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Shannon Kiser

Senior Director of Fresh Expressions North America

Shannon Kiser serves as the Senior Director of Fresh Expressions North America. She leads a team of mission strategists and trainers in the development and implementation of in person and online training for mission innovation. She is on the pastoral staff of Riverside Presbyterian Church in Sterling, VA, a church that worships in two languages (English and Spanish), engages in several fresh expressions of church, and extends community hospitality through Ridgetop Coffee and Tea. An ICF certified coach, Shannon coaches individual ministry leaders and pioneers, trains organizations to coach fresh expression initiatives, and coaches church teams through the process of adaptive change. Shannon lives in Springfield VA with her husband, and is the mother to two young adult daughters. Shannon enjoys the outdoors, pickleball, gardening, traveling, and her neighborhood swim club. 

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Chris Backert

Founding Director

Working with church leaders to develop new expressions of Christian community is the passion of Chris’s life. In addition to his role as Founding Director of Fresh Expressions NA, he serves with the Baptist General Association of Virginia in the area of growth and venture development. He also serves as National Director for both Ecclesia, a US network of missional churches, as well as Missio Alliance. Previously, he served as pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship, a large university congregation in Blacksburg, Virginia and has been involved in the planting of three new congregations. Chris holds a D.Min. in Missional Church Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with wife Rachel, daughter Elliana and son Jase.

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Verlon Fosner

Director of Dinner Church Collective

Verlon & Melodee Fosner have been in church leadership for 44 years, and for the last 24 years have served in a 100 year-old church in Seattle, Washington. After several years in their tenure as lead pastors the church went into decline and they faced a decision: move to the suburbs or become an urban church. After much prayer, the leadership felt called to not only stay, but to dive further into the urban neighborhoods of Seattle – especially the ones with a sparse church presence. After numerous failures, they decided to try the Agape’ Feast church model talked about in the New Testament and to their great surprise they found an immediate intrigue among the unchurched living in Seattle neighborhoods. Within a year, they counted hundreds of their neighbors as friends, gathering around their tables, and talking about Jesus. What began as a single urban church plant quickly grew into a multi-site Dinner Church, and then expanded into a national Dinner Church Network. Then in 2016, Verlon and Melodee joined the Fresh Expressions team to lead the Dinner Church Collective.

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Heather Jallad

Director of Training

Rev. Dr. Heather Jallad is the Director of Training for Fresh Expressions. She is a Regional Developer for the North Georgia Conference of the UMC. She co-pioneered The Table Community Dinner in Grayson, GA, pioneered the Common Ground Network, a network of fresh expressions in Johns Creek, GA and The Douglasville Dinner Church in Douglasville, GA. She holds a BA in Mass Communications from University of South Florida, an MDiv from Asbury Theological Seminary, and a DMin in Church Renewal and Fresh Expressions from United Theological Seminary. She and her husband Marten have been married for 30 years and have two daughters.

Jon Davis

Director of Event Operations & Logistics

The Rev. Canon Jon Davis, PhD. coordinates major Fresh Expression events, training and resources for the Dinner Church Collective and is a mission strategist and trainer on the Fresh Expressions team. He is an Episcopal priest serving as the part-time Rector of historic St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Palatka, Florida. Jon is an affiliate professor with Kairos University. He has expertise in youth ministry, worship and liturgy (PhD focus), church growth and planting, missions and more. He is an engaging speaker, writer, worship leader and ministry trainer. He and his wife Beth live on a little farm in Oviedo, Florida.

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Kathleen Blackey

Senior Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives

Kathleen serves as Senior Coordinator of Strategic Initiatives guiding our online publishing, email, podcasts, social media and other digital communications. She also is a team lead of the Mustard Seed Initiative for Ascent as well as supports the communications office of the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire. She graduated from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary with her Master of Divinity in 2009. Since 2010 she and her husband, Chris, have served as co-pastors at the First Baptist Church of South Londonderry, Vermont. In her free time Kathleen enjoys baking sourdough bread for her family and community. Kathleen and her husband, Chris, live in South Londonderry, Vermont with their children – Sarah, Daniel, and Priscilla, as well as their cat, dog, and chickens.

