Conference Speakers
Anabeth Morgan
Anabeth Morgan expresses and advocates for creative compassion through lyrics and music.
Anabeth is a worship leader, songwriter, and staff pastor at the Arvada Vineyard, serving in Vineyard communities since 2011. She is known for her deep sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and her ability to create worship spaces where people encounter God’s presence. She has contributed to numerous Vineyard Worship projects and released the studio album, A Place Your Glory Dwells, along with recent songs such as “You Meet Me Here,” “Heaven’s Work,” and “King of Heaven.”
Anabeth and her husband, Kyle, have two children, Jovie and Miles. Anabeth serves as Interim Lead for Equipping and Leadership at Vineyard Worship, helping to develop Spirit-led worship leaders and songwriters, and local church worship culture.
Learn more about Vineyard Worship.
Jamie Aten, PhD
Jamie Aten helps people and organizations to creatively turn their compassion into effective care.
Jamie is Co-Founder of Spiritual First Aid. He is also the Founder and Co-Director of Humanitarian Disaster Institute, Blanchard Chair of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership, and Co-Coordinator of the Trauma Certificate Program at Wheaton College. Personally, he is both a Hurricane Katrina and late-stage early onset cancer survivor. Professionally, as a disaster psychologist he has responded to and researched disasters and mass traumas around the globe. He has published 9 authored and edited books and over 150 scholarly publications including in some of the top peer-reviewed journals in the field of psychology. His research has been supported by over $12 million dollars in awarded grants. He is frequently cited, interviewed, and published in outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, Fox News, BBC News, Psychology Today, Religion News Service, Moody Radio, and Christianity Today. In 2016 he was awarded the FEMA Community Preparedness Champion Award at the White House. He also received the Early Career Award and Applied Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. He is co-host of the award-winning The Better Samaritan podcast. You can follow Jamie on LinkedIn.
Learn More about Spiritual First Aid HERE.
J. Scott McElroy
J. Scott McElroy trains others in creative compassion through the CARE approach (Compassionate Artistic Response and Engagement).
Scott McElroy has seen the arts help connect, heal, and reveal the heart of God.
For decades, he's helped churches and artists rediscover the power of Spirit-led creativity to bring beauty, healing, and hope to the world.
He is the author of Finding Divine Inspiration: Working with the Holy Spirit in Your Creativity, Creative Church Handbook: Releasing the Power of the Arts in Your Congregation, and How to CARE: Crisis, Trauma, and Mental Health Ministry with the Arts. As founder of The New Renaissance Arts Movement, Scott equips and connects artists and church leaders around the globe to collaborate with the Holy Spirit in creative ministry. While directing the new CARE Arts Ministry, he helps equip believers to facilitate healing through the arts. His work has been recognized with grants from Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, Indiana Arts Commission, and Indianapolis Center for Congregations.
With a Master of Arts in Theology and Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary, specializing in Worship, Theology, and the Arts, Scott draws from years of work in creative professions, as an award-winning radio producer, writer, visual artist, and voiceover artist. He hosted the Animal Planet TV series Wildlife Journal and narrated a series of scripture meditation recordings, including "Fear-Less: Bringing Freedom From Fear, Anxiety, and Worry." His writing has appeared on sites like Crosswalk.com, Christianity.com, and RelevantMagazine.com.
Scott and his wife, Danielle, live on a park in Indianapolis with their mountain cur, Madeline, in the same neighborhood as both their adult children.
Joanna Taft
Joanna Taft practices creative compassion through innovative arts leadership.
Joanna serves as Founding Executive Director of the Harrison Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
She is a leader in the field of creative placemaking and she has served as Founder of Herron High School and creator of civic initiatives such as the Cultural Entrepreneur Initiative, City Gallery: Indy’s Urban Living Center, PreEnactment Theater, and the Polklore Micro-Museum. For these endeavors, she has received the Governor's Arts Award, the Indianapolis Business Journal Women of Influence Award, the Girls Inc. Touchstone Award, the Hoosier Heritage Lifetime Achievement Award, the Arts Council of Indianapolis ARTI Award, the Jefferson Award, and two Cultural Vision Awards. She also serves on the boards of the Marion County Board of Zoning Appeals (Chair), the Indiana University Public Policy Institute, and Covenant College, among others.
Learn more about Harrison Center.
Dr. May Young
May Young teaches and embodies creative compassion through Scripture, lament, and theological reflection.
May Young serves as Department Chair and Professor of Biblical Studies at Taylor University, where she has taught Old Testament, Hebrew Poetry and Wisdom Literature in the Bible, Hebrew Prophets in the Bible, Historic Christian Belief and Biblical Hebrew Grammar. She is passionate about helping students encounter Scripture deeply and integrate biblical faith and learning in ways that form them as servant-leaders marked by Christ’s redemptive love, grace, and truth.
