Albert Tate is the founder and lead pastor of Fellowship Monrovia. From Sweet Home Church of Christ Holiness USA in Pearl, Mississippi to Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, California, Albert Tate has been preaching the Gospel to people of all ages and races. Hearing the call from God, Albert and his wife LaRosa planted Fellowship Monrovia a Gospel-Centered, Multi-Ethnic and Intergenerational church in January 2012. Albert is married to the love of his life LaRosa Tate who he calls God’s gift of amazing grace in his life. Together they have four beautiful children, Zoe, Bethany, Isaac, and Micah. Albert serves on the Board of Trustees at Azusa Pacific University & Fuller Youth Institute. He was recently published in Letters to a Birmingham Jail: A Response to the Words and Dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Board Member
Ben Cachiaras
Ben Cachiarasis from Minnesota, ministered in Tennessee, and has served since 1997 as Lead Pastor with Mountain Christian Church near Baltimore, Maryland. A graduate of Minnesota Bible College (renamed Crossroads College), he has studied at Bethel Theological Seminary and Fuller Theological Seminary, and graduated with the Master of Divinity degree from Emmanuel Christian Seminary where he is currently working on his Doctor of Ministry final project. Ben has served on Boards for Emmanuel Christian Seminary, Milligan College, Standard Publishing as well Contributing Editor with Christian Standard and President of the North American Christian Convention. He is the co-founder of MOVE Northeast, a church planting network.
With its beginnings in 1824, the story of the Mountain Church is remarkable. The Northeast is a vital mission field with a high concentration of unchurched people, and God is using Mountain to make a regional and global impact. With a mission to make disciples who love God, love people, and serve the world, Mountain is known for its impact in the local community and as a multi-ethnic, multi-site church of over 6000 that gathers in four locations. One campus is also a community center with a focus on changing the trajectory of under-resourced children.
Ben and his wife Karla, have three awesome children, Nathan, Andrew, and Ellie. He has an irrational devotion to his Minnesota Vikings, bats around a lot of tennis balls, gets a kick out of skiing on water and snow, and remembers when he did more rock climbing. Most of all, he loves his family, has a passion for preaching and leadership, and wants to build Jesus-shaped communities that draw people to the love of God.
President
Greg Nettle
Devoted to a God-given passion for The Church and its responsibility to plant new churches – churches specifically designed to reach out to children at physical and spiritual risk – Greg Nettle serves as President of Stadia Church Planting. As a visionary and catalytic leader, Greg has led Stadia from planting a handful of churches to planting more than 200 churches around the globe in 2019. Under his leadership, Stadia has developed strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations such as Compassion International and has refined its portfolio of unique and highly effective church planting services, positioning the organization for continued exponential growth.
Prior to his time at Stadia, Greg served as leader of the RiverTree Movement in Ohio for 25 years. His sense of adventure has taken him around the world as he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi and Whitney (among others) to raise funds to bless children on the margins of society.
Greg’s most important partner in life is his wife, Julie, as they lead their children, Tabitha and Elijah, to fall deeply in love with Jesus. He is an author, speaker and consultant as an agent of change in the global church and has co-authored three books: Small Matters, in collaboration with Compassion International President Jimmy Mellado, One Of and Disciples Who Make Disciples.
Julie Bullock Earp is a senior generosity consultant with Generis, a team of professionals who influence churches and other faith-based organizations across the country in generosity development. She has led over 250 major giving initiatives for churches and organizations of all sizes and worship styles all across the country. Prior to joining Generis in 2009, Julie was the pastor for stewardship and generosity at Community Christian Church, a multisite church with 10 campus locations in the Chicagoland area. While on staff at Community, Julie also served as the director of development for the NewThing church planting network as a generosity and fundraising coach for churches desiring to go multisite. In addition, Julie has previously served as the director of development for Wheaton College, leading a team of advancement professionals in a $160 million capital campaign and has strong experience in gift planning and charitable estate planning. Julie, her husband Jud, and their daughter Jayma reside in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area, where Jud raises beef cattle and where they are involved in their church – of which Julie sits on the board. They enjoy both the calm setting of life on the ranch as well as the bustling adventure of life on the road. They are passionate about church planting and are grateful to be aiding to advance the mission of Stadia to ensure every child has a church!
Board Member
Mindy Caliguire
Mindy Caliguire is the founder of Soul Care, a spiritual formation ministry that exists to increase “soul health” in the body of Christ. She works with organizations such as Compassion International, Stadia Church Planting, Leadership Network, Denver Seminary, The Accord Network, Ascent Community Church, and others. She currently serves on the executive leadership team at Gloo. Her books include STIR: Spiritual Transformation in Relationships, Become Like Jesus, Discovering Soul Care, Spiritual Friendship, Soul Searching, and Simplicity, as well as Write for Your Soul: The Whys and Hows of Journaling.
