SUSTAINING CIRCLES OF FAITH PANEL

Karen DeBoer serves as creative resource developer for Faith Formation Ministries with whom she curates resources for topical toolkits (The Intergenerational Church, Family Faith Formation, and more), creates free resources for families, and writes Network blogs on faith formation. Karen lives in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario.

Stephanie Fritz is the Mission Coordinator for Christian Formation at the Presbyterian Mission Agency in Louisville, Kentucky. Prior to serving at the PC(USA) national offices she served Denver area churches as an educator for all ages. Stephanie and her husband Bryan and their two cats live and work out of their RV as they travel the country. 

Beth Hayes, born Phoebe Elizabeth Abrams and affectionately known by others as Beth, ​grew up in the Greensboro, North Carolina area as a lifelong Presbyterian. She graduated in 1974 from Converse College with a degree in Christian education and from Presbyterian School of Christian Education in 1979 with a Masters degree in Christian education. Beth has worked as an educator in Knoxville, Tennessee and Winston Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina, for the PC(USA), becoming a certified Christian educator in 1981 in the PU(USA). Beth began working at the Moravian Board in 1985 and has been there for about 38 years. She serves as the director of congregational ministries and resources for the Board of Cooperative Ministries. Beth is also a certified Christian educator in the Moravian Church. Beth lives in Winston Salem and has one daughter, Amanda, an international tax accountant. Beth’s beloved husband, Randy, died in 2019. They were married for 36 years.

Emily Hill is the education program coordinator at the national office of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. She has a Ph.D. in English literature from McMaster University (Hamilton, ON), with a specialization in women’s autobiography. She has been a youth ministry volunteer and leader in congregational ministry for most of her adult life. She considers herself a theologian of the everyday and loves reading about, listening to, and writing stories about how God is at work in people’s lives and congregations.

Rev. Dr. Jill Ver Steeg, chief operating officer for the Reformed Church in America, is a graduate of Northwestern College in Iowa with an Mdiv from Western Theological Seminary and DMin in organizational leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary. She served in congregational care at Christ Memorial Church in Holland, Michigan, from 1997 to 1999, chaplain at Hope College, 1999 to 2003, and was a teaching pastor at Meredith Drive Church in Des Moines, Iowa, 2003 to 2015. In addition, Jill served on the Hope board of trustees, pastor advisory board at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the alumni advisory board at Western Theological Seminary. Jill is married to Shane and they have four sons: Sam, Will, Owen, and Wes.