Leadership
This list will continue to be updated as confirmations are received.
We are honored to introduce you to our leadership team For Such a Time as This.
Allen | Anderson | Band | Cox-Johnson | Crawford | Dixon-Hall | Gingrich | Hanson Roberts | Easterling
Hightower | Holbert | Link | McBeth | Palmer. |. Steuernagel | Tel | Thames | Thompson
The Rev. Dr. O. Wesley Allen
O. Wesley Allen, Jr. is the Lois Craddock Perkins Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University, in Dallas, Texas. Wes received his B.A. from Birmingham-Southern College, his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and his Ph.D. in New Testament (with a minor in Preaching) from Emory University. As an ordained United Methodist, he has served in a number of parish, campus ministry, and academic positions. In the arena of New Testament, Allen has expertise in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts. In the arena of preaching and worship, Dr. Allen has special interest in rethinking the role of preaching and liturgy week in and week out in community in a shifting, postmodern world. Wes is the author of over a dozen books, and his most recent books include Preaching and the Human Condition, Preaching in the Era of Trump, Protestant Worship: A Multisensory Introduction (an enhanced eBook available through Coksebury.com), and Preaching and the Thirty Second Commercial (with Carrie LaFerle). Dr. Allen is currently working on a critical preaching commentary on the Gospel of Mark.
Dr. Christopher Anderson
Christopher Anderson is a scholar and organist with particular interests in early musical modernism, German history and philosophy, the organ’s position in Western culture, and the composer Max Reger. He has written extensively on Reger and his music in two monographs (Max Reger and Karl Straube: Perspectives on an Organ Performing Tradition, Ashgate 2003; and Selected Writings of Max Reger, Routledge 2006) and many essays in international journals. He has translated into English the second volume of Jon Laukvik’s Historical Performance Practice in Organ Playing (Carus, 2010) and edited the first complete survey of organ music in the twentieth century (Twentieth-Century Organ Music, Routledge 2011). An exhaustive critical biography of the twentieth-century virtuoso organist and Leipzig Thomaskantor Karl Straube (Karl Straube 1873–1950: Germany’s Master Organist in Turbulent Times) appeared in 2022 with the Eastman Studies in Music, University of Rochester Press. Prof. Anderson likewise has devoted considerable energy to the interpretation of infrequently heard music. His recent recording of Reger’s complete 52 Chorale Preludes, op. 67, was issued in 2022 with the Centaur label. Also that year he presented John Cage’s landmark organ work Organ2/ASLSP for sixteen continuous hours (Perkins Chapel, SMU Dallas), thus registering the longest realization by a single human on record. A performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s late work Klang I is scheduled for 2023. Christopher Anderson is Associate Professor of Sacred Music at Southern Methodist University, Dallas (TX), where he teaches courses in history and analysis in the Perkins School of Theology and the Meadows School of the Arts. He has taught adjunctively at the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester (NY), and chairs the Publications Advisory Committee for the Organ Historical Society’s publishing program. Christopher Anderson holds the Ph.D. in Performance Practices from Duke University.