Board Member
Steve Porter
Steve Porter has been married for 36 years to Pam. They have three married children and five grandchildren. He has a BS in Business Administration from Youngstown State University with degrees in Accounting and Business Management. He started his career at Central Coated Products, Inc. in Alliance Ohio in August 1982 and currently he is a Board Member, Vice President, and Treasurer. He owns the business with a business partner, his wife, and his two sons. Steve currently serves as Board President for Christian Children’s Home of Ohio and has been on the board since 2000. Steve is an avid golfer, fisherman and enjoys anything that involves his family.
NAVIGATION TEAM
President
Greg Nettle
VP of U.S. Church Planting
Jeff Bennett
VP of Global Church Planting
Brent Foulke
VP of Culture and Team Development
Janie Mehaffey
VP of Advancement
Justin Moxley
VP of Operations
Matt Murphy
VP of Planter Development
Craig Whitney
President
Greg Nettle
Devoted to a God-given passion for The Church and its responsibility to plant new churches – churches specifically designed to reach out to children at physical and spiritual risk – Greg Nettle serves as President of Stadia Church Planting. As a visionary and catalytic leader, Greg has led Stadia from planting a handful of churches to planting more than 200 churches around the globe in 2019. Under his leadership, Stadia has developed strategic partnerships with like-minded organizations such as Compassion International and has refined its portfolio of unique and highly effective church planting services, positioning the organization for continued exponential growth.
Prior to his time at Stadia, Greg served as leader of the RiverTree Movement in Ohio for 25 years. His sense of adventure has taken him around the world as he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi and Whitney (among others) to raise funds to bless children on the margins of society.
Greg’s most important partner in life is his wife, Julie, as they lead their children, Tabitha and Elijah, to fall deeply in love with Jesus. He is an author, speaker and consultant as an agent of change in the global church and has co-authored three books: Small Matters, in collaboration with Compassion International President Jimmy Mellado, One Of and Disciples Who Make Disciples.
Jeff’s role is focused on increasing Stadia’s capacity to make a greater impact in U.S. church planting. He has partnered in planting churches in Georgia, across the U.S. and globally. Jeff lives in the Atlanta area with his wife, Lisa, and two daughters, Madison and Macy.
Brent mobilizes people and groups to resource the Stadia mission. His church planting adventure began in 1991 when he and his wife Kay were called to plant in Albany, NY. Determined to help start a movement, Brent and the young Albany congregation, known as Christ’s Church, engaged with others to plant in Nashua, NH a few years later, then in Poughkeepsie, NY, Binghamton, NY and by the end of a decade as far away as Gaithersburg, MD where 22 disciples moved on mission. After coaching dozens of church planters sponsored by churches, foundations and church planting agencies, Brent left the staff of Christ’s Church to work full time facilitating new churches throughout the U.S. He served three years as Executive Director of the Exponential Conference before joining Stadia as an executive and working in a variety of ways to advance the Stadia mission. Brent and Kay continue to call Upstate NY home where they live near their daughters Keenan and Kyrin (Dom, Zinnia), garden together, and travel to visit their children and grandchildren in Colorado (Ben, Katie, Zachary, Liam, Annalyn) and St. Louis (Brendon, Amanda, Morgan, Grahm, Jack).
Janie’s passion is to tell the story of how God is using Stadia and our partners to start churches that intentionally care for children. With over 25 years of experience, Janie has served as Communications Director of Traders Point Christian Church in Indianapolis and as a Communications Strategist with Fishhook, an innovative creative services company that consults with churches of all sizes across the country. She has worked with church planting teams in Manchester, CT, and Miami, FL, and a wide-spectrum of non-profit organizations, including Exponential Network, the American Diabetes Association and Kappa Delta Sorority. She and her husband, Matt, live in Pittsburgh, PA, with their two sons, who they adopted from Taiwan.
Justin has served for years as a strategist, consultants and coach for churches, non-for-profits and businesses. His experience in serving in a mega church and leading a new church are what brought him to his role as Vice President of Advancement for Stadia. He is on the teaching team of his local church, has served as an adjunct professor and has served on the board of a number of non-for-profits. He has been married to his wife Tiffany for over 25 years, has a son Zane, daughter-in-law Taylor, daughter Savannah and son-in-law Jacob. He loves the beach, Kansas City BBQ, and watching his kids play college soccer.
Matt lives in North Beach, MD and is married to Becky Murphy with two kids, Ariella & Rex, and one dog: Ravenclaw. Matt has been a part of four church plants in the DC/Baltimore metro area. Matt was previously the Executive Pastor for Revolution Church in Annapolis, MD, and before that, was the Project Manager for the Siemens Center for Applied Medical Imaging MRI R&D group at Johns Hopkins University.
Craig is a strategist, teacher, leader and coach. Having started a church himself, he is passionate about developing the next generation of leaders who will start, grow and multiply even more effective churches. He lives in Sacramento, California with the cutest girl in his 4th Grade Sunday School class who he has now been married to for over 35 years. When he is not reading, writing or talking about ideas for developing leaders, he likes to spend time roasting and drinking coffee, cycling in the Sierra Foothills and cheering on his favorite Formula 1 driver.
