My Turn Speakers
"My Turn" speakers bring inspirational 2-3 minute reflections to each program. Our contributors come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They add their own experiences and insights to the topic of the week. Read their bios here.
Harvey Yoder - Centerpiece
Harvey Yoder is a licensed professional counselor at Family Life Resource Center in Harrisonburg, Va., and has also been a pastor for many years. He hosts his own radio program, "Centerpiece" which airs on three stations.
Harvey was born in Nowata County, Oklahoma, and grew up as the eighth of nine children in an Amish family that migrated to eastern Kansas and then to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. At 21 he enrolled in Eastern Mennonite College and after graduation taught at Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg while also serving as pastor of Zion Mennonite Church for over 20 years. He was director of Highland Retreat Camp for three summers, and did an interim two years as principal of Western Mennonite School near Salem, Oregon, from 1972-74. He earned a masters degree in counseling psychology from James Madison University in 1979, and studied at Associated Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, during a sabbatical year in 1984-85, completing his seminary degree at Eastern Mennonite Seminary in 1994.
Since 1988, Harvey has been
a full time counselor and church resource person at the Family Life
Resource Center in Harrisonburg and serves as pastor of Family of Hope,
a Mennonite house church congregation. In 2007 Herald Press published
his book Lasting Marriage: The Owners' Manual.
Harvey married his college sweetheart, Alma Jean Wert, in 1964, and they have three children and four grandchildren.
Rebecca Thatcher Murcia - Potluck
Rebecca Thatcher Murcia is an Akron, Pa. based author of 14 historical, biographical, sports, and scientific books for children and young adults. She has worked for various newspapers as an investigative journalist.
Rebecca was born in Ann Arbor,
Michigan and grew up in Garrison, New York. Her parents are Susan Thatcher,
an occupational therapist, and Jim Thatcher, an expert on the use of
computers by the visually impaired. She graduated from The University
of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1986 and went to work as a reporter at
the Springfield Union-News. Wanting to improve her Spanish and
become familiar with another culture, she moved to Brownsville, Texas
in 1988. She worked at the Brownsville Herald as a health reporter,
and then a federal agencies reporter, until 1993. She was well known
for her tenacious investigations in Brownsville, once so angering a
drug trafficker with her articles that he apparently mailed her an animal's
tongue as a threat. In Brownsville, she met Saul Murcia, a native of
Colombia who was working for the Mennonite Church in Brownsville. They
were married in 1989. The couple moved to Austin in 1993, where their
children, Gabriel and Mario were born. Thatcher Murcia worked at the
Austin American-Statesman from 1993 to 2000.
In 2001, they moved in Akron,
Penn., when Saul was named co-director for Latin America for the Mennonite
Central Committee. Saul died of cancer in 2005, when Mario was eight
and Gabriel was nine. In addition to her 14 books published by Mitchell
Lane, Rebecca Thatcher has written essays for Topdrawersoccer.com, reviews
for Criticas, and other articles and commentary.
http://www.thatchermurcia.com/
http://www.thatchermurcia.com/Biopage.html
Natalie Francisco - Connecting Point
Pastor Natalie Francisco serves
as co-pastor along with her husband, Bishop L.W. Francisco III, and
the Minister of Music at Calvary Community Church in Hampton, Va. Although
Pastor Natalie was ordained in February of 1999, she has served extensively
in full-time ministry for over 25 years in areas of leadership in both
the Music and Arts and Christian Education departments of her local
church. The culmination of her years of experience in motherhood, ministry
and mentoring women in particular, allowed her to author her first book
entitled Wisdom for Women of Worth & Worship: Lessons for a Life
of Virtue, Value & Victory published by St. Paul Press.
Pastor Natalie received B.A.
and M.A. degrees in Christian Education from International Bible College
and Seminary in Independence, Mo. and a Doctorate in Christian Education
from Carolina University of Theology. As a result of her years of experience
and educational training, she co-founded Calvary Christian Academy in
1991 which offers quality programs that target the spiritual, academic,
physical and emotional needs of children enrolled in preschool through
fifth grades. Pastor Natalie also co-founded Calvary Bible College in
1997 and serves as Vice President of CBC, an institution which seeks
to educate, liberate and empower servant leaders through the Word of
God so that graduates of its certificate and associate degree programs
may utilize their gifts and talents in their local churches.
Pastor Natalie and her husband also founded Calvary Covenant Ministries, Inc., an organization which seeks to bring together clergy, national and international churches and ministry partners at various levels with the objective of imparting spiritual, administrative and practical counsel and information into the lives and ministries of those who desire to serve God with a spirit of excellence.
