Meet our 2023 Messy Church USA Board of Directors
Board members for Messy Church USA serve a three year term. They may be re-elected to serve a second term. The Board meets 4-6 times per year providing oversight to the organization. The board establishes policies for the administration of the ministry of Messy Church USA. They also plan, approve and secure funds required for our annual budget. A big thank you to those who have agreed to serve in this important role.
2023 Board Officers
2023 Board of Directors President
Ronda Bower, United Church of Christ, Northfield, IL Contact : [email protected]
Ronda Bower is the Pastoral Associate for Famiy and Educational Ministries at Northfield Community Church in Northfield, Illinois where she keeps busy and has fun with Messy Church, Sunday school, confirmation classes, adult Bible classes, and lots of special events. When she can, Ronda loves to travel to Orlando to spend time with her four grandchildren, love on sweet dogs and cats when she pet sits, walk in the Chicago Botanic Garden, and make cross-stitch and Swedish weaving gifts for family and friends.
2023 Board of Directors Vice-President
Marty Drake, United Methodist, Huntington Beach, CA Contact: [email protected]
Marty is the Director of Children and Family Ministries at Community United Methodist Church in Huntington Beach, CA. With her co-leader, Leyla Wagner, they began their Messy Church in 2013. She is a founding Board member of Messy Church USA. For Marty, her work at CUMC was natural progression from teaching elementary school to raising three boys to volunteering at CUMC with every age group from preschool through high school.
One of the highlights of my position is sharing in the children’s discovery of their faith and learning more about my own faith through them. They have a simplicity that is refreshing. I feel assured that our future is in good hands. Marty is a Southern California native and a life-long Methodist. With her husband Bobby, they enjoy camping and boating with our family. In addition she looks forward to her weekly soccer games, monthly scrapbooking gatherings, board games and is an amateur photographer hoping to sharpen her skills for her hobby.
2023 Board of Directors Secretary
Maureen Carey, Episcopalian, Ashburn, VA
Contact: [email protected]
Maureen is the Lay Pastoral Associate at St David’s Episcopal Church. She also serves as the chaplain for the St David’s Episcopal Preschool. She has been at St. David’s at 2009. Maureen attended the Deacon School of VA, holds a certificate as a Pastoral Care Specialist from the Center of Pastoral Care of Northern VA, is trained in CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) with a field placement at Sibley Hospital in Washington DC. She is both a licensed Lay Preacher and Lay Worship Leader with the Diocese of VA. Prior to her call to ministry Maureen worked as a Birth Doula and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
Maureen loves both church work and the work of the church. She is passionate about ministry, children’s spirituality, pastoral care, digital ministry in this new era of being church, preaching and sharing the Good News. She enjoys spending time with family, friends, and her dog Guinness. When not working she loves to ride bike, hike, bake, explore VA wineries, watch Netflix and write.
2023 Board of Directors Treasurer
Rev. Jim White, United Methodist, Palmdale, CA
Contact: [email protected]
Jim is the pastor at Palmdale United Methodist in Palmdale, CA. He started at Palmdale in 2015 after serving 21 years of ministry in the Hawaiian Islands. He’s lived in Virginia, Wyoming, Arizona, Hawaii, New Jersey and now California. He started a Messy Church in his church in Hawaii and has now started a Messy Church at Palmdale.
He married his high school sweetheart, Jody and they have 2 children (Ezra & Emily) and one beautiful grandson, Ames. They also have two dogs (Milo & Hope). Jim enjoys sports, movies, reading, photography, board games, Disneyland, cookies and laughing!
2023 Board Members at Large
Rev. Chelsea Benham, Presbyterian USA, Elizabethtown, KY
Contact: [email protected]
Chelsea is Pastor/Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church in ElizabethtownKY. Chelsea earned her MDiv from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary while also completing a Master of Arts in Spirituality from Bellarmine University. Her coursework in that program sparked a deep interest in connecting spirituality, theology, and the experiences of everyday life. While in Louisville, she worked at Crescent Hill Presbyterian Church and discovered her love of educational ministry.
She started her ordained ministry as a Lake Fellow in Parish Ministry at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, then served as Associate Pastor at Irvington Presbyterian Church. She led a team that started a Messy Church ministry there, and then brought the idea of Messy Church with her when she moved to Elizabethtown.
Chelsea is married to Blake, a teacher, and they are parents to Lydia, who is six years old. When not chasing Lydia around, Chelsea enjoys hiking, camping, reading, cooking, and playing board games.
Rev. Luke Edwards, United Methodist, Huntersville, NC Contact: [email protected]
Luke is the Fresh Expressions Coordinator for the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. In his role he plans and implements strategies to assist churches within the region to start fresh expressions of church. He trains churches and practitioners to lead those fresh expressions. He also meets with key leaders to help them form strategies. Luke is married to Ginni and has two lively daughters who light up his life. He also enjoys hunting and fishing and has begun a ‘Who let the Dads Out’ group in his local community.