U.S. Regional Director Assistant (Northeast/Central)
Alex Brown
Content Marketing Coordinator
Alex Robinson
Senior Project Bookkeeper
Alyssa Candelaria
Culture and Team Development Administrator
Amber Craft
Director of Global Development
Andrea Hamilton
Planter Development Team Administrator
Angela Cachero
Assistant to the President
Angela Smith
Director of Bookkeeping
Ashley Stegeman
Project and Events Coordinator
Ashley Stewart
Project Bookkeeper
Becky Groves
Assistant to the VP of Church Planting
Becky Little
Planter Development Team Administrator
Becky Murphy
Senior Project Bookkeeper
Belinda Knight
Operations Manager
Bryce Foulke
Global Support
Caleb Donaldson
Project Bookkeeper
Christa Gauthier
Southeast Regional Director
Crockett Davidson
Regional Catalyst
Dan Serdahl
Senior Project Bookkeeper
Daulton Hopkins
Senior Director of Operations
David Cauble
Senior Director of Strategic Services
David Limiero
Project Manager
Dawn Betts
Special Assistant to the President
Debbie Jones
Partner Catalyst
Don Hamilton
Senior Director of Project Development
Doug Foltz
Project Manager
Emily Diaz
Global Resource Assistant
Emma Haeusel
Project Management Team Administrator
Erica Carroll
Project Bookkeeper
Frances Davis
US Regional Director Assistant (Southeast)
Heather Dolhi
Director of Bloom
Heidy Tandy
Director of Digital Church Planting
Jeff Reed
U.S. Regional Director Assistant (West)
Jen Yost
Central Regional Director
Jim Candy
Resource Development Director
John Wasem
Discovery Manager
Joshua Chavez
Director of Marketing
Josie Barton
Planter Development Team Executive Assistant
Julie Botset
Project Bookkeeper
Karen Brown
Resource Development Administrative Assistant
Katelynn Batts
Project Bookkeeper
Kelly McNamara
Project Bookkeeper
Kris Stevens
Operations Team Assistant
Kristin Scates
Advancement Data Specialist
Laura Pedroni
Project Bookkeeper
Layna Tapia
Bloom Specialist
Lisa Bennett
Accounting Specialist
Mapi Byler
Project Bookkeeper
Melanie Kennedy
Project Manager
Mo Hofman
Marketing and Social Media Specialist
Molly Perry
Southwest Regional Director
Nate Bush
West Regional Director
Nathan “Chivo” Hawkins
Collaboration Catalyst
Nick Boring
Learning and Adoption Coordinator
Rachel Oberholzer
Planter Development Team Administrator
Sara Jackaway
Project Bookkeeper
Sarah Perez
Resource Development Director
Sergio Rizo
Director of New Church Growth
Tim Celek
Special Assistant to the President
Tom Jones
Northeast Regional Director
Toney Salva
Project Bookkeeper
Wendy Carpenter
Project Manager
Wesley Bolden
Director of Human Resources
Abby Henley
Abby currently lives in Alexandria, VA with her husband and their dog. She has worked at Stadia for more than 4 years, first as the Events Coordinator, and now as the Director of HR. Before joining the Stadia team, Abby worked on Capitol Hill as a congressional intern, and at Milligan University in Institutional Advancement. She is a Milligan graduate with a bachelors in political science, and a love for the West Wing. Abby is currently pursuing an MBA through Liberty University. When she’s not working or studying, Abby loves baking, hosting game nights for her small group, and spending time with her family.
U.S. Regional Director Assistant (Northeast/Central)
Alex Brown
Alex and her husband, Seth, currently live in Louisville, KY with their dog, Huck. She has been with Stadia since February 2020 helping to serve church planters in the Northeast. Before joining Stadia Alex was an Early Childhood Pastor at a church in the Philadelphia suburbs. Before that, she worked as a Female Discipleship Pastor at a church in Missouri. Giving her life to Jesus at 18 and now having served in pastoral roles for both children and youth ministries, Alex knows the urgency and importance in created churches for every child. In her free time, she loves to paint, be with friends, and travel with her husband as they try to visit every MLB stadium.
Alex is passionate about helping people engage with God by creating experiences and environments which challenge them to see Jesus in a fresh way. You’ve heard of the most interesting man in the world, but Alex describes himself as the most boring man in the world (1 Thess. 4:11-12). He likes spending time with his family, watching documentaries, movies, and the latest Netflix Originals, reading theological books, and is curious about the art and science of coffee and beer brewing.
Since 2009, Alyssa has had the opportunity to work in both the public and private sector. She graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2013 with a BS in Public Administration and in the fall of 2016, she graduated from Johnson University with her MBA. After graduation, Alyssa felt called to step outside of the government and corporate world. Alyssa looks forward to allowing church planters to focus on their mission of bringing people to Christ, while she works as a Project Bookkeeper. A native of Saint Cloud, FL, Alyssa and her husband, Alex, love spending their time at Disney and traveling to see family and friends.
