Sterling Allen
Dr. Sterling Martin Allen is the Director of Music and Worship Arts Ministries at Good Shepherd UMC in Cypress, TX. There he conducts the Chancel Choir, the Chancel Orchestra, and oversees the multifaceted music and worship program.
Sterling has a driving passion for sacred choral masterworks and regularly conducts these works with choirs and orchestras in the United States and Europe, and has commissioned a number of works, including Rev. Dr. Brian Wren’s “Glory to God,” a hymn of praise celebrating the 2011 Ordination Service for the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
In demand as a conductor, he has conducted concerts throughout the United States as well as in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and France. With an eagerness to work with young artists, students, and conductors, he regularly adjudicates singing and choral competitions, works with high school choirs in preparation for competition and with church choirs eager to expand their ministry, musicianship, and repertoire.
Sterling holds degrees in music, sacred music, and theology from the Hurley School of Music at Centenary College of Louisiana, the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas at Austin, and from the Webber Institute. He is a protégé of Dr. Will K. Andress (Professor Emeritus of Music at Centenary College of Louisiana where he was the Director of the Centenary College Choir) and the late Dr. Gerre Hancock (Professor of Sacred Music at The University of Texas at Austin and Choirmaster Emeritus at St. Thomas Church on 5th Avenue in New York City, New York). In 2010, he completed his dissertation entitled “Developing a Better Understanding of the Ordo Salutis Through the Lyrical-Theology of Charles Wesley” with Dr. Don E. Saliers (Professor Emeritus of Theology at the Chandler School of Theology at Emory University).
Troy Armstrong
Troy Armstrong is a composer, arranger, and conductor based in Kansas City. He is currently the Composer & Arranger in Residence with the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection music department in Leawood, KS. His duties include writing and arranging musical numbers for their choirs and orchestras to perform on a weekly basis. Troy’s works have been performed throughout the United States, Central America, and Europe in venues including the Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C. and Cadogan Hall in London, England.
In his spare time, Troy enjoys cooking, writing poetry, and hiking the wooded trails around his home. He is a lifelong fan of meteorology and is constantly fascinated by all of earth’s weather phenomena.
Troy is a member of ASCAP and holds music composition degrees from the University of Texas at Austin (M.M.) and the University of Southern California (B.M.). His teachers have included Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, Frank Ticheli, Morten Lauridsen, Yevgeniy Sharlat, Stephen Hartke, and Donald Crockett. His music can be found and purchased exclusively at SkywardHarmony.com.
Amy Valdez Barker
Amy Valdez Barker is executive director of Global Mission Connections at the
General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church, a role that puts her in touch with conferences and congregations throughout the worldwide network of United Methodist and ecumenical mission partnerships. She is an ordained deacon in the North Georgia Annual Conference and a graduate of the University of Iowa in communication studies and holds both master’s and doctoral degrees from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL. Before joining Global Ministries, Amy was the top executive of the Connectional Table.
She is interested in how churches deal with trust issues both internally and with their communities and recently completed a book on the subject, “Trust by Design: The Beautiful Behaviors of an Effective Church Culture” (Abington Press). She and her husband, Rich, and their two children live in Lilburn, GA.
Donna Battle
Donna Coletrane Battle currently serves as the Chaplain at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. A native of Yanceyville, NC, she previously served as the Executive Pastor of the Way Christian Center in Berkeley, CA, as well as Life Coach and Associate Dean of the Chapel at Shaw University. For the past 15 years, Donna has been engaging and facilitating groups in the areas of building healthy relationships, spirituality, identity, cultivating ethics, values, diversity, conflict resolution and justice. She has led trainings and retreats for groups at Shaw University, NC State University, Intervarsity, UC Berkeley, Catholic Charities, Volunteers of America and various other organizations and churches across the northeast and in California.
On July 15, 2001, Donna was licensed to preach by Blackwell Missionary Baptist Church, and she was ordained in May 2005 by the Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Association. Donna holds a BA in Public Relations from NC A&T State University, an M.Div. from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy at Eastern University. She is married to Dedrick Nathaniel Battle and together they have three terrific children: Caio, Coletrane and Calum. Meditating, spending time with her family, reading, movies, counseling, preaching and teaching are among Donna’s greatest joys in life.
