Young Clergy Women International is led by a wonderful board of 21 excellent women.
We are here to serve you!

Co-Chairs

Caroline East Berardi was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Caroline graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2009 and is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She recently relocated to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where she juggles life and ministry as the parent of a wild preschooler and the spouse of a fellow minister. Caroline loves baking, reading, frozen margaritas, afternoons in the backyard, and all kinds of travel.

Kelly Boubel Shriver serves as the Pastor of Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in West Linn, Oregon, a southern suburb of Portland. She is a graduate of Princeton Seminary, with a focus in Women’s Studies, and has served churches in Washington, New Jersey, and Michigan. Kelly and her husband, John, keep themselves busy caring for their three sons, Enoch, Moses, and Jonah, and a dog, Bristol. Her greatest ambition is to own a flock of goats and a small artisan goat creamery. She would call it “Reverend Goat Farms.” When not corralling one of her many (real or imaginary) creatures, Kelly loves to quilt, bake, read, and watch Masterpiece Mystery and The Great British Bake-Off.

Managing Co-Editors

Austin Shelley is a native of South Carolina and a graduate of Columbia College. She attended Princeton Theological Seminary and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2012. Before attending seminary, Austin taught art, Spanish, and Latin to middle and high school students and served as Director of Youth Ministries at her home church. She now serves as the Associate Minister for Christian Education at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Austin is married to Mark who makes the perfect sweet tea. Together they parent three mostly wonderful children and eat Fruit Loops for dessert after the kids are in bed.

Emily M. Brown is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, currently serving as Associate Pastor of Broadway UCC in New York City, New York.  She is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York, as well as Harvard College. Her family includes her husband Bailes, stepson Ben, and son Abel. She enjoys Zumba, reading young adult dystopian novels, and exploring the city’s many bakeries. She makes excellent meatballs, and blogs intermittently at www.feministpastor.blogspot.com.

Treasurer

Sarah Hooker is pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Delhi, New York, a cozy farming community in the Catskill Mountains. She earned a BA from Macalester College and a MDiv from Columbia Theological Seminary. Her passions in ministry are pastoral care, mission, and being involved in the greater church. Sarah and her husband Chris keep busy with their ever-inquisitive son, enjoying traveling, hiking, and biking, throwing stones in the many local creeks, and cooking together.

TYCWP Board Members

Bre Roberts is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and serves as co-pastor of St. Luke Lutheran Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, alongside her husband Ryan. Together they also co-parent two charmingly ordinary pastors’ kids. Bre received a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona and a MDiv from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. Prior to living in the Land of Enchantment, she served as an associate pastor in Baltimore, Maryland. Bre speaks fluent nerd, has four tattoos, attends a gaming convention or Renaissance festival in costume whenever possible, is a novice quilter, and is also the caretaker for the family’s cats, Cow and Drizzt.

Dwalunda Alexander was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she graduated from Texas Southern University with her BA in Psychology in 2005. She moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in 2005 to attend Brite Divinity School on the campus of Texas Christian University where she received her MDiv with a concentration in Black Church Studies in December 2008. She is currently in her final stages of completing her DMin in Preaching from Lincoln Christian Seminary. Dwalunda is an ordained elder through the Rhema Fellowship of Churches and currently serves as a part of the worship ministry at Destiny Church in Fort Worth. She is also the founder of Antioch Kingdom Ministries and an educator with Fort Worth ISD. The best part of her days is spent loving, laughing, and enjoying life with her husband Jon and their four wonderful children.

Elizabeth Grasham is the Solo Pastor of Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Houston, Texas. She is a graduate from George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University and was ordained into the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 2009. Elizabeth is married to Gene, mother to Gareth, and stepmother to Roman and Odin. Elizabeth loves preaching and teaching, and has very firm opinions about the Star Trek vs. Star Wars debate. She is always willing to talk to you about Dungeons and Dragons, if you’re interested. Elizabeth draws on her son’s lunch napkins (instagram: @elizabethlgr) and blogs at elizabethlgr.blogspot.com.

Elizabeth Riley is the Associate Rector of Trinity Church (Episcopal) in Menlo Park. Born and raised in Alaska, she migrated south for sunny California to attend Saint Mary’s College of California where she studied Theology and English. She then went on to receive her MDiv from Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Elizabeth especially enjoys justice ministry and interfaith work. She and her husband Scott spend most of their time chasing after their toddler, Eleanor, and look forward to welcoming their second child in winter of 2017. In her free time Elizabeth loves quilting, is an avid reader, and enjoys exploring the Bay Area with her family.

Erin Klassen is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. She is originally from Saskatchewan and therefore a lifelong Roughrider fan. She earned a BS from the University of Saskatchewan (2000) and her MDiv from Queens Theological College (2006). After serving both urban and rural congregations across the province, Erin has made her home in Calgary, Alberta, where she currently provides pulpit supply to a variety of churches in and around the city. Her family includes her husband, two young daughters, and very hairy dog – MacGyver. As a family, they enjoy watching football (Go Riders!), and hiking and biking in the nearby mountains. Erin is incredibly grateful for YCWI and so proud to serve on the Board.

Jennifer Quanbeck is an ordained ELCA pastor who has served congregations in Washington and Montana. A graduate from Luther Seminary (MDiv 2008) and The College of William and Mary (BS 2003), Jen enjoys working with youth, health/fitness, and to-do-lists. An analytic at heart, but with a twist of artistic flair, Jen is motivated by opportunities for innovation and change. A lover of hiking, photography, and sunshine, Jen and her clergy spouse, Ben, share life with two young children and currently serve the same congregation in Billings, Montana.