Amber originally hails from sunny Sarasota, Florida but found her home in Kissimmee, Florida after graduating from Johnson University Florida with a B.A. in Humanities and Biblical Studies in 2017. With experience in donor & alumni relations, fundraising, event planning, and social media marketing in the Advancement department at her alma mater, Amber comes to Stadia excited to join the bookkeeping team and to bloom where she’s planted. Amber is married to her best friend and college sweetheart, with whom she shares a love of the arts, binge watching Netflix originals, collecting postcards, and experimenting in the kitchen with plant-based foods.
Passionate about the church and the people she’s been called to serve, Andrea has spent the entirety of her professional career in ministry. As a director at Mosaic Christian Church, she built the missions program into a sustainable, focused endeavor and developed the Kids Ministry into a thriving environment for children to encounter Jesus. From leading trips across the world to leading pre-k volunteers, Andrea has seen the very real impact of the local church on a given community, and it has only stoked her passion to see God’s lost children come home. In addition the her role at Stadia, she helps lead Gail’s Girl and is intentional about building others up to be all that God designed them to be. If she’s not at hip coffee shop working, you can find her at a spin studio, exploring Baltimore’s freshest restaurants with girlfriends, or in Pennsylvania spending the day with her family.
Angela resides in beautiful San Diego, California, with her husband, Martin, and daughters, Addison (7) and Isabelle (3). Their family recently planted RISEN Church in the Spring of 2017. Angela holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Writing and a Masters of Education in Higher Education. Prior to planting RISEN Church, she and Martin enjoyed working and volunteering for the ministry of Younglife and helping plant another church in San Diego. She firmly believes in the gospel and loves learning and sharing about the sweet grace of God. Angela is passionate about people, social justice, diversity and the melding of all three in the representation of the Imago Dei.
Angela is an entrepreneurial business leader with a breadth of experience in areas of product development, sales, operations, marketing, and administration in Fortune 500, small business, and startup environments. She is passionate about the intersection of business and social impact and feels blessed to have the opportunity to use her experience and talents as part of the Stadia team to help every child have a church. Angela and her husband Michael live in the hill country outside of Austin Texas with their four children where they actively worship and serve in the local church and catalyze Christian community.
After teaching for several years and being heavily involved in her local church, Ashley’s heart for ministry has continued to grow. Ashley serves as a kids ministry and volunteer coordinator at Mosaic Christian Church. She serves locally in her community and her and her husband have traveled globally to serve in Poland and Haiti. Ashley understands the importance of the church in a child’s life. If she is not at church, she’s hanging out with girlfriends or with her husband and three boys in Baltimore, MD.
Ashley has been with Stadia since January 2019 and has the opportunity to work with several teams throughout Stadia on a day to day basis. Before working at Stadia, Ashley worked at a local church plant as the Executive Director leading ministry leaders, running the Sunday program, and anything else that was needed of her. Ashley & her husband Chris live in Davidsonville, MD (about 20 minutes outside of Annapolis) with their dog Opie and cat Albus.
Growing up a preacher’s kid, Becky has a deep understanding of both the blessings and challenges of serving the church, and seeks to find ways to offer support to those who are called into that ministry. With a degree in accounting and a love for organization, that support has usually taken the form of administrative and financial roles within the church, but she also enjoys teaching Middle School girls each week. She and her husband Shaun are currently living in the Nashville area, raising four amazing kids, and serving God through the church and Compassion International.
Through her local church experiences, education, and work with Stadia, Becky has become extremely passionate about planting churches that intentionally care for children. She and her husband, Josh, live in Uniontown, OH, where Josh pastors RiverTree-Lake. Together, they love being a part of two ministries that are all about Kingdom impact. Becky and Josh adore their sweet daughter, Elsie, and love to travel, eat good food, and spend time with friends and family.
Becky has shared in the excitement of starting four different church plants over the past 13 years. Two were Stadia church plants in Maryland: Revolution Church in Annapolis and The Foundry in Baltimore. At Revolution, she served for over five years as Executive Assistant to Josh Burnett. More recently, she worked as the Director of Guest Experience. Becky is married to Matt, and they have two beautiful children, Ariella and Rex. Becky’s passion for church planting comes from a desire for everyone to be part of a strong community filled with God’s love. She is especially passionate about helping women maximize their role in church planting.
Belinda Knight comes to the Stadia team with over 15 years bookkeeping experience. After employment at a Fortune 500 company for 9 years, Belinda started providing freelance bookkeeping and project management services which allowed time flexibility for her to support her husband’s church planting efforts in Morgantown, WV and then again in Olympia, WA. With her primary church planting role historically focusing on children’s ministry, Belinda is excited to be a part of the Stadia team who shares her passion for reaching kids with the good news of Jesus!
