed to offer the salvation I needed from myself. It was great at first, but slowly changed into something that was sucking the very life out of me. I started KF out of complete desperation for something – anything – to give me relief from the quagmire of my life. Change came slowly, but within the first 18 months, I had grown enough to realize that I needed to change that relationship. KF saved my life, and saved the lives of my children. I cannot tell you how thankful I am. Not only did KF give me the strength to see the reality of my situation, it gave me the courage to act when action was needed. KF training uncovered and addressed the reasons that compelled me to get into that relationship in the first place – giving me the skills to avoid those kinds of mistakes in the future. The KF training and community has helped me improve all of my daily interactions and family relationships because KF has changed the way I see myself and others. It has helped me change how I respond to situations in life.
–forty-something mother

Learn More About Us

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How to Get Started

June 12, 2014 By karisfellowships

Your first step is to participate in the Neurosis and Human Growth (NHG) book study. Find out exactly how that works below. (For a big picture look at the book study and how it fits into Karis Fellowships, click here.)

CURRICULUM

It’s simple.

You read the first 11 chapters of Karen Horney’s Neurosis and Human Growth.
You complete a study guide for each chapter as you go.
You attend live conference calls to hear additional material, check your answers, and ask questions.

FORMAT

We offer 3 options:

Weekly Study: an 8-week study with weekly 1.5-2 hour conference calls
Weekend Intensive: an 8-week study with only email support until a single weekend of 6 two-hour conference calls at the end
Flex Study: Begin any time and study at your own pace until the next round of live calls. You can then attend weekly calls or wait for the Weekend Intensive calls.

AFTER THE STUDY

If you attend the NHG conference calls, complete your reading guides, and your registration is accepted by the KF board, you are eligible to join Karis Fellowships, our one-year training program of Bible teaching, practical tools, support, and healing.

CALENDAR

We offer the Weekly Study and Weekend Intensive Study formats, both 8 weeks in length, once a year beginning in January and ending in March. Please contact your Karis Link for exact dates and times.

*You may also register any time and study at your own pace until the next conference calls begin in January.*
If you’d rather wait for the next live study, email us at admin@karisfellowships.com to receive an invitation when the time comes.

Click HERE to Register.

Still have questions? Ask the person who invited you or email us at admin@karisfellowships.com.

Learn More About Us

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Who We Are

April 2, 2014 By karisfellowships

Founded by Nancy Diven with Alison Tunnell Diven, we are volunteers offering our time, energy, and abilities in gratitude for our own transformation. We are Christians who not only recognize how messed up we are, but choose a path of healing and reorienting to God. On this path, we train hard and rejoice in the tangible evidence of our growth.

Nancy Diven, Founder

Nancy earned a BA in classical culture from the University of Oklahoma. She is forever grateful for the guidance of two Oxford trained professors whom she met there and for the years of Bible study in the evangelical church. Her husband of over 45 years works in government service and they have spent several years living in Europe before moving to Las Vegas, Nevada. Their two sons are taking up their own adventures and raising families in Oklahoma. Karis Fellowships training is the result of God’s work in her life and His clear call to offer to others this ministry of invitation.

Nancy’s Story
Nancy’s Blog (nancydiven.wordpress.com)
Photo credit: Mitsuno Reedy www.mitsunoreedy.com

Alison Tunnell Diven, Co-Founder

Alison is the co-founder of Karis Fellowships, Intl. In 2010, she helped Nancy make the move to an on-line ministry. She also helped develop the original KF training materials and created the first KF website. Alison lives in Oklahoma and continues to be a resource for the KF community.

Volunteers

We are blessed to receive karis gifts from many of our members. They facilitate book studies, help with administrative tasks, update the websites, edit teaching materials, and more. What a generous group of people!

2023 Board Members

Nancy Diven
Sarah Tunnell
Christie Leggett
Austin Tunnell

KF Admin Team

Administrative Director – Sarah Tunnell
Financial Manager – Austin Tunnell
Director of IT – Christie Leggett
Nancy’s Personal Assistant – Tommi Kirkpatrick
NHG Book Study Director – Kristen R.

