Hazel Bennett

“...with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which [God] has called you...” (Ephesians 1:18b)

Hazel Bennett is a retired deacon in the South Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church who has served as a local church Christian educator, a college instructor of Christian education and Bible and a staff member of the Board of Global Ministries (formerly the Board of Missions). Her current ministry focus is the Christian education of adults. She wrote two units for the adult ministries course.

Barbara Bruce
Barbara Bruce is a New York State certified teacher, with a master's degree in creative studies. She is also a graduate of the lab school system in The United Methodist Church. Barbara has been involved in Christian education in the local church for many years. A follower, for over a decade, of Dr. Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory, Barbara has been writing and teaching on the subject since 1991 and has trained numerous leaders across the country to apply Gardner’s theory. Barbara wrote the units on teaching for children, youth and adults.

Terry Carty
Terry Carty earned a B.S.C.E. from Tennessee Technological University and an M. Div. degree at Vanderbilt Divinity School majoring in preaching and worship. He has served in local churches as well as an associate director of the Tennessee Conference Council on Ministries, specializing in youth and camping ministries. He currently serves as the director of ministries with young people at the General Board of Discipleship, focusing on the training and networking of those who minister with young people in their teens and twenties. He wrote the first unit of the Youth Ministry course.

Rowan Crews
Dr. Rowan Crews is an associate professor of religion at Columbia College. One of the first executive directors of eChristianEd, Dr. Crews received his Ph.D. from Duke University in Christian theology and is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church. He wrote the units on Christian theology and United Methodist studies for the Basic I course.

Carl Evans
Dr. Carl Evans is a long-standing member of the Religious Studies faculty at the University of South Carolina, who currently chairs the department. After receiving an M.Div. from Perkins School of Theology, he was appointed to serve two small churches in Kansas. He later received graduate training and a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies at the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. Carl is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He wrote the Old Testament unit for the Basic I course.

Vivia Fowler
 One of the first executive directors of the eChristianEd program, Dr. Vivia Fowler is an ordained deacon in the South Carolina Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and a former professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Columbia College. Vivia received a master of arts in religion from the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and a Ph.D. in foundations of education from the University of South Carolina. She is a certified director of Christian education with over 10 years of local church experience. She wrote several units for the Basic II course. Dr. Fowler is currently the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Wesley College in Macon, GA. 

Lisa Hawkins
The Reverend Lisa C. Hawkins is an ordained elder in the South Carolina conference of The United Methodist Church. She received her M.Div. from Candler School of Theology, Emory University, and presently serves as the director of the Charleston Wesley Foundation. She wrote a unit for the Basic II course.

Chris Hughes
An elder in The United Methodist Church from the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference, the Reverend Chris Hughes served on the Southeast Jurisdiction Connectional Ministries staff at Lake Junaluska, NC, and currently serves on the staff of United Methodist-related Pfeiffer University. Chris is a graduate of Huntingdon College and Duke Divinity School. He is currently a doctor of ministry candidate through Drew University Theological School in Madison, NJ. Chris wrote a unit for the youth ministry course.

Don Jones
Dr. Donald L. Jones is an ordained United Methodist minister with a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University, an M.Div. from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, and a Ph.D. from Duke University. He has taught New Testament at the University of South Carolina for 36 years. He wrote the New Testament unit for the Basic I course.

Carol Krau
Carol Krau has been working in Christian education for 28 years and currently serves the church as a staff member of the General Board of Discipleship. For the last 10 years she has focused on the area of Christian formation. She wrote two units of the Basic II course.

Roland Martinson
Dr. Roland Martinson is a researcher and instructor in children, youth and family ministry at Luther Seminary. His passion is equipping congregations to provide information and support for families so they can become vital and resilient communities of life and faith. This interest springs from his personal commitments to his wife, Sherry, their four grown children, their spouses and their six grandchildren. Dr. Martinson has a doctorate in theology and family counseling from San Francisco Theological Seminary and is an ordained pastor in the Lutheran Church. He is a member of the National Council on Family Relations.

His works include: Gearing Up for Youth Ministry in the 21st Century (1992); Effective Youth Ministry, A Congregational Approach (1988); Bringing Up Your Child and Ministries with Families (1986); and A Joyful Call to Ministry (1982).

Patty Meyers
Patty Meyers, Associate Professor of Christian Education and Church Music, chairs the Department of Christian Vocations in the School of Religion at Pfeiffer University. She is a United Methodist Deacon in full connection and a Certified Director of Christian Education and Music Ministries. She holds the following academic degrees: Doctor of Education (Ed. D.) in Educational Leadership - Seattle University Doctor of Ministry (D. Min.) in Applied Ministries – Graduate Theological Foundation Master of Christian Education – Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Bachelor of Music – Coe College. Dr. Meyers is the author of five books and currently working on a new one on generational learning, and a textbook for students of Christian Education. She co-authored Between Everything, a book about pre-teens with Dr. Ed Trimmer in 2004. She contributes monthly articles for The North Carolina Christian Advocate. She has served on the staff of The Daily Christian Advocate for the last four General Conferences. She now serves on the Research and Development Committee of the United Methodist Association of Scholars of Christian Education (UMASCE).