Bryce and Missy have been married for 33 years. They have a daughter Alyssa, married to Alex and they have a son Brad, married to Katie. Alex and Alyssa have son, Jeremiah – Bryce’s first grandchild. Missy is a Clinical Documentation Specialist/RN, and Bryce also has a Master’s in Marriage and Family Counseling. You can find Bryce running with his Run Club while you can find Missy entertaining Jeremiah. Bear, the family canine, also takes us for walks.
Caleb is a native Floridian who has recently relocated to the Atlanta area. With over 8 years of vocational ministry experience, he has a passion for supporting Stadia’s mission of church-planting. Caleb loves to travel with his wife, Rachel, and their two dogs. He considers himself one of the St. Louis Cardinal’s biggest fans.
Christa, a native of Switzerland, served the body of Christ as the wife of a US Army chaplain for 26 years. She earned a degree in Accounting and Secretarial work in Switzerland and most recently an Accounting Associates of Applied Technology Degree. She and her husband have four grown children, whom Christa homeschooled over 17 years. She and her husband live in Lacey, WA.
Crockett, and his wife Natalie, have been in ministry over 18 years and they have been primarily focused in the Southeast region. While in college they served in churches in Virginia and Kentucky and after graduation they were full-time in Ohio and Atlanta. Crockett has always been burdened for churches to ” do whatever it takes” to introduce people to Jesus Christ. This led him and his family to move to Hickory, North Carolina and start Vintage City Church. Crockett has served on the boards of different church planting networks, coached multiple planters and is obsessed with helping the church live on mission. Crockett and Natalie have three amazing kids who are sold out to church planting. Crockett’s role at Stadia is to build relationships with churches and planters in the Southeast region and help Stadia plant more churches that intentionally care for children in the U.S and around the world.
Daulton was raised in Tucson, AZ and graduated from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona with a degree in finance and economics. Shortly after graduating, he took a risk and moved up to Las Vegas, Nevada where he took a creative arts/administration internship at Verve Church. Daulton will be continuing in the ministry field by utilizing his technical skills and assisting Stadia as a project bookkeeper.
David lives in Peachtree City, GA with his wife (Yi) and three boys Zimri (13), Cason (11), Fuller (9). David has served on Stadia team since January of 2014. Formerly on Planter Development team as Director of Planter Discovery.
Prior to work at Stadia, on team of a Stadia plant– Crossbridge Christian Church– in Tallahassee, FL for 8 years.
David made an adult commitment to follow Jesus at the age of 17 when a new church started meeting in his local Colorado high school. He later served as an intern in that new church before moving to Tennessee for graduate studies. While a student, David was a staff member at a new church in Charlotte, North Carolina. He and his wife Jan later moved to the Chicago area, where David served on the board of the local church-planting organization for many years. David and his wife Jan planted their first church with Stadia in 2003 in Bakersfield, California, and also served as a local network catalyst, helping launch two additional new churches in his community. David joined the Stadia staff in 2007, serving in a variety of roles, including director of Stadia’s Western Region. In his current role as Senior Director of Strategic Services, David leads the team that leverages platforms and processes to free up resources for mission. David and Jan live in the Appalachian Highlands region in eastern Tennessee and have three grown children.
Dawn and her husband Matt planted Journey Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky in the fall of 2017. She enjoys working behind the scenes and in the details. In her role with Stadia, she provides support to the team leading projects in our U.S. church planting. Dawn and Matt have been married since 2002 and have 4 beautiful girls.
Debbie founded and leads Stadia’s Bloom, which empowers women to maximize their role in starting churches. Church planting has always been a part of the DNA of the Jones family. She and her husband, Tom planted two churches and have 30+ years of ministry experience. Debbie serves as an advocate for women, encouraging and developing them as leaders within their homes, churches, careers, communities, and all spheres of influence. She has trained and coached children and women’s ministry leaders in dozens of churches and denominational organizations across the country. Before joining Stadia, Debbie served as Children’s Minister at Southbrook Christian Church (Miamisburg, OH), First Christian Church (Johnson City, TN), and at the church the Joneses planted in Princeton, NJ, where she was also ordained in 1992. Debbie designed and led the Spouse’s Track for Exponential Network and speaks regularly at their conferences. Debbie earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Milligan College. In 2017, Milligan honored Debbie and Tom with the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Although the Joneses are avid tennis and pickle ball players, their greatest joy is found in spending time with their family:
● Daughter, Melanie, and her husband, Jade, are both attorneys in Washington, DC. They have two daughters, Cora and Celia.
● Son, Tom, a banker, and his wife, Stephanie, a physical therapist, are both Milligan alumni and live in Chicago, IL, with their daughter, Emilia.
Doug is a self proclaimed church planting junkie and has been involved with church planting most of his adult life. He helped plant LifePointe Christian Church in Charlotte, NC in 2004 and has served as a project manager since 2008. His passion is to help church planters accelerate their vision to reach the lost. In his spare time, Doug enjoys gardening, traveling, Illinois basketball and coaching his kids’ sports teams. His greatest supporter is his wife, Amanda. Together they live in Illinois, where they have two kids, Will and Kate.