Debra Band
Debra Band’s work in Hebrew illuminated manuscripts draws upon her love of both the manuscript arts and biblical studies. She holds a B.A. Honours in History from Concordia University in Montreal, and an M.S. in Political Science from MIT, and turned full attention to Hebrew manuscript arts in 1987. Descended from an eminent rabbinic family, her extensive studies of Jewish texts and research into mediaeval European and Middle Eastern painting and manuscripts inform her work. Celebrated for its intellectual and spiritual depth as well as visual beauty, her work includes illuminated and papercut books and ketubot, other manuscript pieces and papercuts, in exhibits, private collections, community institutions and galleries across the English-speaking world. Debra is the artist and author of The Song of Songs: the Honeybee in the Garden (Jewish Publication Society) 2005, I Will Wake the Dawn: Illuminated Psalms (Jewish Publication Society 2007), and Arise! Arise! Deborah, Ruth and Hannah (Honeybee in the Garden, 2012). Kabbalat Shabbat: the Grand Unification, with Raymond P. Scheindlin (Honeybee in the Garden, 2016), All the World Praises You! an illuminated Aleph-Bet book (Honeybee in the Garden, 2018), and Qohelet: Searching for a Life Worth Living, with Menachem Fisch (forthcoming, Baylor University Press, 2023). She is presently collaborating with scholar of Jewish mysticism, Arthur Green, and astrophysicist Howard Smith on an illuminated book and commentary of a 16th century Kabbalistic work about Creation. Her work tours museums and galleries across the United States, and is featured on the book-covers of many Jewish and Christian scholarly works. Debra has worked with Jewish women’s groups across the United States, and lectures frequently on her work across the United States, in locations as varied as academic conferences, synagogues, Christian seminaries and the Library of Congress. In addition to her artwork, Debra participated for many years in medical ethics review activities at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Debra has lived throughout the United States and Canada and presently resides with her husband, psychiatrist Michael Diamond, M.D. and menagerie, and near her children and grandchildren in the Washington, D.C. area. For more information please see www.dbandart.com.
Grace Cox-Johnson
Grace Cox-Johnson is an artist and musician who has served the greater church since 1989. She is the artist/owner of Color for the Journey creating stoles, vestments, paraments, and banners. As Artist in Residence at Community Christian Church in Kansas City, she creates visual expressions of faith on a regular basis. She is also the Director of Music for Blue Ridge Presbyterian Church, where she serves as choir director and worship leader. You can see examples of her work at ColorfortheJourney.com as well as on Facebook and Instagram.
Dr. Michael Crawford
Dr. Michael Crawford serves as a full-time adjunct faculty member at the University of North Texas (UNT), where he coordinates the college of music’s student teaching program, coordinates/instructs the percussion methods courses, and teaches undergraduate music education courses. Dr. Crawford holds a B.M. in Music Education, an M.M. in Percussion Performance, and a Ph.D. in Music Education. Prior to his appointment at UNT, Dr. Crawford maintained an 11-year teaching career as a Texas public school band director and university instructor. His other collegiate teaching experiences include serving on the instrumental faculty at Tarleton State University and athletic bands staff at Baylor University as the drumline instructor/arranger. Dr. Crawford has performed throughout the United States and Europe with the Waco Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Chorus, and the Pioneer Drum and Bugle Corps. He has presented research, featured clinics, and showcase concerts at the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA), National Conference on Percussion Pedagogy (NCPP), Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA), and Texas Bandmasters Association (TBA) conferences. Additionally, Dr. Crawford is a frequent invited contributor to K-12 professional development seminars, podcasts, and workshops that discuss the pedagogy of world music cultures and participatory music. Dr. Crawford has published articles in the Journal of Music Teacher Education and The Instrumentalist, in addition to musical compositions and arrangements through C. Alan Publications. He is a Percussive Arts Society Education Committee member, a certified Smithsonian Folkways World Music Pedagogy educator, and a Pearl Drums/Adams Regional Marching Percussion Artist.
The Rev. Dr. Maria Dixon-Hall
Maria Dixon Hall is Chief Diversity Officer at SMU, and an Associate Professor in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs. Maria Dixon Hall’s primary research interests are organizational strategy and planning, as well as the intersection of power, identity, and culture in corporate, non-profit, and religious organizations. She has taught Introduction to Communication Theory; Management Communication; Communication in Civil Society Organizations; Communication in Organizational Contexts; Ethnicity, Gender, and Culture: and Introduction to Critical Studies in Communication. As Chief Diversity Officer at SMU, she is a senior-level resource and a strategic partner who collaborates with SMU faculty, students, administrators and staff – both initiating and reporting the outcome of diversity initiatives, policies and programs. Dixon Hall works to align the University’s efforts to recruit, retain, support and promote diverse faculty, staff and students, and will convene a University Diversity Council to connect the missions of the diversity officers of each school and administrative unit. Her research and professional consulting is focused on the implications of identity, power, and organizational culture on the strategic communication of religious and non-profit organizations.
Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling
Bishop LaTrelle Easterling is the episcopal leader of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences. She was assigned to serve the BWC in September 2016, becoming the first woman to lead this historic conference. She became bishop of Pen-Del in September 2021, when the two conferences were affiliated. Prior to being elected, she served as superintendent of The Boston Metro District, the most diverse and inclusive district within the New England Annual Conference. She was also selected to serve as Dean of the Cabinet. Easterling was elected a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences in 2012 and 2016. Easterling was ordained an Elder in 1997, serving as lead pastor of three churches in Massachusetts beginning with Pearl Street UMC in Brockton, Old West Church, UM, in Boston, and Union UMC in Boston’s historic South End, becoming the first woman to lead that church in its 190-year history. Easterling is a native of Indianapolis, Indiana. The child of Mary and Walter Miller, she grew up attending University UMC. As an active United Methodist, Easterling sang in numerous choirs, and served as a youth group leader and Sunday school teacher. Upon moving to Denver, Colorado, she joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where she heard the call to ordained ministry. In living out her call, Bishop Easterling is committed to homiletical excellence, servant leadership and transformative justice. A strong proponent of education, Easterling received a bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications and Political Science from Indiana University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Indiana University School of Law. She graduated summa cum laude in 2004 with a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology. In 2020, she was named a Distinguished Alumna of that school for her work in justice and advocacy, as well as her leadership within The United Methodist Church. Prior to entering full-time ministry, Bishop Easterling served as an associate attorney in a leading law firm, as a prosecuting attorney for a municipality and as a human resources executive. Easterling currently serves as chair of The Council of Bishop’s Anti-racism Leadership Team, President of the National Plan for Hispanic and Latino Ministries, and President of the Northeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops. She is an active participant on The Council of Bishop’s Immigration Task Force, the Justice and Reconciliation Leadership Committee, and the Leadership Discernment Committee. She also serves on the Boards of Directors for Wesley Theological Seminary and American University, the Board of Child Care and The Jane Robinson Bancroft Foundation. In addition, Easterling is a member of The Boston University School of Theology Dean’s Advisory Board and the Anna Howard Shaw Center Board. Upon arriving in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, she founded the Seeds of Security ministry, or SOS, which benefits people in crisis who are seeking to leave abusive relationships. Easterling is a much sought-after speaker, preacher, poet and writer. She has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the 2017 Rainbow Push Trombone Award for Faith in Action, presented by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. She is married to the Rev. Marion Easterling Jr., pastor of Locust UMC in Columbia. They have two grown sons, Garrett and Miles.
Dr. Shawn Gingrich
Shawn Gingrich serves First United Methodist Church in Hershey as Director of Music Ministry, where he directs the choirs and serves as organist. In addition to his church work, Shawn is the adjunct Organ and Handbell Instructor at Messiah University and works for Malmark Bellcraftsmen as a Sales Ambassador. Shawn also directs the Hershey Handbell Ensemble, an auditioned community handbell ensemble which he founded in 2004. In 2015, this group was honored to play for the Obamas at a White House reception. Shawn has been a solo handbell ringer for 30 years and has studied under Christine Anderson, Nancy Hascall, and Sueda Lutrell, some of our nation’s most renowned solo ringers. He received his undergraduate education at Lebanon Valley College, Annville, where he received the Bachelor of Science in Music Education and the Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music. He received his graduate education at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, Princeton, NJ, where he received the Master of Music in Sacred Music; and at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in Jacksonville, Florida where he received the Doctorate of Worship Studies. Shawn and his wife Laura have four children: Peter, Sarah, Christian and Aaron, and reside in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Laurie Hanson Roberts
Laurie Hanson Roberts has been the Minister of Music and Worship since the beginning of Grace Avenue UMC in Frisco, Texas in 1999. She holds a Bachelors of Music/Voice and a Bachelors of Music Education from Baylor University. She also holds a Masters of Music/Choral Conducting and a Masters in Sacred Music from Meadows School of the Arts and Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. She served as Associate Minister of Music at Lovers Lane UMC in Dallas for 10 years working alongside Terry Price. Laurie has the ability to sing most any style, which has landed her in some of Dallas' most prestigious recording studios. She has been a studio musician for Word Records and Hal Leonard Publishing. For over 15 years she has been deeply involved with the Susan G. Komen walk to end breast cancer. She has held a seat on the Board of Directors of The God's Child Project and can be found in Guatemala most Januarys, building houses and leading a team in helping children and their families. She has been married to her husband, Bill Roberts, also a musician, for 30 years. Laurie is a licensed yoga instructor (500hrRYT) and a certified meditation instructor through the Chopra Center.