Sheila Beckford
Rev. Sheila M. Beckford is the Senior Pastor of Wethersfield UMC in Wethersfield CT. She is an Ordained Elder of the New York Annual Conference. She chairs the Black Methodist for Church Renewal NYAC-Chapter and co-chairs the NYAC Commission of Religion and Race and serves on the worship team for the NYAC as the dance coordinator.
Sheila is a talented dancer who uses her gift of dance as a powerful instrument to minister to God’s people. Her passion is justice, worship, dance and youth and children. She believes how one treats worship, God’s children, and God’s creation, on the whole, is indicative of how one treats God. She loves God and uses every God-given instrument to display this love.
Elisa Williams Bickers
Elisa Williams Bickers is the Associate Director of Music and Principal Organist at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS, where she leads the Alegría Young Adult Choir and the Village Ringers handbell ensemble. Bickers has served on the music faculties of the UMKC Conservatory and Washburn University as instructor of organ and harpsichord. She is the harpsichordist/organist for the Bach Aria Soloists, a Kansas City-based chamber music ensemble devoted to the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and those inspired by him.
Active as a solo and collaborative organist, harpsichordist, and pianist, Bickers has performed in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Italy, and Thailand, as well as all over the United States. She has collaborated with such musical groups as the Te Deum Chamber Ensemble, the Spire Chamber Ensemble, and the Grammy award-winning Kansas City Chorale, as well as the Kansas City Symphony.
A native of Clinton, MD, Bickers began her organ studies with the Potomac Organ Institute. She has degrees in church music and organ performance from Texas Christian University (B.M., M.M.) and the University of Kansas (D.M.A.). She has competed and won prizes in the William Hall Competition, National Young Artists’ Competition in Organ Performance (NYACOP), and the International Buxtehude Competition. During her studies at KU, she was presented with the Carlin Award for excellence in teaching, the highest honor possible for graduate students at the university. She has also earned the Fellow certificate from the American Guild of Organists, the Guild’s most advanced certification.
Bickers served as chair for New Music for the 2018 AGO National Convention, held in Kansas City, and is currently the Dean of the Greater Kansas City chapter of the American Guild of Organists. She makes her home in Overland Park, along with husband Robert, their daughter Isabel, two chubby cats, four average-sized fish, and a harpsichord built by Thomas Pixton.
Matt Bisel
Matt Bisel is the Pastor of Discipleship and Worship at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection – Downtown. He serves the downtown community by directing and coordinating small groups, community life and in worship planning.
Matt is also a worship leader, musician and songwriter. He brings together seminary training, pastoral experience and musicality to his song writing. His most recent project, a collection of original hymns, are featured on the COR Worship Collective Live Album, music videos at TheHolyOrdinary.com. Matt writes hymns and modern Christian music that is rooted in Wesleyan tradition and theology.
Kevin Bogan
Kevin Bogan is completing his fifteenth year as the Director of Traditional/Blended Worship Arts at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS. He is a past president of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts and has served twice as the Design Team Chair — for the 2005 50th Anniversary Convocation in San Francisco and the 2019 Convocation in Kansas City. Kevin is also the R&S Music and Worship Chair for the Kansas Choral Directors Association.
Under his direction the choirs and orchestra at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection have performed at the London New Year’s Day celebration, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Kevin is the executive director of Christmas at Resurrection, the seasonal holiday event that is presented to over 15,000 people annually in the Kansas City area.
Kevin is an active board member for the Spires Ensemble, a national choral ensemble that performs nationwide, and the Leawood Stage Company in Leawood, KS. He is a frequent guest clinician having led workshops at Lake Junaluska, NC, Washington, DC, and many other locations throughout the country. He was a featured presenter on a recent Wesleyan England tour which incorporated the history of the Wesleys with the history of Wesleyan hymnody. Kevin is also active in local professional theater as an actor, director and musical director.
Emanuel Cleaver III
Dr. Emanuel Cleaver III is a dynamic clergyman whose diverse and vast influence stretches from the church he leads in Kansas City, MO, to the outlying areas of West Africa. He has served as the senior pastor of St. James UMC since 2009 and is known for his dynamic sermon delivery.
