A Purpose-Driven Life: Eleonore Forder Remembered

When I think of a purpose-driven life, I think of Rick Warren, Billy Graham, Mother Teresa, Corie ten Boom, and many others, including Eleonore Forder.

Eleonore and Reg Forder

In the late 1980′s, when I first started attending writers’ conferences, Reg Forder and his wife Eleonore became the new directors of the Arizona Christian Writers’ Conference in Phoenix. Soon, their ministry to writers grew becoming American Christian Writers (ACW) and expanding to include conferences, workshops, and writing groups throughout the United States.


I was a beginning writer when I first met Eleonore, writing for Sunday school take-home papers and magazines. In 1991, Eleonore was there, when I taught my first writers’ conference workshop for ACW in Phoenix. In the past two decades, I’ve had the privilege of teaching at several ACW conferences in various locations, including Arizona, Washington, and California.


For the past 25 years, Eleonore has been referred to as the “First Lady” of writers conferences. She was known for her ready smile, gracious spirit, generous helpings of encouragement, and her willingness to do anything she could to equip writers for their work in God’s Kingdom.


There’s a good chance Elenore served many of your favorite authors, conference speakers, and workshop teachers. Perhaps you’ve attended an ACW conference. If so, you received a welcoming smile and a warm greeting from Eleonore Forder. Eleonore was a woman with a purpose. And for all who knew her, she was a model.


Eleonore modeled . . .

Having a servant’s heart
Partnering in a work that would have Eternal value
Believing in the power of words
Equiping others to serve God

Planting seeds of encouragment

Trusting God when plans changed
Making a difference in the Kingdom

Just a few days short of her 68th birthday, Eleonore went home to the arms of her Jesus on Thursday, January 24, 2013.

Thank You, Lord, for the time You gave us with Elenore Forder. Help us carry on her legacy of complete devotion to You.

Do you have a favorite ACW memory?