Dr. Allen Hightower
Allen Hightower is a seventh generation Texan, and resides in McKinney, Texas with his wife Dr. Kristin Hightower and their two daughters Caroline and Julianne. As the director of Choral Studies at the University of North Texas (UNT), Allen leads the master’s and doctoral programs in choral conducting, and oversees a comprehensive choral program of eight ensembles. Allen serves as the conductor of the UNT A Cappella Choir, and the UNT Grand Chorus, which collaborates annually with the UNT Symphony Orchestra in performances of major choral-orchestral works. As a member of UNT’s Early Music faculty, he leads the vocal ensemble Vox Aquilae, an artistic partner of the UNT Baroque Orchestra. Since arriving at UNT in 2016, the A Cappella Choir has received invitations to perform for the Texas Music Educators Association in 2020, National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association in 2021, and Southwestern Division of ACDA in 2022. Vox Aquilae and the Baroque Orchestra were featured in the 2022 virtual conference of the National Collegiate Choral Organization. As a teacher and conductor, he has visited 30 states, Asia, and Europe. His students hold positions of leadership as choral conductors in public schools, colleges and universities, and churches and community choirs throughout the United States. Prior to his appointment at UNT, Dr. Hightower held the Weston Noble Endowed Chair in Music at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he served as conductor of the renowned Nordic Choir and artistic director of Christmas at Luther. As Luther's director of Choral Activities, he gave leadership to a choral program that included four conductors, six choirs, and over 530 singers. Under his direction, the Nordic Choir performed at the 2014 North Central Division of ACDA, recorded six compact discs, made annual concert tours throughout the United States, and toured Europe on two occasions. From 2000-2010, he served as professor of music and director of Choral Studies at Sam Houston State University. During his tenure, the SHSU Chorale toured Europe, performed for the 2007 National Convention of the American Choral Directors Association, the 2010 Southwestern Division of ACDA, and the 2003, 2006, and 2010 conventions of the Texas Music Educators Association. His public school teaching career included tenures at Klein High School in Spring, Texas and at Odessa Permian High School in Odessa, where he led the PHS Kantorei and Satin Strings in performance at the 1996 TMEA convention. Outside of his work in the academic setting, Allen has served as the artistic director of the Houston Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra, leading an annual concert series of choral-orchestral masterworks. As a church musician, he has served Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches in Texas, California, and Minnesota. He currently serves on the Music and Worship staff of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, and is the church music vice-president of the Texas Choral Directors Association. Dr. Hightower has served as an adjunct professor of conducting at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. As a conducting student of the Texas choral legend Bev Henson, Allen earned his undergraduate degree in Music Education and Piano from Sam Houston State University. He went on to earn a master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music where he was a student of Baroque scholar Alfred Mann, and a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from Baylor University, where he served as assistant conductor to Stephen Heyde and accompanist to Donald Bailey and the Baylor Chamber Singers. Allen earned his doctorate in Conducting from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he served as assistant conductor to Donald Neuen. Hightower pursued additional orchestral conducting studies with Jung-Ho Pak at the University of Southern California, additional choral conducting studies with Joseph Flummerfelt at Westminster Choir College, and choral-orchestral conducting with Helmuth Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival. After winning first prize in the graduate division of the American Choral Directors Association’s Conducting Competition in 1997, Allen served as assistant to Paul Salamunovich, conductor of the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
The Rev. Dr. John Holbert
The Rev. Dr. John C Holbert was born in Indiana, raised in Phoenix, AZ, and attended Grinnell College, Perkins School of Theology, and The Graduate Program in Religious Studies at SMU, receiving a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages in 1975. He retired from Perkins School of Theology in 2012 as Lois Craddock Perkins Professor Emeritus of Homiletics. Holbert has authored 11 books and numerous articles in scholarly journals, dealing mainly with the intersection of preaching and the Hebrew Bible. He has preached or taught in over 1000 churches and conferences in 45 states and 20 countries. He has been married to the Rev. Dr. Diana B. Holbert for 53 years; they live now in Los Angeles where their two adult children and their two granddaughters also live.