Jo Kershaw is the parish priest of St Anne’s Wrenthorpe, in one of the south-eastern bits of the north of England. She grew up in Scotland, studied German at St Andrews and Oxford, where she completed a doctoral thesis on Mechthild of Magdeburg. She still loves all things mediaeval and thinks we could learn a thing or two from the writings of the period and its deep attention to the body and incarnation – even if, sometimes, it’s what not to do. She trained for the Anglican priesthood at Westcott House, Cambridge, where she married her husband Jonathan, also a priest. Her ministry has been spent in the North of England – her current context is famous for rhubarb and brass bands (luckily she likes both these things!). Jo loves knitting, photography, and science fiction and fantasy – though she’ll read most things. She also loves to travel, and probably drinks too much coffee.

Julie Hoplamazian is the Rector of The Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew (Episcopal) in Brooklyn, New York. She is a native Philadelphian and a cultural Armenian, which means she can never choose between cheesesteak and shish kebab. In her spare time, Julie can be found at the piano, in the ballet studio, or on the couch soaking up a good story. She and her husband, Jeremy, live with their two rescue dogs, Takouhi (“queen” in Armenian) and Amos.

Lesley Ratcliff serves as Associate Pastor for Children at Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. Lesley Ratcliff spent several years in Exile, also known as Texas, while completing her MDiv at George W. Truett Theological Seminary before returning to her Mississippi roots. Lesley and her husband Brock (Pastor and Assistant Principal) are the parents of two human children, Marlow and Mary Alden, and two four-legged children Sophie and Duke (both 60 lb. lap dogs).  In her spare time, Lesley can be found working algebra problems for fun, reading children’s literature or pretending to be an interior designer.

Meg Jenista grew up overseas and in a variety of evangelical churches. She is a minister with the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA), ordained as an associate in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in 2008 and now serves as a solo pastor in Washington, DC.  She thoroughly enjoys the support, resources and humor of YCWI and is honored to serve on the board. Since she lives in walking distance of the Metro and has a ridiculously friendly cat, she’ll issue an open invite to members of the project who want to see the nation’s capital. You have a place to stay!

Megan Clapp serves as Associate Pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Northwestern Minnesota. She is a graduate of Luther Seminary, and, along with her MDiv, received a degree in Children, Youth, and Family ministry. She was ordained in 2011. Megan is passionate about helping God’s people grow in faith that is connected to every part of life and equipping families to grow together in discipleship. Megan is married to Eric (who serves as Pastor in a nearby congregation) and they are parents to Lillian. She loves good books, delicious coffee, great conversations, and spending time with friends and family on any available patio, deck or lake.

Molly Field James is an Episcopal priest who serves on the Bishops’ Staff as the Dean for Formation for the Episcopal Church in Connecticut. She holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Exeter (UK). She holds a MDiv from Yale Divinity School. She is an Associate Priest at Christ Church Cathedral and Grace Church in Hartford, Connecticut. She is currently an adjunct faculty member at Hartford Seminary and the University of St. Joseph. Previously, she has served as a parish priest and a hospital chaplain. Her husband, Reade, is a mechanical engineer, and they have two children, Katherine who was born in October of 2010, and Halsted who was born in April of 2014. In addition to ministry and education, Molly loves cooking, reading, films and spending time in the splendor of God’s Creation.

Sarah Moore is a minister of the United Reformed Church (URC) based in Cumbria, England. Currently serving as Cumbria Area President in the first ecumenical county in England working closely with the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle and the Cumbria District of the Methodist Church. Ordained in 2005, Sarah has degrees in Theology & Religious Studies, Pastoral Theology, and Counselling. Sarah also serves as a Trustee of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and the global church on the World Council of Churches Central Committee. Other interests include cooking, hiking up mountains, real ale and her two cats.

Sarah E. Ross is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and serves as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Adrian, Michigan. She was born and raised in Springfield, Illinois, and is a graduate of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. Prior to seminary, she served in the Peace Corps, teaching English and U.S. History in Ukraine. Sarah lives with her rescue dog, Molly, who is terrified of everything except things that are actually dangerous. Sarah enjoys reading, baking, cross-stitch, and working lines from Parks and Recreation into normal conversations.

Sarah Weisiger was born and raised in the Bay Area. She left her ancestral home in response to God’s call in order to attend university at the University of Southern California and later seminary at the shining city on a hill that is Harvard Divinity School. After exploring a call to chaplaincy in the US Navy, Sarah embraced traditional church ministry and has never looked back. She was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) in November 2009 and has served as a solo pastor in churches in western New Jersey and the Philadelphia area. She currently serves as the pastor of Ivyland Presbyterian Church, a faith community centered on hospitality, peacemaking, and the arts. As part of her ministry, she also serves as the Chaplain for the Ivyland Fire Company. Sarah and her husband, Alex, keep busy gardening, watching Game of Thrones, and chasing two (soon to be three) little troublemakers through the streets of their town, which is, incidentally, a great way to get in a run.

Whitney Wilkinson Arreche is a teaching elder (minister) in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She received a BS from Texas A&M University and a MDiv from Columbia Theological Seminary. A native Texan, she served as a mission worker in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for two years and is currently is a Doctor of Theology (ThD) student at Duke Divinity School, exploring practical theology and ecclesiology of peace and conflict. She finds joy in peacemaking and reconciliation, ecumenism, long chats over (several) cups of coffee, meandering walks with her dog, Fifi, modern dance, travel and New York Times crossword puzzles with her husband, Carlos.