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Eliseo Mejia

Director of Latin America Ministries & Expresiones Divinas

Rev. Dr. Eliseo A. Mejia is a highly regarded global coach, writer, missiologist, pastor, and church planting leader. He imparts his knowledge and wisdom as a teacher at Asbury Seminary in Willmore, Kentucky, and United Theological in Dayton, Ohio. In addition to his teaching roles, Dr. Mejia guides architects in diverse cultural and country settings, helping them navigate all stages of innovative projects from inception to completion.


He is a prominent leader, particularly influential in the Latino community. As the Director of Fresh Expressions—Expresiones Divinas and the Ascent project leader. As a servant of God, he has a deep passion for Christ ⁣and a thirst to know and be like Him. With God’s help and an exceptional team of leaders, ⁣church planters, and pastors, he planted churches in Kentucky. Additionally, he has assisted emerging and experienced Leaders over the past 33 years in the U.S. and internationally. 


Academically, ⁣he holds two master’s degrees, ⁣one from the Central American Theological Seminary (1980) ⁣and the Dallas Theological Seminary (1986). He completed his Doctor of Ministry degree at Asbury Seminary on May 20, 2017.

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Jane Linton

Administrator

Jane is an Administrator for Fresh Expressions. Her passion is around organization and supporting leaders with their ministry. She also serves on the Kairos Partnerships team and at her local church, The Chapel in Richmond, Virginia. Jane and her husband Brandon have been married for 15 years and have three children.

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Wendy Chinn

Coordinator of Design & Digital Content

Wendy currently serves part-time as the Coordinator of Design & Digital Content with Fresh Expressions, where she creates media and presentation assets and helps with online event production. She also currently serves as a pastor at NLCF in Blacksburg, VA, where she focuses on preaching, spiritual formation and counseling those in need. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Virginia and she sees clients through a private counseling practice. Previously, she has worked in public and higher education as a public relations specialist, crisis counselor, academic advisor and instructor.


Wendy holds bachelor degrees in Communications and Psychology from Virginia Tech and a master’s degree in Counseling and Human Development from Radford University. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Theological Studies from the John C. Leland Center for Theological Studies. Wendy has been married to David, an engineer who doubles as an amateur travel agent, since 2001, and they have enjoyed exploring many new places thanks to David’s keen travel-planning skills. They have two daughters, Daisy and Rose, and when they aren’t trying new recipes in the kitchen or running road races, they enjoy cheering on the Hokies and all things Chicago.

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Heather Evans

Coordinator of Dinner Church Community & Resources

Heather Evans is the Coordinator of Dinner Church Community & Resources with Fresh Expressions. She also leads church initiatives at Grace Church in Cape Coral, Florida. She oversees diverse Fresh Expressions and volunteers, bringing church to the neighborhood. Passionate about Dinner Church, she founded Eat Pray Love dinner church in a large trailer park in 2016. EPL has since expanded to three unique locations weekly. In 2019, Heather partnered with Verlon Fosner and Fresh Expressions North America, leading the Florida Conference Dinner Church Initiative and establishing 55 new dinner churches. Heather and her husband Rod live in Florida and have four grown children.


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Cheryl McCarthy

Coordinator of Prayer & Intercession

Cheryl serves as the Director of The Ananias Project and Coordinator of Prayer Mobilization for Fresh Expressions. She brings with her over 30 years of Intercessory Prayer experience as she undergirds the work of pastors and pioneers around North America. Cheryl and her husband, Bill, have served in multiple church plants for over 20 years beginning at Truro Church in Fairfax, VA. Cheryl was the Co-Founder and Executive Director of The SEEDS Ministry for 6 years in New Bern, NC as she established Kingdom Transformation across denominational lines by Prayer, Connection, and Empowerment of a community fueled by the Holy Spirit. Cheryl and Bill lead Ananias Retreats and Encounter Prayer Rooms for Fresh Expressions and Missio Alliance National Gatherings. Cheryl and Bill reside in New Bern, NC with their five rock star children.