Jim Nates
The Reverend Jim Nates is an ordained elder in the South Carolina Annual Conference. He received a B.A. in English with a minor in philosophy/psychology from the University of South Carolina and an M.Div. from Duke University. Later, he did further graduate studies at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and Wesley Theological Seminary, associated with American University, Washington, D.C., where his emphasis was on Christian education with adults. He did additional work in Christian education with adults at Saint Paul Seminary, Kansas City, MO. Jim wrote one of the units in the adult ministry course.

Mary Jane Pierce Norton
Mary Jane Pierce Norton serves on the General Board of Discipleship staff as Director of Family Ministries. She has a graduate degree from Scarritt College in Nashville. While studying there, her advisor, Carrie Lou Goddard, signed her up to teach three-year-olds in the preschool program at The Children’s Center. She was terrified, having previously only worked with youth. She discovered her gift for working with children and that she loved learning everything she could about them. That experience launched her into her career path of working with and teaching about children. She is the author of Children Worship! and many resources for ministry with children. She wrote units for the Children’s Ministry course.

Reverend Rodney Powell
Reverend Rodney Powell was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina. He is married to his best friend, Angela, and they have two sons: Chris and David. Rodney attended Spartanburg Methodist College and Methodist College in Fayetteville, North Carolina where he majored in Religion and minored in Psychology. He then attended Candler School of Theology, attaining his Masters in Divinity. In 1992, he attended Erskine Seminiary in Due West, South Carolina where he was awarded his Doctorate of Ministry with a concentration in Gerontology and Older Adult Ministry. In 2004, Rev. Powell was named a Fellow of the Southeastern Jurisdiction’s Aller Academy of Older Adult Ministry. Also, in 2005, Powell was graduated from Duke Divinity’s Reynolds Program in Church Leadership. He is a member of the South Carolina Conference Council on Older Adult Ministry and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Jurisdiction Council on Older Adults. Having served South Carolina parishes since 1980, his hobbies include woodturning and music.

Gayle Quay
The Reverend Gayle Quay received her master’s degree in Christian Education from Scarritt College in Nashville, TN. She has served as a local church Christian educator in Tallahassee, FL; Thomasville, GA; Asheville, NC and Greenville, SC. Gayle is a deacon in full connection in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. She wrote a unit for the course on children’s ministry.

Micheal Selleck
Micheal Selleck has served in the local church as both a youth minister and a pastor in the North Georgia Conference since the mid 1970’s. He currently serves as Director of Connectional Ministries for the North Georgia annual conference. He holds a Masters degree in Theology from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio. Mike has authored four books, all in matters relating to youth ministry, including the United Methodist Youth Ministry Handbook. Mike wrote a unit for the Youth Ministry course.

Fred Smith
The Reverend Dr. Fred D. Smith Jr. is associate professor of urban ministry and associate director of the practice of ministry and mission at Wesley Theological Seminary. He also pastors Fellowship United Methodist Church in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, and serves as a consultant to The United Methodist Church Council of Bishop’s Initiative Taskforce on Children and Poverty. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College, his M.Div. from Perkins School of Theology of Southern Methodist University and his Ph.D. from Emory University. Dr. Smith wrote a unit in the Basic II course.

Ed Trimmer
Dr. Ed Trimmer spent 16 years directing graduate programs and teaching in theological education before coming to Pfeiffer University to head the School of Religion. Ordained in the West Virginia Conference of The United Methodist Church, Ed has extensive parish experience and is well known as a leader in youth ministries. He helped found the Youth Ministry Educator's Forum (YME), a professional organization for persons who teach youth ministries at the undergraduate and graduate level. Ed’s Youth Ministry Handbook (Abingdon, 1994) is considered one of the best introductions to youth ministry available. Ed wrote units for the youth ministry course.

Lisa Unterseher
Dr. Lisa Unterseher is chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy and an assistant professor of religion at Columbia College, Columbia, SC, She received a Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University in church history. Her areas of expertise include church history, Judaism, and Jewish-Christian relations. An Episcopalian, Dr. Unterseher is a member of the Order of St. Benedict. She wrote the unit on church history for the Basic I course.

Carol Watson
Dr. Carol Watson is a retired diaconal minister who has served as a director of children and youth in a small membership church, as a Director of Christian Education for a large membership church and as a Christian education consultant to a group of six small and large membership churches in a rural South Carolina county. After earning her master’s and Ph.D. in counseling in the late 1980s, she has been a counselor with children, youth and their families, as well as individual adults and couples. Carol wrote units for both basic courses.