After years of preparing, planning, and praying, Emily and her husband, Abiel, planted Ciudad de Gracia, a Spanish-speaking Stadia church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January of 2017. Having first-hand experience of starting churches, Emily’s desire is to partner with church planters to help them be the very best for their community. Her other full-time job is being mom to the very best four kids: Gabriel, Lucas, Liliana and Marco.
Emma lives in Seattle, WA, and is currently attending the University of Washington, majoring in Education. Prior to working with Stadia, she worked as an executive and research assistant at her home church, Cross & Crown. She grew up in the church as a pastor’s daughter, and is excited to reach others through the mission of Stadia and the Gospel.
Through previous work and church experiences, Erica has grown to see the importance in serving church plants in a way that allows the church leadership to focus on their mission of bringing others to Jesus. Erica and her husband, Jordan, live in the Atlanta area and are part of a church plant that they have had the honor of watching grow over the last year.
I live in the small town of Sparta, TN. I am a farmer’s wife and mother to 3 beautiful children. I graduated from Tennessee Tech with a Finance degree. I am glad I have found a job with a company that I can use my education in helping reach people for Jesus. I am involved in ministries at my church including watching babies. My husband and I currently serve on the Board of Directors there. I have been doing bookkeeping for about 8 years on our family farm and have done bookkeeping for a fine arts school for the last 6 years. My favorite things to do are spending time with family and reading.
Heidy helps empower women to thrive in all areas of church planting. Prior to church planting and her role in Bloom, Heidy worked for 10 years in Leadership Development and Higher Education. She and her husband Josh planted Movement Church in Newport, KY in March, 2014 and have two amazing kiddos, Isaac and Clara Jo. Heidy is also passionate about storytelling and making any event or activity just a little more fun.
Jim is focused on helping churches across the central US multiply by planting new churches both domestically and globally. Jim has pastored in multiple large churches in the western US and most recently planted Ascent Community Church in Louisville, Colo. Jim is the co-author of the “Can I Ask That?” book series with the Fuller Youth Institute and is the former public address announcer for the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball. Jim loves fly fishing, backpacking and lives in Colorado with his wife, Karin, and boys, Josh and Micah.
John has been engaged in the starting of new churches since 1983 as a strategist, coach, professor, and concept pioneer. He has filled a variety of roles with Stadia since 2004. John is approaching 50 years of ordained ministry having led churches in 5 locations – one of which he planted in 1994. He and his wife, Leslie, live in Fort Myers FL and have 3 married children and 6 grandchildren.
Joshua Chavez serves as the Lead Pastor of Revive Church, a rapidly growing mutli-ethnic, multi-generational, multi–site church in Los Angeles, CA. In addition to leading this church community, Joshua has also served as a traveling Worship Leader and has led worship nationwide with organizations such as Promise Keepers, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Urban Youth Workers Institute, Maranatha Music and others.
Joshua is passionate about serving the local church. He is dedicated to partnering with local churches, church planters and church planting teams to strengthen and train them in creating healthy Gospel-Centered, Community Engaging, Kingdom Advancing Churches and Ministries.
Joshua his wife Noemi and two boys live in Long Beach, CA. They are passionate Jesus freaks and live on mission to make Jesus more famous everywhere they go.
Josie Barton was on the launch team of a church plant in Baltimore in 2013, and as a result, has come to learn first-hand the immense value of church planting and the hard work the job entails. She and husband Trevor were married in 2012, and they now have three incredible boys – Abbott, Branch, and Calder.
Karen and her family moved to Boston in 2005 to help plant REUNION Christian Church, where she led the Family Ministry and served as the bookkeeper. Previously, Karen served on staff as a Children’s Ministry Director at Community Christian Church in the Chicagoland area. Loving and encouraging families through the church or local community makes her heart beat fast. Her passions lie in caring for children from hard places as both a foster parent, and as co-founder of The Foster Box, a non-profit equipping foster families. Karen lives in the Boston metro area with her husband Mike and their three kids: Aiden, Miles & Owen and is grateful for the ever-growing number of children who call her mom through foster care.
Katelynn and her husband Travis live in Raleigh, NC and passionately serve in the youth ministry of their local church plant, Lifepointe, for the past 3 years. Katelynn has been a part of the Stadia team for the last 18 months and is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration with a focus in Communications at Liberty University. Before serving with Stadia, Katelynn worked as a Lead Teller at Wells Fargo for 3 years and as a communications and next steps intern at Lifepointe church. In her free time, Katelynn loves to read, play board games with her small group, visit her family in Wilmington, NC, and rock climb with her husband.
Kelly’s role is to come alongside church planters and support them with encouragement, as well as provide accounting/financial services. Her heart is to serve and connect women, which she does by leading a women’s small group and by coordinating women’s events at her home church, RiverTree-Lake, in Uniontown, Ohio. Kelly and her husband John have been married since 2000, and love raising their blended family of 4 children – elementary aged through adult.