Learn More About Us

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How It Works

April 2, 2014 By karisfellowships

It starts with a conference call-based book study to help you discover where you are now–exactly how you are enslaved to pride, fear, and illusion. Reading questions and regular phone meetings guide your exploration of Karen Horney’s Neurosis and Human Growth, a masterpiece of psychology that dovetails beautifully with Scripture.

Focusing as you read on the Christian struggle to walk by the Spirit and no longer fulfill the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-25), you will find solid answers to questions like,

Why am I so unable to love the way 1 Corinthians 13 calls me to love?
Why do I–and my family and relationships–so lack the peace and joy the Bible describes as my inheritance in Jesus?
Why do I live with so much fear?
What really drives me?
What traps me in legalism and keeps me from meaningful relationship with God?

***All of our programs are online, so you can attend from anywhere in the world.***

After you complete this book study, you may join Karis Fellowships, a one-year training program designed to equip and support you for recovery from a life based on pride to one based on Biblical love (1 Cor. 13). Our KF members attend small, weekly meetings via conference call for grounding and re-centering, encouragement, confession, sharing, Bible teaching, training, healing, and prayer.

For more details on the Neurosis and Human Growth Book Study’s logistics, click here.

Learn More About Us

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What We Do & Why

April 1, 2014 By karisfellowships

We train, educate, and support Christians to grow into the people God created them to be and to walk in authentic relationship with their Creator. We do this through unique online book studies and support programs, Bible studies, training in practical tools, and healing gifts. Discontent with mere theory, we teach not only the why but the how–step by mindful step.

Our vision? To see you, dear Christian . . .

Visibly MATURE in the Fruit of the Spirit. Our standard for spirituality and growth is the Fruit of the Spirit evident in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). But we do not simply pin false fruit on our branches to look holy. Instead, we dig for the roots of our sickness unto death — roots that we are deeply and often unconsciously committed to, and that produce only sorrow, fear, and destruction. We learn to endure the process of discovery and training so that we might be complete, mature people, fully equipped to lead the active, powerful lives God intended for us (James 5:16-17, James 1:2-4). With effort, we learn to respond to life out of new principles of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Pursue LOVE as your goal. Love is the goal of our instruction (I Timothy 1:3-7). Without love we are nothing and can do nothing (1 Corinthians 13). We are training to become the love of God in the world—actually living it, not just talking about it (1 John 5:1-4). Many of us were taught to talk about the Christian life, but did not know how to live it or how to love. We learned to perform as Christians rather than becoming new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:16). In Karis Fellowships we are learning what it is to be a new creation.

Commit to TRUTH in all things. Truth is the cornerstone of Karis Fellowships. We learn to admit the truth about who we are without shame and condemnation (Psalm 15:2, Romans 8:1, John 8:31-32). This gives us the security and starting point we need to grow into the people God created us to be. We are people who desire the truth in all things that we might be true people living real lives. We learn to give up our illusions about ourselves, others, the world, and God. We learn to respond, love, feel, and make choices based on real evidence.

Experience FREEDOM from fear. We see in our lives that this work ultimately leads to more and more freedom. With its many commands of “do not fear,” the Bible makes it clear that we have a problem with fear. Our greatest deliverance is from the bondage to the “fear of death” (Hebrews 2:14-18). Mature love casts out all fear, and our goal is to have no fear but the fear of God (1 John 4:18). This freedom then leads to expressing the unique qualities that each of us is actually designed to have, rather than what we imagine we should be in order to feel secure. We call this unique expression of our designed nature our “glory.”

Express your unique GLORY here on earth. In our glory, we are expressing the character of God and our own unique qualities and work as His creatures. We come more and more into balance, living in correspondence and harmony within ourselves, with our community, and with the Creation. It is our designed nature to be in deep communion, correspondence, and harmony with God and His will. Through our glory we bring the will of God to Earth, as it is in Heaven.

Learn More About Us

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