NAECED Conference Presenters :: Tapestry Conference Presenters

As a Christian education director, Wendy Claire Barrie has served five congregations large and small, urban and suburban, on both coasts, since 1989, and began teaching Sunday School at the age of 14, to those many long years ago. Presently, she is the Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut. In 2008, Wendy was a workshop presenter at the Christian Formation Conference in Kanuga, and a member of the Design Team for the Discovery Center for Lifelong Learning and Christian Formation at General Convention 2009. From 2002 to 2004, she represented Province II to ECCE, the Episcopal Council for Christian Education. Her background in Early Childhood Education and Theatre Arts have served her surprisingly well in the church, and she is trained in both Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and Godly Play.

Lori Daniels is the Key Hall Resource Room Coordinator for the Center of the Ministry of Teaching (CMT) at Virginia Theological Seminary and a board member of the National Organization of Episcopal Resource Centers (NOERC). The Key Hall Resource Room supports Christian Formation for all ages in churches, schools, camps and home. Lori is responsible for acquisitions for the book, film, and curricula collections and works with students, church educators and schools both locally and regionally.

Sabrina Evans is the Director of Children’s Christian Formation at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Montgomery, Alabama, where she has worked for 2 years. Born in Birmingham, Sabrina always knew she wanted to work in formation with children, but wasn’t sure how you got there. She worked as a paralegal and was a volunteer in small parishes for almost 20 years before getting a full time job as Director of Children’s Ministry in 1999 when her parish priest heard about her sense of call in an EfM spiritual autobiography and sent her to the Diocesan CE Officer. Sabrina is an EfM graduate and holds full certification for Youth Ministry and Christian Formation from the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest. She also serves on the Province IV Steering Committee. She is a trained Level III Catechist of the Good Shepherd and a Daughter of the King. Sabrina is also a professionally trained clown. She lives with her husband whose work flexibility has allowed her to move to parishes with her call and they have grown children.

As a popular speaker, retreat leader, and workshop presenter on the topics of spirituality, prayer, and teen faith formation, Jenifer Gamber has been involved in Christian formation since she began teaching Sunday school as a teenager. She is the author of two widel-read books about the Episcopal Church - - May Faith, My Life for teenagers and Your Faith, Your Life for adults. Her website, www.myfaithmylife.org, is a widely used resource for adults who work with youth. She serves on the board of NAECED, has an active ministry leading confirmation and baptism preparation at her home church, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, PA and is a Companion of the Holy Cross.

Julia McCray Goldsmith serves on the staff of Bishop Marc Andrus, coordinating Ministry Development and Christian Formation programs for the Episcopal Diocese of California. She works with the eighty parishes and missions of the diocese to make sure they have the leadership and resources necessary to offer their members the best possible opportunities for ministry, theological reflection, and lifelong spiritual formation.

Jeffri Harre is the Associate Program Officer – Children’s Ministries at the Episcopal Church Center in New York City. Prior to accepting this position he served as the Program Assistant for Children’s Ministries and Christian Education in the Ministries with Young People Cluster. He has been part of the teams that planned and implemented the Children’s Programs and the Discovery Centers at the past three General Conventions. Before joining the Church Center, Jeff held a variety of positions in human resources, finance, and publishing. A native of Southwestern Connecticut, Jeff is a member of Grace Episcopal Church, Norwalk, Connecticut, where he serves on a number of committees and preaches on a regular basis. He mentors an Education for Ministry (EfM) seminar group in the Diocese of Connecticut. Jeff is also an amateur flutist.

Lisa Kimball, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center of Ministry of Teaching and Professor of Christian Formation and Congregational Leadership at Virginia Theological Seminary, an ideal position to blend her interests in human development, healthy Church, and social justice. Before coming to VTS, Lisa had served on the staff of five congregations and two dioceses in California and Minnesota, and on the faculty of the College of Education at the University of Minnesota. In addition to over twenty years of Christian Education, youth ministry, camp and conference leadership, Lisa has extensive experience in organization development, program evaluation and strategic planning. Most importantly, Lisa values the holy mystery in everyday life.