Kristin and her husband Drew live in Shawnee, KS. They recently moved to the Kansas City area to serve at Restore Community Church where her husband works as the Creative Arts Director at their Shawnee Campus. Kristin enjoys serving alongside her husband on the Creative Arts team by playing piano and singing. Kristin recently started with Stadia in September but before joining the Stadia team, Kristin held various roles at Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, NE over the past 7 years from Weekend Service Coordinator, to Communications Assistant, to an Administrative Assistant for two Executive Level Staff. Kristin’s first experience with church planting was when her family helped launch a church in Fishhawk, FL that became the church she grew up in!
Laura served her community as a former high school German teacher for 12 years before joining Stadia’s Advancement Team. Her and her husband, Guillermo, reside in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and have two children, Karmina and Gabriel. With this being her first experience in church planting, she feels so blessed to have been given the opportunity to advance God’s Kingdom through her work with Stadia. When Laura and her family are not visiting relatives, they enjoy traveling to various destinations throughout the United States.
Melanie recently moved to Louisville, KY after living in Southern Indiana for 13 years. She and her husband, Rob, recently became empty nesters. Their daughter Tiffany, is a computer engineer living in Carmel, IN and their son, James, is a senior at Belmont in Nashville studying publishing. Melanie was born and raised in Illinois. Before joining Stadia, she worked at Northside Christian Church in New Albany, IN for 11 years holding several positions including Assistant to Senior Pastor, Assistant to Executive Pastor, HR Assistant and finally Church Accountant. She worked for 3 years as Church Accountant at Asbury United Methodist Church in Madison, AL. She was a stay at home Mom for 5 years which is still her favorite job. Melanie holds a BS degree in Accounting so mixing that with her love for the local church is such a blessing. One of her favorite things to do is hiking and walking with her 3 favorite people. She absolutely loves to study the Bible and loves being around people and probably asks way too many questions. If it’s a Friday, you may see her enjoying a “Friday Coffee” at a local coffee shop. A tradition she started when her kids were in middle school!
Mo Hofman has over 15 years’ experience in organizational planning, team development, and maximizing project goals, with 6+ years specifically in church planting, multisite, and church logistics. She loves the church and enjoys the behind the scenes work in sharing the gospel. In her spare time you will find her walking her dog Shadow, crocheting blankets, working out with friends, and on the field cheering for her kids at their sport events. Mo and Aaron have been married since 2001 and have two teenagers Maddie and Austin.
Molly joined the Stadia team as the Planter Development Intern in January 2018 with plans of leaving after a semester to go to grad school. The Lord had different plans! Molly joined full time in September 2018 and now serves as the Marketing and Social Media Specialist. She and her husband, Nick, live in Morrisville, NC – just outside of Raleigh. Nick serves as the Youth Director at the Cary location of their church, Lifepointe. They are passionate about the local church and their community. Molly grew up in a church plant, and loves working for an organization passionate about starting new churches! In her free time, she enjoys photography, spending time outdoors, and hanging out with friends.
In April of 2010, after 13 years of youth ministry, Nate and his wife, Vanessa, planted New City Christian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2016, Nate started a church planting network in Albuquerque. Around the same time, he sent out Abiel Diaz from New City to plant a Spanish speaking church in Albuquerque. With the help of Stadia and the new emerging network, Abiel launched Ciudad de Gracia in 2017. In his role with Stadia, Nate builds relationships with churches and planters in the Southwest region to plant more churches that intentionally care for children in the Southwest and globally! Nate and Vanessa have been married for 15 years. They have three children: Micah (12), Corban (9), and Evangeline (5).
As West Regional Director, Nathan implements Stadia’s overall strategy in the western U.S., focusing on partner development, U.S. church planting, global church planting and Stadia advancement. Before coming to Stadia, Nathan played a key role in our Global Church Planting strategy as a Compassion International Church Relations Director. He also has first-hand U.S. church planting experience, having led in a church plant re-launch in New Orleans post-Katrina. As an adoptee and adoptive father, Nathan is passionate about children who come from difficult backgrounds. Originally from inner-city Minneapolis, Nathan grew up in a Christian home in a culturally diverse environment. After completing his bachelor’s degree in Minnesota, working in sports broadcasting and spending all his free time rock climbing, he hungered for greater purpose. He served a church in Juarez, Mexico for a year and a half, which led him to seminary, where he caught the church planting bug. Nathan and his wife Joy have three young children: Benicio, Taegen and Grace. The Hawkins are a family that welcomes foster children and love connecting with the local church.
Before arriving as Stadia’s Collaboration Catalyst, Nick served 20 years in corporate America as a Sales & Marketing executive at Fortune 500 companies. He left the corporate arena in 2003 and joined the staff of Kensington Community Church, in Troy, MI, where he served as their Director of Church Planting. Most recently, Nick served as the U.S. Catalyst for Vision360 and led a team of 12 City Catalysts across the U.S. focused on collaborative church planting. Nick travels extensively throughout the U.S., networking, connecting and empowering collaboration between churches of many tribes, networks, church planters and church planting teams.