Dr. Cleaver holds a D.Min. from St. Paul School of Theology and an M.Div. from Methodist Theological School in Ohio. He has been a guest preacher at S.T. Nagbe UMC in Monrovia, Liberia, as well as numerous churches, seminaries, and church organizations across the United States. He also was among a group that visited Turkey to promote healthy dialogue between Christians and Muslims in the area.
Dr. Cleaver was a participant in the Lewis Community Leadership Fellows program at Wesley Theological Seminary and elected a delegate for the 2008 and 2012 South Central Jurisdictional Conferences as well as the 2012 General Conference. In 2013, he received the John and Ruth Mount Alumni Award, Methodist Theological School’s highest honor for former students, specifically recognizing parish ministry.
Brian Combs
Converted by an in-the-gutter low Christology, Rev. Brian Combs was confronted by the incarnate Jesus on the homeless streets where pauper, prostitute and pusher loiter about.
Convicted by John Wesley’s social holiness and the Gospel’s parabolic precedent, he founded the Haywood Street Congregation in Asheville, NC. An unapologetically Christian communion of sober and intoxicated, homeless and housed, sane and unstable, derelict and disciple. A kingdom of God glance that subverts paternalistic evangelism and poverty tourism, while prioritizing the most marginalized, assuming the disinherited are Immanuel.
Carla Swank Fox
Carla Swank Fox is the Communications Director for The Fellowship and an adjunct faculty member in Interactive Media and Journalism in the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University. She is co-founder of Craft Content Nashville, an annual “un-conference” event for digital content creators in the Mid South, and also serves as a member of the community board and marketing lead for the Technologist Federation of Nashville.
An accomplished writer, producer and social strategist, Carla was a reporter, copy editor and webcast producer for the Beaver County Times near Pittsburgh, where she won a Bronze Telly Award for webcast production. She also worked as a writer, editor and network producer for Rivals.com and Yahoo! Sports.
Carla has been a church musician for more than 20 years and currently is active in the music department at West End UMC in Nashville, TN, as a member of the Chancel Choir and Joy Ringers, and director of the youth handbell ensemble. Previously, she served seven years as resident pianist at Coraopolis UMC outside of Pittsburgh, PA, where she also directed the contemporary ensemble, “Two or More.”
Carla holds a BA in Communication, Media Production and Corporate Communication as well as an MS in Organizational Studies and Leadership, both from Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh. She lives in Nashville with her husband, David.
Adam Hamilton
Rev. Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS. The church began in 1990 with four people (Adam’s wife, LaVon and their two small children) and a dream of creating a congregation where thinking people – non-religious and nominally religious people – would become committed followers of Jesus Christ. In the years since, the church has become the largest United Methodist Church in the denomination with over 20,000 children, youth and adult members and an average weekend worship attendance of 10,000.
Adam is the author of 22 books published by Abingdon Press and Harper. His writings are known for helping readers to make sense of challenging theological questions, to explore the significance of the biblical stories, and equipping Christian leaders to be more effective in their work. His books have received numerous awards and have been used in over 20,000 mainline churches across the country.
Adam believes that vital mainline churches are key to reaching new generations of young adults who have been turned off by more fundamentalist expressions of the Christian faith. In the last eight years he has spoken to over 70,000 Christian leaders in 40 states on leadership and strategies for missional outreach. In 2012 he was asked by the White House to deliver the message at the National Prayer Service, a part of President Obama’s second inaugural activities.
Recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, Adam earned his Master of Divinity Degree at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University where he received the B’nai B’rith Award in Social Ethics. He graduated with honors from Oral Roberts University with a degree in Pastoral Ministry.
Adam has been married to LaVon since 1982, and she has been a critical partner in every dimension of Adam’s work. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.
Gretchen Harrison
Now in her 30th year of teaching choral music, Gretchen Harrison is currently the choir director at Frontier Middle School in the Olathe School District in Olathe, KS. She also has been part of the artistic staff of Allegro Choirs of Kansas City since 2005, directing one of the choirs (Vivo) and assisting with two additional choirs (Moto and Brio).