As founder of the Women of
Worth Conference in 2002 and the Women of Worth and Worship Institute
(WOWWI) in 2007, Pastor Natalie seeks to provide godly and practical
instruction to women of at least 18 years of age and older who desire
to learn and implement biblical truths and principles from her life's
lessons. As the personal mentor of countless women, she strives to equip
them with knowledge and wisdom so that they can possess their inheritance
as women of value, virtue and victory who will expand the kingdom of
God. This is accomplished through annual women's conferences and Lady
Pastors' retreats as well as several eight- week sessions that are held
throughout the year and on-line for registered participants.
Pastor Natalie and Bishop L.W. Francisco III are the grateful parents of three beautiful daughters: Nicole, Lesley and Lauren.
Get more info from http://www.nataliefrancisco.com/wowwi/
http://www.calvarycommunity.org/
You can hear more of her sermons at http://www.calvarycommunity.org/messages/
Sam Heatwole - Frog Hollow
Sam Heatwole is a freelance voice talent in the Richmond, Va. area who excerpts James G. T. Fairfield's newest book, Frog Hollow Journal on Shaping Families programs. Sam is the son-in law of Fairfield, who for many years created radio programs for Third Way Media.
Sam was born in 1946 in Harrisonburg,
Va. and was raised on a little farm near Keezletown, Va. After a four-year
hitch in the Navy where he observed that the enlisted men made coffee
and the officers drank it, and that the only difference between these
two groups was college – he went to college. Sam graduated from James
Madison University in 1972 with a degree in Speech and Drama. He married
his soul mate Deborah Fairfield in '72 as well. Sam and his wife have
two daughters, Megan, a speech pathologist, and Alexandra, a perennial
student and teacher of English in Australia, into the world.
For 29 years Sam taught English,
Speech and Drama for Hampton City Schools. He retired in 2001 and has
since worked as a University Supervisor for the School of English Education
at The College of William and Mary (2002-2008), a mentor for new teachers
for Hampton City Schools (2001-present), adjunct English faculty at
Thomas Nelson Community College (2002-present), and a voice
specialist for radio/TV commercials (2001-present).
Sam is also active in his church,
Hilton Presbyterian. He has served as an elder and sings in the choir.
In his free time, Sam enjoys fixing things and tinkering with his model
railroad, which he modeled after the Shenandoah Valley. Computers
fascinate him, and he loves to tinker with them as well. Sam has also
taken to golf, but it has yet to take to him, he says.
Steve Carpenter - Media Matters
Steve Carpenter is conference coordinator for Virginia Mennonite Conference and film and media reviewer for Third Way Café Web site. He is currently pursuing a master's in theology at Eastern Mennonite Seminary, Harrisonburg, Va. Steve is a graduate of Tulane University, the Coast Guard Academy, and a member of a Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va.
Steve is a movie buff, not
an expert, but definitely an aficionado. One of his earliest memories
is of his grandmother taking him to see Disney's animated classic
Pinocchio. As a four-year-old, Steve was mesmerized.
Steve was born in Rhode Island
in 1955 and raised Presbyterian. He graduated from the Coast Guard
Academy in 1977 and took on the collateral duty of "movie officer"
on board his first ship in Guam. That was the year George Lucas's
blockbuster Star Wars was released, and Steve was hooked.
In 1986, Steve graduated from
Tulane University's Executive MBA program. He met his wife at Washington
Community Fellowship in D.C. They have one adult daughter. Steve retired
from the Coast Guard in 1997 and embraced the Confession of Faith
in a Mennonite Perspective. (http://www.mennolink.org/doc/cof/)
Emily Ralph - Just Sayin'
Emily Ralph is worship leader
for Swamp Mennonite Church, Quakertown, Pa. and is a former radio announcer.
Emily Ralph has loved music since before she could talk! Now, as a graduate of Moravian College's music program and a long-time worship leader, Emily desires to use music to worship God and encourage and grow believers. Whether leading corporate worship in a church setting or sharing stories in print or on the air, Emily takes delight in sharing God's truth and love with others.
For Emily, family and faith are the glue that holds her life together. In the midst of her family's frequent pastoral ministry relocations, she learned to cherish the support and stability that comes from a loving home. When she's not busy with ministry, she enjoys being creative and playing with her favorite kids in the whole world: her kid brother, nephew, and niece.
http://www.swampmennonite.org/music/
http://www.rethinkcreativeservices.com/about.html
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