Rachel has been with Stadia since September 2018. Rachel currently lives in an unknown location, as she is traveling and working from the road in her camper van. She was first introduced to church planting as a kid, when she was part of a church plant in PA. She has since had experience interning at various churches and working with children in camp and school settings.
Sara and her husband Josh planted the Brookside Campus of Restore Community Church in 2013 in Kansas City, MO. She has loved seeing people find their way back to God at Restore. As Planter Development Assistant, Sara helps navigate potential church planters through the Discovery process. Sara is also part of Bloom! and has written articles for the Bloom! books.
A Puget Sound native, Sarah Perez prefers the rain and overcast skies. Her current priority is nurturing and educating her two young boys, and she values the work Stadia does to support churches that intentionally care for children. She holds a Masters in Theology from Fuller Seminary. Sarah has worked in many support roles, most recently at Seattle Pacific University and First Free Methodist Church Seattle. Her husband is a pastor at Bethany Community Church and they live in Everett, WA.
Sergio is passionate about being a follower of Jesus. A freshman in college when he came to faith, he knows well the impact of being a child without a church. Since meeting Jesus in 1999, he has served in ministry contexts that include the church in rural Kansas, an orphanage in Mexico City, Mexico, church planting in Nashville, and his alma mater Ozark Christian College in Joplin, MO. Additionally, he spent 10 years in different health care and business settings, during which he earned an MBA from Lipscomb University. Sergio is most surprised by God’s grace given to him through his wife, Jackie, and their four children: Josiah, Lydia, Eliah, and Clara. He is excited to help resource the mission of Stadia and see to it that others have the blessing of experiencing the church, and what he is most grateful for in Jesus — a family.
Driven by his passion for the local church and people to know Christ, and decades of experience in the world of church planting, Tom has been a part of the Stadia team since 2003. Having planted churches with his wife, Debbie Jones, in Centerville, OH and Princeton, NJ, Tom is a visionary leader who understands the mission of Stadia in a unique way. His role as Executive Director involves direct oversight of the implementation of Stadia’s vision, strategic plan and operations. Outside of his Stadia role, Tom served as a tenured professor at Emmanuel School of Religion for 11 years and was the Russell F. and Marian Blowers Professor of Christian Ministries. He was the President of the National New Church Conference and is currently on the Board for the Exponential Conference. Tom edited and was primary author for the book Church Planting from the Ground Up. Tom received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Milligan College in 1977, his Masters of Divinity Degree from Emmanuel School of Religion in 1982, and his Doctor of Ministry Degree from United Theological Seminary in 1992. In 2017, Milligan honored Tom and Debbie with the College’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Although the Joneses are avid tennis and pickleball players, their greatest joy is found in spending time with their family:
Daughter, Melanie, and her husband, Jade, are both attorneys in Washington, DC. They have two daughters, Cora and Celia. Son, Tom, a banker, and his wife, Stephanie, a physical therapist, are both Milligan alumni and live in Chicago, IL, with their daughter, Emilia.
Toney is a veteran in the church planting world having served in pastoral ministry for more than 28 years. 20 of those years were spent planting and leading new churches in the Northeast – in both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania – and serving on the board of directors of three different church planting organizations. Toney has been with Stadia since 2016. He and his wife Stacie have been married for 28 years and together they have two great kids. Their son Tanner has a degree in theology, and along with his wife Delaney, serve as church planters with Mustard Seed Network in Tokyo, Japan. Their daughter Haley is currently a student at Ozark Christian College where she is studying theology. Toney’s role with Stadia is to build relationships in the Upper-Midwest and Northeast region of the United States to further Stadia’s mission to plant multiplying churches that intentionally care for children.
Wendy Carpenter is a life-long resident of Independence and Blue Springs, MO. She is married to Kevin, with 2 children, Cady 20 and Logan 18. She is a bookkeeper and administrative assistant by trade, but a volunteer by choice. She has enjoyed being a Girl Scout leader for the last 13 years as well as a member of Blue Springs Christian Church for 17 years. As a current member of Revive Church in Northwest Independence, she has volunteered in many capacities including worship leading, women’s ministries, missions and she is currently serving as the Worship Director. She has a heart for women and runs a clothing closet at Hope House, a domestic violence emergency shelter. She is an avid student of the Bible and her passion lies in loving people to Jesus and discipleship.
Wesley Bolden has ministry training and experience in church revitalization, campus ministry, leadership and church planting. In 2013, he partnered with Stadia to plant Tri-Cities Church, a multiethnic church in metro Atlanta. Wesley is passionate about empowering church planters to discover and live into their unique gifting and calling. During his free time, he loves to get outside, listen to podcast and drink good coffee.