Michael Link
Michael Link currently serves as Director of Music and Worship at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Carrollton, TX, and teaches courses in music education at the University of North Texas. In addition, he is an active clinician, presenter, conductor, and adjudicator for orchestras, choirs, and bands. Mr. Link’s experience in church music spans 30 years with service in varied communities, including the Dallas area, Midland, TX, Corpus Christi, TX, and Jonesboro, LA. Link's degrees include a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Western Illinois University, a Master of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music, a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Concordia University, and Certification in Church Music from Perkins School of Theology.
Maestro Kevin McBeth
Kevin McBeth is celebrating his 28th year as Director of Music and Worship Arts at Manchester United Methodist Church (St Louis) and his 12th season as Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) IN UNISON Chorus! At Manchester, he leads a diverse choral and instrumental program of music and their annual concert series. The church’s choirs have participated in state and regional American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) conventions. In addition, they have premiered commissioned works by Mark Hayes, Howard Helvey, Philip Stopford and Brandon Williams. McBeth has led SLSO Pops and Educational concerts featuring Leslie Odom, Jr., Sutton Foster, Ledisi, Boyz II Men and Take 6. He is a graduate of Houston Baptist University, and studied Choral Conducting at the University of Houston. In the past 30 years, he has held ACDA leadership positions at the state, regional and national levels. He has conducted concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, and led tours of England, Scotland and Italy, including mass at the Vatican. He was adjunct choral professor at Webster University and guest lecturer at Westminster Choir College, Temple University and the Juilliard School of Music. McBeth has been featured as guest conductor with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Houston Civic Symphony, the New England Symphonic Ensemble and the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra of New York. In 2019, McBeth received the Missouri Choral Directors Association Podium Award for Exemplary Contributions in Choral Music and currently serves as their President-Elect. Future conducting engagements include the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the SLSO Tiny Tunes concerts.
Bishop Gregory Palmer
Bishop Gregory Vaughn Palmer serves as the episcopal leader of the Ohio West Area of The United Methodist Church. He was assigned there on September 1, 2012. Born and reared in Philadelphia, Palmer is a “child of the church,” the son of the Rev. Herbert E. and Mrs. Charlotte Sue Hewitt Palmer. Palmer’s father (now deceased) was a retired United Methodist pastor; his mother (now deceased) was a schoolteacher in the Philadelphia Public School system. Bishop Palmer received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the Master of Divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. Baldwin-Wallace College, Iowa Wesleyan College, Simpson College, Hood Theological Seminary and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and United Theological Seminary have awarded him honorary degrees. He was ordained a deacon and elected a probationary member in the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference in 1977. In 1981, he was elected into full membership and ordained an elder in the East Ohio Annual Conference. His pastoral career includes student pastorates in North Carolina and post-seminary appointments in the East Ohio Conference in Cleveland, Canton and Berea. Palmer also served as superintendent of the Youngstown District of the East Ohio Conference. Elected to the episcopacy by the North Central Jurisdictional Conference in 2000, Palmer served the Iowa Area until assuming responsibilities in the Illinois Area in 2008. Palmer served as president of the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry from 2004 to 2008 and president of the Council of Bishops from April 2008 to May 2010. Palmer served on the Commission on a Way Forward. Currently, he is a member of the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters and chair of the Comprehensive Africa Plan. He also is a board member of several organizations, including The United Methodist Publishing House, Methodist Theological School in Ohio, United Theological Seminary and OhioHealth, a family of nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Mount Union University and Emory University. Married for 46 years to his wife Cynthia, they are the parents of two adult children. Monica is a public school principal in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Aaron is a Senior Product Owner for an interactive technology company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cynthia Palmer is an honors graduate in religion from Duke University. She is a senior sales director with Mary Kay Cosmetics. She has served as a director of Christian education and as staff of several community action agencies focused on Welfare-to-Work projects. She is an outstanding student and teacher of the Scriptures and has strong competencies in leadership development.
