Holmeswood Staff
| Dr. Keith Herron Kathy Pickett Wanda Herron Kate Hanch Joanne Sappington Sherrie Thummel |
Joe Marlow Jo Anne Beasley Barbara Kessler Bruce Sisk Robin Robinson Don Duvall |
Dr. Keith Herron
Pastor
Email: keith.herron@holmeswood.org
Keith came to Holmeswood as Senior Pastor in 2001 after previous ministries in like-minded churches in Texas as both Pastor and Associate Pastor. He's also served as a Baptist Campus Minister on two college campuses in Texas. He calls himself "a child of the suburbs" as he grew up in the greater Dallas area.
Formal education comes in the form of undergraduate studies at both Texas A&M and Baylor Universities with double majors in business and religion from Baylor. He completed his Masters in Religious Education at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. Since coming to Holmeswood, he has completed his Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. The clinical work for that degree was done through the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health in San Antonio.
Keith enjoys sports of all kinds and especially enjoys watching the Chiefs and the San Antonio Spurs (it is alleged he's disavowed his earlier life-long allegiance to the Dallas Cowboys since his conversion to the Chiefs).
He also enjoys reading on a wide variety of subjects and writing, much to the chagrin of his teachers as a child. Keith is a monthly contributor to Baptists Today as the author of "Back Row Birdie," and offers occasional commentary articles and weekly sermons on the website www.ethicsdaily.com hosted by the Baptist Center for Ethics.
Kathy Pickett
Pastor of Congregational Life
Email: kathy.pickett@holmeswood.org
Reverend Kathy Pickett is the Pastor of Congregational Life at Holmeswood Baptist church. She began serving on the Holmeswood staff in 1998 and has lived in the surrounding community all of her life. She is married to Allen Pickett who works and serves at the Kansas City Rescue Mission and they have three grown children Scott, Katie and Lilli. Kathy is currently working on her Doctorate of Ministry with a focus on adaptive leadership and systems of church change. Kathy is passionate about leading the church to discover new, creative ways, to be the church in the twenty-first century and beyond.
Wanda Herron
Pastor of Worship and Arts
Email: wanda.herron@holmeswood.org
I'm the Worship/Arts Pastor here at Holmeswood. I lead the Sanctuary choir and administrate and coordinate all of our worship groups. I plan and create the worship services, and seek to find new and meaningful ways to help people connect to God. I also facilitate the A/V volunteers we have here at the church. We are currently working to build relational bridges into the musical community that surrounds us in south-central Kansas City. We also are exploring ways to involve and incorporate other worship artists in the area in such forms as liturgical dance, children's music, visual art and drama all of which are used to enhance the spiritual lives of those creating as well as those that view or hear the created works.
I have been singing and making music virtually since I could talk. And as I have grown I have felt a deep sense of calling to use music to connect people with God. I have been serving the Holmeswood community since 2004. I am married to Keith and together, we have 2 kids - Ben, our son who loves politics and basketball, and Alex, our daughter who delves into the philosophical and artistic. My family is the joy of my life. I love working on staff with my husband and it thrills me when my grown kids pop by for a visit.
My personal interests are reading (fiction, non-fiction, poetry), exercising, being outdoors and (you guessed it) music. I love all kinds of music!
If you desire to connect to God through Worship and/or Arts, just let me know. There's a place for you here.
Kate Hanch
Children's Ministry Associate
Joanne Sappington
Director, Administrative Services
Email: joanne.sappington@holmeswood.org
Joanne has been a member of Holmeswood for 36 years and has served on the church staff for 32 years. She has responsibilities in the areas of finance; buildings, grounds and property; general office; food service; inventory/purchasing; and supervision of administrative assistants and custodial personnel.
Joanne provides leadership and serves as staff liaison for the following committees: Audit; Board of Directors; Finance; Hospitality; Information Technology; Memorial Gifts; Property; Property Endowment; and Stewardship.
Sherrie Thummel
Early Education Center Director
Email: sherrie.thummel@holmeswood.org
Sherrie returned to Holmeswood as Early Education Center Director October 16, 2006 having previously worked here three years. She was born in Horton, Kansas and reared in Muscotah, graduating from Atchison County Community High School. Sherrie's passion is working with young children having done so since the age of twelve. She has experience as a classroom teacher and as a center director and believes God has led her back to Holmeswood to fulfill her mission to children. Sherrie received an Associate of Arts Degree from Highland Community College and a B.S. in Elementary Education with a minor in Early Childhood Education from Emporia State University. In her spare time, she enjoys her family, writing poetry, reading and listening to music. Matt and Sherrie are the parents of Morgan and Mason and they reside in North Kansas City.
Joe Marlow
Adult Educator
A native of Oklahoma, Joe also lived in Colorado and California before graduating from high school in a small farming town in northeastern Oklahoma. He then enrolled at the University of Oklahoma where in span of four and a half years he became a follower of Jesus Christ, met and married Karen, and received his bachelor's degree. He has also completed graduate degrees at Boston University, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Pittsburgh State University.
After seminary Joe served as a Christian educator on church staffs in Maryland, Virginia, and Missouri. He then left full time church ministry to enter public education when he has been a classroom teacher, soccer and basketball coach, school improvement facilitator, building administrator, and instructional coach. He is also a published writer and poet, and has served as an interim staff minister at Holmeswood on three occasions and as a Christian educator with an Episcopal church.
Joe and Karen are parents of two adult children and also are grandparents. With the birth of their grandson he has begun asking evaluative questions of both schools and churches: Are they safe places? Do they provide opportunities for positive relationships? And they are places for personal growth with a feeling of responsibility for others? These questions are foundational for Joe's vision for Holmeswood.