Lynn Egli, United Methodist, Eugene, OR
Contact: [email protected]
Lynn has over 30 years of experience in operational leadership for emerging and growing organizations. He brings a practical, process orientation with a special emphasis on strong financial and business processes. His experience includes senior management at Hewlett Packard and the University of Oregon and a life-long commitment to nonprofit board service. He is a partner and works for Next Level Nonprofit Consulting. Lynn met his wife Roberta at Hesston College, a Mennonite liberal arts college in Hesston Kansas. He was instrumental in the founding of Messy Church USA and serves as our volunteer business manager. He lives in Eugene, OR and spends time with his family and his landscaping and gardening hobbies. He especially loves walking his beloved Springer Spaniel, Jack.
Rev. Evan Farrar, United Church of Christ, Sarasota, FL
Contact: [email protected]
Rev. Evan Farrar holds a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). Evan also holds a Masters in Mental Health Counseling.
Evan’s career has been spent working in church related and social service organizations.
As a Pastor, Evan served local church congregations in New York, Ohio, Illinois, and Florida. Currently he is the Pastor of Congregational UCC in Sarasota. He has a passion for welcoming and including people with disabilities and has created a Messy Church Program as part of this effort.
Prior to returning to local church ministry Evan worked for over 10 years with the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA) based in Sarasota. During this time he directed and developed PWSA’s family support and crisis intervention programs. In that capacity he served families and people living with this complex rare condition across the United States. This including working directly with parents, families, individuals living with PWS, and creating the Wyatt Special Education Advocacy Training for parents and school professionals. Evan lives in Sarasota with his wife, Laurie, and their dog Jack.
Rev. Dr. Douglas Powe, United Methodist, Washington, Contact: [email protected]
Frederick Douglas Powe, Jr. is the Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership and the James C. Logan Professor of Evangelism at Wesley Theological Seminary. He is an ordained elder in the Baltimore/Washington Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Powe is committed to helping urban congregations and congregations in transitional areas to flourish through community partnering. His research interest are church revitalization, urban theology and Methodist theology. His newest co-authored book, Sustaining While Disrupting: The Challenge of Congregational Innovation, was the number newly released church leadership and administration book.
Dr. Powe is also known for his work in Wesleyan evangelism with titles like, Transforming Community: The Wesleyan Way to Missional Congregations and Transforming Evangelism: The Wesleyan Way of Sharing Faith, both co-authored with H. Henry Knight III. Dr. Powe is a forerunner in African American evangelism, a few of his contributions include: Not Safe for Church: The Ten Commandments for Reaching New Generations, co-authored with Rev. Jasmine Smothers, and New Wine, New Wineskins: How African American Congregations Can Reach New Generations. He holds a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Emory University (2004), a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology (1998), and a Bachelor of Arts from Ohio Wesleyan University (1987).
Dr. Dawn Rundman, Evangelical Lutheran of America, Edina, MN
Contact: [email protected]
Dawn Rundman holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Oregon and is Director of Development for Faith Formation Resources at Augsburg Fortress and Sparkhouse, both publishing imprints of 1517 Media. She has developed over 20,000 pages of faith formation curriculum and five Bibles for kids. She’s also written a parenting book titled Little Steps, Big Faith: How the Science of Early Childhood Can Help You Grow Your Child’s Faith. Dawn loves the thrilling intersection between faith and science and often writes, speaks, and teaches about faith formation during early childhood. Dawn lives in Minnesota’s Twin Cities with her husband/prom date Jonathan and their two kids.
Messy Church UK/ Bible Reading Fellowship Liaison
Aike is responsible for leading the BRF Messy Church Team as they seek to support the Messy Church network both nationally and internationally. This includes writing, reflecting, speaking, developing resources and projects, so that the work of Messy Church can continue to transform lives.
Aike has been involved with Messy Church since 2010. Over a 7-year period, her Messy adventures include growing a team of Messy Young leaders, 4 weekend Messy Camps, taking Messy Church to the local Parksfest, and hosting Messy Munch, an intergenerational small group. She joined the Diocese of Southwark in 2017, supporting parishes in their ministry with children, young people and families. This included hosting Messy Celebrations at Southwark Cathedral exploring Messy Communion and Baptism.
A former Osteopath, Aike loves learning and has an MA in Mission (Cliff College 2019). She enjoys drama, dancing, walking, growing things and anything related to snow. She gives thanks for her husband Neil and 3 teenagers, who have been a part of her Messy journey. She started a Messy Church Goes Wild! near the O2, Greenwich in March 2022.
Contact: [email protected]