May’s love for Scripture began in her earlier years and continued to grow through college, church ministry, and campus ministry. Before entering full-time academic ministry, she worked for more than a decade as a research consultant in the corporate world. While working, she began her theological studies and later sensed God’s call to pursue doctoral work.
She holds a PhD in Theological Studies with a concentration in Old Testament and an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, as well as a BA in History of Art and Architecture from the University of Illinois. Her writing and scholarly contributions include work on lament, the Psalms, Lamentations, Old Testament theology, and biblical interpretation. She published her recent book on lament with IVP Academic, Walking with God Through the Valley: Recovering the Purpose of Biblical Lament. She also contributed “The Art of Lament” to Reading the Psalms Theologically; “Lament: A Journey from Pain to Praise” to A Praying People: Essays on Prayer Inspired by D. L. Moody and “Asking God Tough Questions: The Use of Interrogatives in Habakkuk’s First Chapter” to Christianity and COVID-19: Pathways for Faith.
May has served as a board member of the Institute for Biblical Research, an editorial board member for Sacred Roots, and a judge for the 2024 Christianity Today Book Awards in Biblical Studies. Her teaching and leadership have been recognized with Taylor University’s Distinguished Professor award (2026) and the Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award (2021).
At the heart of May’s work is a desire to help others see the beauty, honesty, and hope of Scripture. Whether in the classroom, in writing, or in conversations with students, she seeks to help people bring their whole lives before God and grow in faithful love for Him and the world He is redeeming.
Mark Nicholas
Mark Nicholas helps artists, songwriters, and churches connect with the power of creative compassion.
Mark is a multi-faceted artist who counts music, metalwork, gardening, and breadmaking among his interests. He is a 35-year music industry veteran whose career spans album production, publishing, digital distribution, live mixing, and creative leadership. Originally from Nebraska, his path led him to Nashville, where he built a reputation for humility, versatility, and deep connection with creatives. He has contributed to everything from Grammy and Dove Award-winning projects to pastoral moments of songwriting with grieving mothers.
Mark currently serves as Interim General Manager of Vineyard Worship. He calls Nashville home and his teenage son and wife of 26 years his heartbeat.
Website: https://deependmusic.co/
Linda Sylvester
Linda Sylvester leads others in creative compassion and blends expertise on embodiment and trauma with art practices for healing.
Linda is a Physical Therapist with a passion for healing through the arts. She is certified in trauma-informed care, as a CARE Arts Facilitator, and as a Stephen Minister at Evanston Vineyard Church. She founded and has led the Hope for Artists Arts Community since 2010 and regularly facilitates Healing and Care Retreats at the church and on mission trips, helping process loss, trauma, and health issues through prayer, creativity, and spiritual practices.
Linda embraces all forms of creativity and especially enjoys singing, and writing poetry, lyrics, and stories.
Learn more about Hope for Artists.
Tina Colon Williams
Tina Colon Williams shares creative compassion through the work of justice and the ministry of worship.
Tina is an immigration attorney, worship pastor and mom of three based in New Haven, Connecticut. Tina and her husband Josh lead the Elm City Vineyard church in New Haven, where she serves as the Worship Pastor. She also leads Esperanza Law, a small law firm that provides direct representation to immigrants navigating humanitarian immigration applications in removal proceedings and federal appeals.
Tina has served as a songwriter and musician with various Vineyard Worship projects over the past several years and has collaborated with the Porter's Gate in addition to stewarding songwriting communities within her local context. Tina is passionate about extending Kingdom welcome to outsiders and cultivating courageous, life-giving spaces of creativity & resistance both inside and outside the church.
Steve Fridsma
Steve Fridsma envisions and designs spaces that convey and facilitate creative compassion.
An AIA, LEED architect, Steve is a project leader and master planner with over 30 years of professional experience. He is currently a principal architect at Elevate Studio architecture.design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since 2001, he has focused his career on religious architecture for ministry, serving over 120 church clients. He is passionate about discovering each client's unique ministry ethos and creating specifically-aligned design solutions for the built environment. His work has received several industry awards. Steve holds a Bachelor of Art from Calvin University with concentrations in Pre-Architecture, Graphic Design, and Sculpture, and a Master of Architecture with distinction from the University of Michigan. He has served on the Alumni Board of Calvin University and was on the Board of Formation for the accredited Architectural program at Kendall College of Art and Design.
