Workshop Speakers:

Bethany Belue is on staff with CDM serving in various roles within Children’s Ministry. Before coming on staff at CDM, she served as the Children’s Director at Redeemer PCA in New York City and Oak Mountain PCA in Birmingham, AL. She currently lives in Mobile, AL with her husband, Dustin, who is the assistant pastor at Grace Community Church PCA. Bethany and Dustin love investing in the next generation from small children to young adults. Life is full with their 2 young children, Patterson and Neely.

Heather Dirkse serves as the Coordinator for Teach Us to Worship. She joined TUTW in 2024 as the creative assistant, contributing to the refresh of the children’s worship curriculum and the development of new resources for churches and families. Heather has previously worked as an elementary and middle school teacher, a children’s ministry coordinator, and a women’s ministry coordinator. These roles have shaped her passion for helping the next generation grow in their love for the Lord and His church. She is grateful for the opportunity to support and strengthen churches as they seek to nurture in their children a lifelong connection to the covenant community of believers.

Stephen Estock is Coordinator for the PCA Committee on Discipleship Ministries (CDM). A former USAF officer, he has been in pastoral ministry for almost 30 years, serving churches in Montgomery, AL and St. Louis, MO. Stephen has also been an adjunct professor at several seminaries, including Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis and Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta. His Ph.D. is in education, with an emphasis on competency-based learning and leadership training. He and his wife, Susan, have three children and live in Atlanta, GA.

Katie Flores is the Children’s Ministry Coordinator for the PCA’s Committee on Discipleship Ministries. She lives with her husband and children in Birmingham, AL where her favorite volunteer role at Covenant Presbyterian Church is teaching 4k Sunday School. Katie oversees the effort of CDM to connect and equip those who serve in discipleship ministry to children. These efforts include leading conferences, developing resources, and equipping through certification.

Katie Gordon is the Student Ministries Coordinator for CDM.

Rebecca Howell  grew up in Savannah, Georgia and pursued her passion for special education at Vanderbilt University. After graduating, she taught in public schools across Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri. In 1998, she and her husband Jack moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where he planted Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) and continues to serve as the senior pastor. Rebecca is on staff with Engaging Disability With the Gospel, serving as the Room on our Pew Program Coordinator.

Sherry Kendrick serves as the Family Ministry Director of Covenant Church of Naples in Naples, FL where she has been for 15 years. She has a degree in elementary education from East Tennessee State University and over 40 years of experience in children’s ministry as well as homeschool, private school and public-school education. She loves children’s curriculums and tends to collect them. Sherry was married to her pastor husband, Mike, for 36 years serving in both small and large churches. As a widow, she continues to serve the church and has three grown children and three grandchildren.

Jajuan McNeil has served as Redeemer’s Director of Children’s Ministry since 2021 in Jackson, MS. Raised in Oxford, MS, he earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communications from the University of Mississippi, where his passion for relational evangelism and discipleship grew through mentoring and launching an afterschool program in partnership with his local church. He and a friend moved into the neighborhood to live among families, sharing the hope of Christ in everyday life and walking alongside children and parents in their faith. Jajuan and his wife, Joya, were married one week to the day after he completed graduate school in 2013 and have two children, Cali and Deuce. He loves helping children know and love Jesus while equipping families to live out and multiply their faith at home and in the community.

Joe Parker is the Family Pastor at Atlanta Westside Presbyterian Church. For the past 30 years he has served in church plants to large size churches, from inner city to suburban settings. He has a passion for relationally engaging both our covenant as well as our community families with the gospel, equipping adults to disciple our next generation in such a way they grow to become Christ-changed, hope-filled, productive adults. Joe is head over heels in love with his wife Kelly for over 20 years, and are parents of their adopted boys Jacob and Makiah.

Jeanette C. Simpson serves as the Director of Children’s Ministry at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC, and is also a member of the PCA CDM Children’s Ministry Leadership Team. Jeanette has led preschool and children’s ministries for over two decades. She has an MDiv from LAMP Theological Seminary and is a CDM Children’s Ministry Certification Program alum (2019). She is blessed to be married to her best friend and life-long ministry partner, Roger. Jeanette loves and lives by Colossians 3:17!

B.A. Snider has more than 20 years’ experience as a children’s director in churches ranging in size from 200 to 4,000 but finds her passion is the same no matter how many children she’s serving. Show the children Jesus. Teach the kids all of the Bible so they see that the stories from the Old Testament point to Jesus and that the New Testament shows how Jesus fulfilled God’s promises—yesterday, today, and forever. B.A. began her formal ministry as a children’s director and consultant in 1993, but she has taught and led music for children since she was in junior high school. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee and taught college until the Lord called her to seminary and full-time ministry. She graduated with a master’s degree in Christian Education from Columbia International University. Speaking at conferences, consulting with leadership, and training teachers brought her to Great Commission Publications (www.gcp.org) in 2014 as the Children’s Ministry Consultant and Marketing Director.

Laura Tucker is the Children’s Ministry Director at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL. Laura grew up in the church and spent many summers there and at camp preparing her for a children’s ministry full of fun activities and time in God’s Word. Laura served as the nursery director before her role over preschool and elementary students. She is married and has three children who keep her involved in volunteer ministry to the youth as well. She enjoys time at the lake, playing tennis and cheering on the Dawgs.

Saralyn Tyler currently serves as the Director of Children’s Ministry at Christ Church Toronto in Ontario, Canada. God has given Saralyn a passion for sharing the gospel with children, encouraging and supporting families, and in helping to encourage others serving in Children’s Ministry. She has served in established churches, a church revitalization, and a church plant, in urban, inner-city, suburban, and remote rural areas. Saralyn has led Sunday school, mid-week clubs, summer camps and conferences. Saralyn is a CDM Alumnus from the Class of 2019.

Lisa Updike is the Director of Children’s Ministries at Covenant in Harrisonburg, VA and doesn’t remember a day when she didn’t love Jesus. Her ministry experience includes teaching, special education, leading children’s choirs, and writing. Several of her books and curriculum are available through the PCA bookstore. She and her husband, Kevin, have been married since 1989 and are blessed with 4 adult children, 3 of whom joined their family through adoption. Lisa and Kevin stay busy with church activities, creating art,  and best of all, doting on their two grandsons.