Dr. Marcell Steuernagel
Marcell Silva Steuernagel is Assistant Professor of Church Music and Director of the Master of Sacred Music Program at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. He holds a Ph.D. in Church Music from Baylor University, an M.A. in Music Composition from Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, and a B.A. in Conducting and Composition from the School of Music and Fine Arts of Paraná (EMBAP/PR), Brazil. He served as Minister of Worship, Arts and Communication at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Curitiba, Brazil, for more than a decade and is an internationally active composer and performer. having performed in both popular and concert environments in Brazil, North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has released pop-rock albums, premiered choral and orchestral compositions in churches and universities, and edited hymnals. Marcell writes at the intersection of church music, theology, musicology, and performance theory, both in Portuguese and English. His most recent monograph is Church Music Through the Lens of Performance, published on Routledge’s Congregational Music Studies series (2021).
Dr. Martin Tel
Martin Tel is the C. F. Seabrook Director of Music at Princeton Theological Seminary where he directs the seminary choirs, facilitates the music ministry for daily worship, and lectures in the area of church music. He served as Senior Editor of Psalms for All Season: A Complete Psalter for Worship (Faith Alive, 2012). He also served on the editorial committees which produced a new hymnal for the Christian Reformed Church and Reformed Church in America denominations, Lift Up Your Hearts (Faith Alive, 2013) and the Spanish-English bilingual hymnal, Santo, Santo, Santo / Holy, Holy, Holy (GIA, 2019).
The Rev. Dr. Theresa Thames
The Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames (she/her/hers) is the Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University. An ordained Elder in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, Theresa is a graduate of Howard University, Duke University Divinity School, and Wesley Theological Seminary. She is passionate about the intersections of theology, gender, sociology, and social justice. She is a challenging preacher, thoughtful theologian, author, certified yoga teacher, Peloton rider, GirlTrekker, and the founder of Soul Joy Coaching, LLC. She creates meaning with her husband, Black Lab, and devoted friends. Theresa is a lover of life and a music connoisseur who prioritizes self-care and believes that freedom is not optional, rest is her strength, and radical joy is her resistance.
The Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Thompson
Jacqueline Thompson is an Elder in the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church. She currently pastors both Burns UMC and St John’s UMC in Des Moines and also serves as the co-chair of the Iowa Conference Order of Elders. Jacqueline has served as a member of the Iowa Annual Conference Worship Team, a member of The Fellowship’s 2017 Convocation Worship Design Team, a member of The Fellowship’s 2019 Convocation Design Team, and is the Worship Designer/Leader for the 2023 Music and Worship Arts Week. Prior to ordained ministry, Jacqueline served as a worship artist (choir, organ, piano, handbells, dance), was a dance instructor with Indian Hills Community College (Ottumwa, Iowa), was the owner/instructor (dance, music, drama) of Potpourri Fine Arts Academy in Ottumwa, Iowa, and was rostered as a teaching artist (music, dance, storytelling) with the Iowa Arts Council. She earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory and holds a permanent professional teaching certificate in the State of Iowa.