She earned a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Wichita State University and a Master’s in Music Education from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She has completed her Level III endorsement in CME (Choral Music Experience). After serving in various district and state-level leadership positions, she is the past National Chairperson for Junior High and Middle School Repertoire and Standards for the American Choral Directors Association and is currently the National ACDA Repertoire and Resources Chairperson for Youth Services. She was recognized in 2003, 2009, 2015 and 2016 as “Outstanding Middle Level Choral Educator” for Northeast Kansas Music Educators Association. The Olathe Education Foundation honored her in 2015 with their “Outstanding Educator” designation.
Gretchen also enjoys serving the profession as a guest presenter and clinician and has served in Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Illinois, North Carolina State Treble Honor Choir and the Georgia All-State 6th Grade choir. She is on staff with VanderCook University (Chicago) as MS Choral Music Education teacher and is active in ACDA, KCDA and NAfME and KMEA.
John Hollan
John Hollan has served in local church worship ministry for more than 30 years, currently serving in his eleventh year as Worship Pastor and Vocational Elder at Blue Valley Baptist Church in Overland Park, KS.
A graduate of the Church Music program at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, John has spent much of his ministry career seeking ways to be more effective in working with congregant volunteers. Believing it is one thing to work with trained musicians and another thing entirely to work with the untrained who feel called to serve, he routinely integrates word-pictures and life-experiences into his rehearsals, tying them to Scripture and discipleship methods, and he leverages evolving technology to give novice musicians the tools they need to be successful both in their personal spiritual journey and their calling to serve in worship ministry.
In his free time, he has a very active presence in the Kansas City theatre community as a hair and makeup designer/stylist. He has been joyfully married to Melinda for the past 29 years and they have three beautiful and talented daughters.
Justin Huey
Justin Huey is the Director of Worship Arts at Church of the Resurrection – Downtown. He leads a vibrant community of artists, volunteer musicians and song writers. Justin’s vision of creativity and community has inspired a host of collaborative projects, which he manages and produces, including COR Worship Collective and Glory Revival. At Resurrection – Downtown Justin has created a unique style of worship that holds onto the tradition of hymnody while at the same time leading the way in modern worship music.
Kathy Leonard
Church and music have always been a part of Kathy Leonard’s life, starting with her baptism as an infant on Christmas Day, and cementing itself as a calling when she requested the 1966 Methodist Hymnal as her confirmation gift from the church at age 11-1/2. (She already had two Bibles, and what she really wanted was her own hymnal!) She participated in children’s choir, youth choir, adult choir, and accompanied various groups from her hometown Simpson UMC in Alta Vista, KS, through her Bethany College years (Music Education – Choral Concentration major), while teaching in Minneapolis, KS, and Holton, KS, and in Manhattan, KS, where she has lived and worked since 1981.
Marrying Evan Leonard in 1982 (they met in 1972 at a Sub-District UMYF meeting), they found their church home at First UMC, Manhattan, and have been active in many facets of church life.
Kathy found her true church music passion in the handbell ministry, learning to ring in 1990. She rings with Allegro Ringers, and since 2007 has directed the children, youth, and adult beginning bell choirs. In January 2015, she began directing Spirit Ringers (day-time adult choir), and she loves the challenge of working with all ages and stages of ringers. Kathy served as AGEHR/HMA Kansas Chair (2007-2010), Area 8 Membership Chair (2011-2012), and Area 8 Secretary (2012-2016). Days are spent as the IT Contracts Administrator for Kansas State University. Evenings and weekends not spent at church are filled with working K-State sporting events, quilting, reading, and spending time with Evan, their daughter Amanda and her special guy Brent, and grandpuppy Brie.
Bob MacKendree
Bob MacKendree joined the United Methodist Publishing House in 2000, bringing a career background in music and business management to UMPH Music Publishing. Bob also has 30 years’ experience as Director of Music Ministries in local United Methodist churches, most recently serving at Rehoboth UMC in Gallatin, TN. Bob’s choral experience includes a lifelong involvement in church choirs and a five-year stint with the Nashville Symphony Chorus. (Highlight: Mahler’s 8th – transforming experience!)
He is currently the Project Manager for the United Methodist Hymnal and for the new music and worship resources collection.
Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
Bishop Moore-Koikoi was elected bishop of The United Methodist Church in July 2016 and began her assignment in the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference on September 1 of that year.
She earned a BA in psychology from Loyola College in Maryland, and an MA and advanced certification in school psychology from the University of Maryland. She worked as a school psychologist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools for 17 years before answering her call to ordained ministry. She completed her M.Div. at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, in 2007. She served as pastor of a small church in East Baltimore and as associate pastor at Calvary UMC, a large congregation in Annapolis. Ordained an elder in 2010, she served on the staff and as district superintendent of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. She was serving as superintendent of the Baltimore Metropolitan District when elected a Bishop.
Bishop Moore-Koikoi says she sees the work of bishops as “overseeing the work of the church, working prophetically, evangelically and apostolically with all as they cooperate with the Grace of God.” A key component of that, she believes, is leaving space for the transforming movement of the Holy Spirit, especially at times when the denomination is divided and many people wonder what the future holds. “That’s spiritual work — remembering who God is and who God has called us to be,” she said. “We got God, so we got this.”
Her vision is of a diverse church that embraces justice and the life-saving love of Christ. As a bishop, she’s committed to work for that. It won’t be easy, she said, “but I remind myself, God has got this. God is in control.”
John Pavlovitz
John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, NC. In the past five years, his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse worldwide audience.
A 22-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity and justice — both inside and outside faith communities. In 2017, he released his first book, A Bigger Table. His second book, Hope and Other Superpowers, arrives in November 2018.
Todd Pick
Todd Pick is a United Methodist elder in full connection. He currently serves two rural churches deep in the heart of Texas. After leading congregations of all sizes and working at the juridical level in church revitalization, he has learned that God is always doing a new thing! Todd is also an award-winning graphic designer who views artistic expression as a vehicle for proclamation and prayer.
With a passion for creating liturgical art that supports and enhances the act of worship, Todd has served as the visual artist for both the 2012 and 2016 General Conference of the United Methodist Church. He has served on design teams for Convocations of The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts in Orlando, Indianapolis and Kansas City. He has created visuals for various conferences, including Music and Liturgical Arts Week at Lake Junaluska. He is a featured expert on Marcia McFee’s Worship Design Studio. He has been commissioned to create paraments, banners and logo designs for churches across the country.
Todd holds a Master of Divinity from Drew Theological School where he was artist-in-residence from 2007 to 2009 and was twice awarded the Hoyt L. Hickman Award for Liturgical Studies. He later returned as adjunct faculty to teach “Imago Christi: Worship and Visual Arts.” Graduating summa cum laude from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration, Todd worked in advertising and communications before entering the ministry. He received the London International Advertising Award for his art direction of Maybelline.com.
Blessed to have a partner in life and in ministry, Todd and Rev. Jennifer Pick enjoy consulting, writing and teaching about multi-sensory worship. For more of his artwork, visit wordmadeimage.com.
Rezound!
Rezound! is an auditioned community handbell ensemble with members from throughout the greater Kansas City area. Established in June 2001, the ensemble is dedicated to promoting the art and skill of handbell ringing in performance, serving the community through varied educational endeavors, and providing the highest quality and challenging outlet for skilled handbell musicians.
This nationally-acclaimed ensemble has captivated audiences around the country with their expressive music and engaging style. In addition to a year-round concert schedule in the Kansas City region, Rezound! has enjoyed successful tours throughout the Midwest and has collaborated with area choral groups and other handbell choirs in a variety of concert settings. The ensemble shares the stage with the Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus on their annual Christmas Festival concerts and has entertained fellow musicians at Handbell Musicians of America regional and national events.
With education being integral to the group’s focus, members have served as clinicians and instructors at local, regional and national events. Rezound! also hosts a techniques and ringing workshop, the Fall Show-Me Ring, and offers an advanced performance event, Resonate, for bronze-level musicians.
The ensemble enjoys getting out into the community by performing an annual holiday concert for the Salvation Army’s adult rehabilitation center and offering educational programs in metro area churches and schools, giving participants a hands-on experience with bells. Visit rezound.org for more information.
