A wise man once said, “Find a need and fill it.” That direction was exactly what Christian Leaders Authors and Speakers Seminars (CLASS) founder, Florence Littauer did. As one of the few female Christian platform speakers in the late seventies, Florence saw a need to train men and women to share their faith and stories of hope. Thus, a training program was launched. It wasn’t called the CLASSeminar and Florence never intended for it to be a long-term program. God had other plans.
God gifted Florence with the skill to write and speak and more importantly, she was an extraordinary teacher. In addition to her gifts, God also gave Florence a story, a story that when shared with transparency and authenticity gave people hope. As more and more people sought Florence for training, what Florence intended to be a one-time workshop lasted for more than thirty years. In that time, CLASS through the CLASSeminar has trained over 30,000 men and women around the world to be more effective speakers, teachers, and writers.
Along with speaker training, Florence established a program for personality trainers using the material she had written in Personality Plus. Since 1989, CLASS has certified more than 1000 trainers around the world, all who use the Personality Plus/Wired That Way system.
When Florence and her husband Fred retired in 1996, their daughter Marita, also a talented writer and speaker took over the leadership. In 2006, when Marita’s life took a new turn, Gerry Wakeland was called to lead the CLASS ministry for the next twelve years.
Over the years, CLASS evolved as we tried to keep up with the industry. We saw men and women, graduates of CLASS, carve out a niche for themselves in the speaking or writing world. We watched dreams come true.
Now after much prayer and deliberation, the Board of Directors of CLASSEMINARS, Inc. has decided to bring our era of ministry to a close. God has provided a new generation of men and women, many who are CLASS alumni, to provide training for speakers and writers. Our time is over.
CLASS materials may still be purchased through CLASServices at www.classervices.com. In the next few weeks our phone will be disconnected, and we will no longer update the website or the Facebook page.
For all of you who have supported CLASS in some way over the last thirty-plus years, we say thank you. We are grateful for the many alumni, industry professionals, pastors, and lay leaders who have been a part of our family. Our hope and prayer is that you will continue to use the skills learned though our program to make an impact in the world.
Blessings,
Board of Directors