Cathy Ode, M.Ed. in Counseling, has worked with families and congregations in various ways for twenty-plus years. She has served as a therapist, parenting educator, youth director and Christian education director. Cathy currently coordinates family ministries for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Boulder, CO and leads faith formation workshops for the Diocese of Colorado. In all Cathy’s work, pastoral care and caring communication have been a key. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion around these ministries as well as learning from the accumulated wisdom of participants in this workshop.

A NAECED member since 2000, Sharon Ely Pearson joined Church Publishing Incorporated), Inc. in 2007 after ten years as Children’s Ministries and Christian Education Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. With a B.S. in Special Education, she has a certificate in Christian Education from Hartford Seminary and a Master’s degree in Christian Education from Virginia Seminary. Her thesis, “A Theology of Confirmation for the 21st Century” was the spark for new diocesan guidelines implemented in 2005 in Connecticut and modeled by many others since then. With over 30 years experience in Christian formation at the parish, diocesan, provincial and church-wide level, she is a certified Godly Play teacher, and was an EfM mentorfor ten years. Sharon has expertise helping congregations choose curriculum for children, youth and adults and is a sought after leader for conferences, workshops, and retreats on a variety of topics, including spirituality, stewardship, sacramental preparation, faith development, adult formation and administrative issues. She has been active in a variety of national Episcopal boards, task forces and design teams involved in Christian education and formation events as well as strategic planning for many education programs. She represented Province I on ECCE (2000-2006), participated on the PEALL Task Force for Executive Council, and was a member of Strategic Planning Team for EfM. Recently she has been part of the Faith Formation 2020 Initiative, an ecumenical project that is studying what the future of faith formation might look like. www.lifelongformation.com.

Polly Redd is Director of Christian Formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Gastonia, North Carolina, where she also serves on the Diocese of Western North Carolina Life Long Christian Formation Committee. She is also a member of the Diocesan Council in the Diocese of North Carolina. She has been involved in the field of education for over 40 years in both public school arena as a teacher, curriculum specialist, and principal and in the church in a variety of positions and ministries. Married to Jim, she is the mother of 4 adult boys and has 3 grandchildren. She has been a member of NAECED since 2004 and attended her first Tapestry Conference in Tucson, Arizona.

Deborah Bell Rodahaffer, Director of Christian Education, has been on the staff at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Louisville, for fourteen years as well as a member of St. Matthew’s for over 20 years. Debbi oversees a children’s program consisting of 180 children/youth (newborns through twelfth grade) and their parents. She oversees two worship services designed with and for children on Sundays and a Parents’ class on Sunday mornings that has resulted in small group classes for women during the week among other responsibilities. A graduate of EfM, Ms. Rodahaffer was appointed by Bishop Ted Gulick of Kentucky to be the interim chair of the Diocesan Department of Christian Formation during the restructuring of that department. She is currently serving on the board of All Saints Episcopal Conference Center, the community advisory board for “REAL” – a grant-funded program of the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville, a board member of NAECED (the National Association of Episcopal Christian Education Directors), the Province IV Christian Formation Steering Committee, and is in her second three-year term as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Kentucky. At General Convention 2009 she had the honor of serving on the education legislative committee. Debbi studied art and education at the Universities of Kentucky and Louisville. She has done continuing education in areas of Christian education as well as in the areas of pastoral care and grief counseling. Debbi and her husband, Richard, have two adult children.

Kate Gillooly has been a professional Christian Educator for over 20 years, and has been on staff at St. Paul’s Curch, Cleveland Heights, Ohio for the last 13 years. She is the Minister for Christian Formation and Program. She coordinates educational offerings for people of all ages, and seeks to strengthen the links between education and liturgy and outreach. She has worked in small, medium and large parishes, as well as diocesan staff and individual consulting. She has a particular passion for advocacy for lay professionals of all sorts. She is the current President of NAECED. Kate has a BA in Religion from Case Western Reserve University and a MA in Ministry from Ursuline College, and is a licensed pastoral care specialist with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. She and her husband, Greg, live in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with their son, Jami, and daughter, Madeleine.