Amy Rosine
Dr. Amy Rosine (soprano) has enjoyed performing opera, musical theatre, oratorio, solo and chamber recitals. Stage performances include the Lyric Theatre of Dallas, Ft. Worth Opera, Brownwood Regional Theatre, Civic Opera of Kansas City, and Kansas Concert Opera. She has also performed with Opera in the Ozarks, St. Charles Music and Arts Festival and Lake Placid Institute. She is a recipient of the Alpha Corrine Mayfield Award in Opera Performance from the National Federation of Music Clubs.
Currently, she also serves as the Chancel Choir director at First UMC in Manhattan, KS.
Singing has taken her to the Čzech Republic, where she performed recitals in Dobřichovice and Český Krumlov with pianist Jaroslav Šaroun, from the Music Academy of Prague. For over a decade, Amy has teamed up with clarinetist Sandra Mosteller as the Sorores Duo. The ensemble features music of the Holocaust and contemporary music for soprano and clarinet. The duo has been featured at conferences of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, College Music Society and Sigma Alpha Iota.
Amy has been a guest artist at several institutions, performing and giving masterclasses throughout the United States. She has been teaching voice for over 25 years and will begin her 11th year on the faculty of Kansas State University. She holds degrees from Truman State University (BME), University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory (MM) and University of Kansas (DMA). She taught at the International Opera Performing Experience in Mercatello sul Metauro, Italy, Riverside Lyric Opera in California, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Along with teaching, Amy has directed children, youth and adult church choirs. Professional memberships include National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), College Music Society, Sigma Alpha Iota and The Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.
Jeffery Seeley
Jeffery Seeley, Executive Director of Partnership for Music Ministry Renewal, Inc., holds a D.Min. degree from Emory University, and M.Mus. in Choral Conducting from Mansfield University, an M.Div. from Drew University, and a B.A. from Lycoming College.
Prior to his current nonprofit work, Dr. Seeley was the Associate Professor of Church Music at Mercer University. An ordained pastor and minister of music, Dr. Seeley has held music ministry positions, often accompanied by pastoral responsibilities, for over 40 years.
Brittney Stephan
Brittney Stephan is an elder from the Indiana Conference and currently serves in extension ministry as the Associate Director for Multi-Cultural Vibrancy for the Michigan Conference. She has received a Bachelor of Arts in Religion, Organizational Communication, and Peace & Conflict Studies from Butler University and a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with a concentration in Liturgy & Music Across Cultures under the advisement of Drs. Cynthia A. Wilson and Ruth C. Duck.
A third-generation Methodist, Brittney grew up on a dirt road outside of Huntington, IN. She has spent the last decade living in Indianapolis, Chicago, and currently Metro Detroit working in a variety of contexts for The United Methodist Church. Much of her role in the Michigan Conference consists of engaging individuals and teams alike to build our cultural proficiency in a way that moves us toward an anti-biased/anti-racist identity that seeks to diversify worship experiences and leadership as a collective whole.
Prior to her appointment in Michigan, Brittney served in a cross-cultural ministry setting at the only historic African-American United Methodist Church on Chicago’s North Shore. She has spent time in Zimbabwe at Africa University, initiated a campus ministry at Butler University, and served as a youth leader for a number of years. These experiences have provided her with a deep passion to equip, engage, and empower individuals and teams to foster equitable communities of learning.
Trenton Teegarden
Trenton Teegarden serves as Minister of Contemporary Music and Worship Arts at Pulaski Heights UMC in Little Rock, AR, where he plans and leads two modern-style services on Sunday mornings followed by Sunday evening youth worship. A native of Nashville, TN, Trenton has a Bachelor’s in Church Music from Martin Methodist College and a Master’s in Music Ministry from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Trenton is married to Jessie Waddell Teegarden, an ordained deacon in the Arkansas Conference.
Jacqueline Thompson
Jacqueline Thompson is an ordained elder in the Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church. Prior to earning her M.Div., she worked as a church musician in Ohio, Missouri and Iowa. For over 20 years, she owned the Potpourri Fine Arts Academy in Ottumwa, IA, where she instructed both children and adults in music, dance and drama. She holds a permanent professional teaching certificate in Iowa and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music & Dance. Jackie was a member of the Worship Design Team for The Fellowship’s 2017 convocation.
A Place at the Table: Convocation 2019 