ARW Leaders
Roger Maness
Roger brings his playful, caring spirit and organizational leadership to ARW, serving as this year’s director. Roger enjoys good Bluegrass music, clogging, golf, and building stained glass panels.
Neil Myer
This young, innovative leader combines loads of creative energy with subject knowledge and game leadership experience to lead this popular course. Neil, who also serves as Assistant Director, will provide dozens of ways to energize people and build community.
Deb Guess
Deb enjoys anything that involves creativity, whether it’s visual arts, dance or worship. ARW has been the foundation for many skills she now shares in other ministry settings and she serves as a workshop leader as well as Assistant Director for the 2008 workshop.
Glenn Bannerman
Glenn is ARW’s most experienced recreation leader and continues to dazzle participants with his knowledge and leadership techniques.
Jon Brown
Jon currently serves as coordinator for Mission Education and Promotion in the General Assembly Council offices in Louisville. That means he works on the Mission Yearbook, Children’s Mission Yearbook, and Special Offerings (gotta love those fish banks!) He and his family live in a funky old house in a funky old neighborhood in Louisville, KY where he spends his spare time eating chocolate and playing in the dirt (gardening). Jon has pastored churches in NC and SC as well as having served on the program staff of Montreat Conference Center.
Lee Cross
Lee is one of several new, innovative, think outside-the-box young recreation leaders on staff at ARW. He is a traveling recreation minstrel…he will go anywhere he can find a group with which to play games (or anyplace that offers free food). He hangs his hat in Suffolk, VA, where he helps with the Presbytery’s Youth Ministry Team.
Lisa Diedrick
Lisa is ARW’s behind-the-scenes wizard. Most leaders work a few weeks or months in ARW advance preparation, but Lisa works year-round to keep us all organized. Come get the benefit of Lisa’s talents and energy in Changing the Scenery, an opportunity to plan creatively and effectively.
Hugh Donnelly
Hugh loves music, plays in a bluegrass band and flies small airplanes. He is the minister at Beaches Presbyterian Church, Toronto, where he lives with his wife, Laura, and children, Iain and Maggie.
Cheryl Goodman-Morris
Cheryl is a lover of God, people, and art. In fact, dramatic arts and ministry have been so closely intertwined in her ministry that it is hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins. The greatest loves of her life are her family, especially Mark and Noelle. Fun side note—She was the 1972 National Hog Calling Champion at the University of Texas her senior year (when she was 12).
Mark Goodman-Morris
Mark is a fool for Christ disguised as a pastor. For 20 years he has served an energetic church near San Francisco. With a passion for spiritual formation, a playful hear, and a pallet of good gifts in the performing arts, Mark and Cheryl, his wife/partner, invite worshippers to the creative boundaries of encountering God.
Noelle Goodman-Morris
You wanna play? You wanna hang out with Noelle! She’s young blood (just out of college with a degree in theatre & dance from UC San Diego), she’s goofy (the picture speaks for itself), and she wants to laugh a lot. Come hang out—we’re going to play like we haven’t since we were five.
Beth Gunn
Beth is a true artisan in the crafts room or in the kitchen. She will wow you with her knowledge, her creativity, and her hospitality! She is really fun, too!
Peter Hazelrigg
Peter is a campus minister and loves cool toys. He worked for many years as a wilderness instructor, but now spends more time in movie theaters and playing on his Mac. He loves his iPod, blues music, working with college students, and long backpacking trips!
Barry Jolliff
Barry has been playing all his life and continues to have fun as he teaches others to “play” as well. Barry lives near Wooster, Ohio on a mini-farm with his wife and three children. He runs his own business, TEAMPLAY, LLC, where he leads teambuilding and leadership seminars and recreational dance workshops. Barry has been leading recreational dance, games leadership, and teambuilding to youth and adults for over thirty years. He is author of the book TEAMWORK & TEAMPLAY.
Brian Maness
Brian is a true stained-glass artisan, combining design, colors and skilled craftsmanship to help students make sensational stained-glass creations.
Sophie Maness
Sophie brings an enthusiastic yet gentle leadership style to help plan and carry out events and programs that bring people closer together and deepen their faith. She loves to play and dance.
Leslie McCarthy
Leslie’s decorations and organizational skills help make the ARW experience. Enjoy a little insight into Leslie’s genius as she shares some of her creative spirit!
Sue Montgomery
Sue takes seriously the Westminster Confession’s call to glorify, serve and ENJOY God. Everyone has limitations. With a creative spirit, imagination, and an ability to laugh at one’s self, life becomes an adventure. Sue is a church pastor, a chaplain for a center for persons living with mental retardation, and a consultant on disability issues for the General Assembly of the PCUSA. She shares life with her husband Jay and college-aged son, Joel, and is also an avid hand-cyclist.
Howard Moore
Howard is a master woodcarver, having done it for over 50 years. He has taught making dulcimers with Dick Porter for over 30 years and now brings his expertise in woodcraft to this new and exciting ARW course.
Marty O’Keefe
Marty is chair of the Outdoor Leadership department at Warren-Wilson, where she has been on staff since 1995. She “enjoys working with folks who are taking risks and living life to the fullest”, and “loves that that can take all shapes and forms for each of us!”
Dick Porter
Dick is an experienced woodworker, including having taught over 500 people to build dulcimers. He will also be sharing his expertise as a master of Dutch Oven cooking. Dick is the co-author of Dutch Oven 101.
Carol Steele
Carol is a recent dual-degree graduate of Union-PSCE and one of the newest staff members at Montreat. She serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Carol and her husband, Dwight, are past ARW participants.
Mary Swan
Mary spends her school year days laughing, loving, and learning with 4 and 5 year olds in a Pre-K classroom in Pasadena, TX. ARW has been a foundation for her love of creativity and her desire to help others discover the creator that exists in each person. Her own creativity flourishes best in the company of friends and co-creators working and playing together.
Beth Thomas
Beth is a graphics designer by profession, but a painter and craftsperson at heart. She loves sharing the joys of creative expression with others.
Steve Thomas
Steve is a Presbyterian pastor from Tennessee who enjoys the out of doors, funny stories, and being creative with his hands. He has a unique set of lenses through which he views life that he integrates into ministry. He has a warm fuzzy personality and lives out hospitality in his everyday life.
Lynn Turnage
Lynn’s been playing all her life – an incredible calling! If anyone can illustrate the community of faith in playing games, Lynn can.
Jennifer Walker
Jennifer loves working with youth and getting them excited about what is going on in the church and their faith. With energy and enthusiasm she will help design, lead, and share great Bible studies that will not only keep the attention of youth, but make them want to come back for more! In her free time, (ha!) she likes to spend time with her husband, David, and their twin boys, James and Austin.
Joyce Winker
In addition to being an avid gardener, Joyce also loves reading and creating on her scroll saw. She is married to Patrick, a minister, and they have two children and two grand-children, who Joyce describes as “the delights of her life”!
Grier Booker Richards
Through multi-sensory fun and creative programming, Grier’s leadership style engages people in meaningful conversation, playful recreation and spiritual transformation!
Steering Committee
ARW’s brains – without drugs. Scary enough!