Josh Gering

Coordinator of Recruitment for the Dinner Church Collective

Josh Gering serves as the Coordinator of Recruitment for the Dinner Church Collective. He is also a pastor at Bethel Church in Centrala, WA. He has helped plant 5 dinner churches and also leads the Northwest Ministry Network Dinner Church planting initiative by coaching, training, and resourcing dinner church leaders throughout the Northwest. He is a graduate of the Dinner Church School of Leadership and has a Masters degree from Kairos University in Christian Leadership.

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Jeanette Staats

Coordinator of Social Media

Jeanette has over 20 years of diverse experience in collegiate ministry, specializing in general oversight, staff coaching and development, children’s ministry, and discipleship. She holds a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Professional Writing from Virginia Tech and a Graduate Certificate in Theological Studies from the John Leland Center for Theological Studies. She also serves on the board for The Ecclesia Network. Jeanette is an avid Hokie fan and rarely misses an opportunity to watch a collegiate sporting event.

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Morgan Szeligowski

Coordinator of Training & Special Projects

Morgan serves as the Coordinator of Training & Special Projects with Fresh Expressions US. She currently lives in Virginia Beach, VA.


When she is not spending time outdoors or at the beach – she loves cross-stitching, reading a good book and spending time with her cat, Hurley. She is also a certified barista – so if you get the chance, ask her to make you some coffee.

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Mitch Marcello

Mission Strategist & Innovation Specialist

Mitch Marcello is the Director of Worship at First United Methodist Church in Williamsport, PA, founder and Director of Imago Innovation, and is Mission Strategist & Innovation Specialist with Fresh Expressions. Prior to these pursuits, he founded the Acts Network, a collection of fresh expressions of faith connected to his local church, working with leaders to explore the creation of Christian community where there is none. Understanding that we are called to create, he is passionate about helping unlock creative potential in individuals, teams, and churches, assisting Christian leaders to apply tools for innovation to mission and ministry. Mitch holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts and Artist Diploma from Carnegie Mellon University, and a Masters Degree in Creativity and Innovation from Drexel University.

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Travis Collins

Travis’s service as Director of Mission Advancement and Southeast Regional Coordinator brings together his calling and experience as missionary and pastor. He serves as Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Alabama and was previously pastor of Bon Air Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia.


His twenty-five plus years of ministry have included missionary service in Venezuela and Nigeria. He is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and earned the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.He is the author of Directionally Challenged (2007), Tough Calls (2008), and From the Steeple to the Street (Seedbed 2016).Travis and his wife, Keri, have three adult children.

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Victor Glover

Victor has been in ministry for 27 years, serving as Senior Pastor/Church Planter, 18 of those 27 years at Last Days World Outreach Ministries, Hillsborough, NC, Warsaw, NC, and Raleigh, NC. He’s happily married with three boys and holds a BS in Religion and Biblical and Theological Studies from Liberty University. Victor has served as a CIMP Chaplain and is currently the Co-Director of the Southeast Region of CGGC.


Victor has a passion for Church Planting and Fresh Expressions outside the four walls and serves on a variety of boards and committees such as the Multiplication Commission of ERC of CGGC, National Mobilization Disciple Commission of Churches of God General Conference, Local Reentry Council of Orange County, Criminal Justice Advisory Council of Orange County, Project Safe Orange County Coordinator, and is CEO/Executive Director Father’s On The Move a national movement serving inside Federal and State prisons with pre and post release services while planting churches inside these facilities. Fathers on the Move mentors men into their purpose and mobilizes them coming home, emphasizing the 3 D’s: Discover, Develop, and Deploy. 



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Melodee Fosner

Verlon and Melodee Fosner have been in church leadership for 35 years. They are founders of Community Dinners, a network of Dinner Churches in Seattle and Dinner Church Collective, a movement of Dinner Church practitioners across North America. When not traveling to train dinner church leaders, Verlon and Melodee can be found with their grandkids in Seattle and Nashville.