Welcoming New TYCWP Board Members

Post Author: The Young Clergy Women Project

Each summer, TYCWP welcomes a new class of fabulous women to join in the leadership of the project as Board Members. Board Members generally come in to serve a three-year term, and some women stay for a second, three-year term after their initial service. We are so thankful for the women who have served TYCWP faithfully and will roll off the board this year: Diana Hodges-Batzka, Kelsey Grissom, and Brenda Lovick. Their gifts and skills have been a blessing to each one of us in this project.

We are also thankful for each member of the board who will be returning this year: Kelly Boubel Shriver (Co-Chair), Molly James (Co-Chair), Caroline Berardi (Vice Chair), Sarah Hooker (Treasurer), Emily Brown and Austin Shelley (Co-Managing Editors of Fidelia’s Sisters), Diana Carroll, Erin Klassen, Jamie Haskins, Julie Hoplamazian, Meg Jenista, Julie Jensen, Amy Loving Austin, Sarah Moore, Lesley Ratcliff, Sarah Ross, Erica Schemper, and Phyl Stuzman.

You can find out more about all of our off-going and current board members on our website.

Each Board Member serves on one of our four Work Groups, which oversee the different areas of our organization’s life and work. The Work Groups are: Community Life, Conference, Development, and Editorial. Community Life focuses on developing the TYCWP community through opportunities for building relationships both online and in person, including cultivating our private Facebook group and planning “meetup weeks” twice a year. The Conference Work Group plans our fantastic annual conferences, which take place each summer. Our 2016 conference is coming up on July 11-14 in Boston, and the 2017 conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Learn more about our conferences here.)

The Development Work Group was formed last year to help provide TYCWP with the financial resources to sustain and grow our mission through fund-raising, soliciting donations, and grant writing. Last but by no means least, the Editorial Work Group provides venues for lifting up the voices of young clergy women by publishing Fidelia’s Sisters and coordinating our imprint with Chalice Press.

Our Work Groups also include members of TYCWP who are not on the board, without whom we could not possibly do all that we are doing as our organizations continues to grow. If you would be interested in serving on a Work Group, let us know at leadership@youngclergywomen.org.

Now, without further ado, please meet our newest board members! Welcome!

Elizabeth Grasham is the Solo Pastor of Heights Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Houston, TX. 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.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Sarah Weisiger 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 is a teaching elder (minister) in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University and a Master of Divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary. A native Texan, she served as a mission worker in Belfast, Northern Ireland for two years and is currently in her fifth year as solo pastor of Cameron Presbyterian Church in charming Cameron, North Carolina. 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 fiancé, Carlos.