Steve has served as a worship planner and music leader in five churches, including as part of the leadership team at two church plants. For 15 years, he led the Art Team and served as Curator for Monroe Community Church's ArtPrize venue, which earned the Juried Best Venue Award out of 150 downtown venues in 2022. Between 2017 and 2024, the venue hosted 5 jury finalists and 3 category winners among thousands of entries. Steve, his wife Mary, and college-aged children Jordan and Lucas live on the edge of an urban nature preserve with two chinchillas and a windsprite puppy (whippet/sheltie). He is also an active table-top role-playing game referee with several local gaming groups and is in demand at gaming conventions.
Website: https://elevatestudio.net/
Pamela Alderman
Pamela Alderman promotes creative compassion through interactive healing experiences with the arts.
Pamela is a social practice artist, speaker, and founder of Healing in Arts, a nonprofit that uses art as a bridge to healing. Through collaborative, trauma-informed art experiences, she helps people share their stories, build connections, and discover hope and belonging.
Since founding Healing in Arts in 2016, Pamela has engaged more than 22,000 participants, including veterans, survivors, youth, older adults, individuals with disabilities, and families. Her work has been featured in public art installations and exhibitions across the United States, including projects supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Pamela brings together art, storytelling, and community engagement to create meaningful spaces where people feel seen, valued, and connected.
Pamela holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Azusa Pacific University.
Website: HealingInArts.org
Jody Thomae
Jody Thomae practices creative compassion through blending arts ministry, movement, and embodied faith.
Jody has been on the dual-paths of ministry and body-work for over two decades. In ministry, she has been involved in worship & creative arts since 1997, serving as a worship arts ministry pastor, worship leader, creative arts director, and worship dance team director. She has coordinated artistic involvement in church services and regional worship events through dance, drama, poetry and fine arts. As a certified yoga therapist specializing in trauma, she spreads the gospel of Jesus Christ through faith-based yoga and currently writes/teaches about creativity, spirituality, embodied prayer, and healing movement. She speaks and leads worship at local seminars, retreats, and women's events and teaches on creativity, embodiment, and spirituality as full time faculty for Healing Care Ministries Spiritual Direction Program. Holding an MA in Religion from Ashland Theological Seminary, she is an ordained minister and embodied spiritual director.
Her passion is for the revelation of God, in the person of Jesus Christ, to be made more vibrantly real through worship, creativity and embodied spirituality. It is her desire to portray the message of Christ's desperate and unfailing love for His people to help sustain the hearts of the broken and weary.
She is the author of two books in the Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within series: "God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You" and "The Creator’s Healing Power—Restoring the Broken to Beautiful," both interactive, in-depth devotional Bible studies exploring the connection between healing and creativity, prayer and redemption, surrender and beauty, worship and wholeness. She is the author of "Jesus In My Practice: Bringing the Questions of Jesus to My Movement, My Meditation & My Mat," a devotional guide with suggestions for movement and embodied practice. She is also the author of the seminal work, "Voices of Wisdom in the Body: A Christ-Centered & Body-Based Exploration of Energy."
For additional creative resources and inspiration, visit Jody at:
Kyle Ragsdale
Kyle Ragsdale uniquely conveys creative compassion in his art, curation, and life.
Celebrating 20 years as an artist at the Harrison Center Community, Kyle is the Christel DeHaan Curator of the Harrison Center.
After he attended graduate school, Ragsdale moved to Indianapolis as an emerging artist and painted out of his friend’s garage. A few years later, Executive Director Joanna Taft, invited Ragsdale to have a studio at the Harrison Center and to curate the Harrison Gallery. Ever since, Ragsdale has been an integral part of the Harrison Center and the broader Indianapolis community.
Community is at the heart of everything Ragsdale does–this is reflected in his personal life, artwork, and his role as curator. Ragsdale loves using curating to empower emerging artists: “One of my favorite things is finding people who are doing interesting things but aren’t yet showing their work. I like finding artists and connecting them to our audience.” Cultivating a thriving environment for artists is central to the Harrison Center and to what Ragsdale enjoys about his role. “One of the beautiful things about curating is the ability to serve artists and give them opportunities.”
Learn more: https://kyleragsdale.com/
Tori Bonar
Tori Bonar uses creative compassion and art therapy to help people heal.
Tori is a Provisionally Licensed Art Therapist and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate, having earned a Master's in Art Therapy from the IU Indianapolis Herron School of Art and Design. Working at Groff and Associates, a Christian mental health counseling center located in northern Indianapolis, she integrates a faith-based approach with evidence-based practice. Tori enjoys using art and counseling principles together to support individuals who have experienced loss, trauma, and transitions as well as other ongoing needs. Tori is passionate about faith, art, creativity, stories and community.
Learn more about Groff and Associates HERE.
Jess Hodge
Jess Hodge practices creative compassion through community engagement.
Jess Hodge is an ordained Elder in the Church of the Nazarene and a Certified Community Health Worker. She serves as the Associate Pastor of Youth and Outreach for Fishers Point Community Church and the Operations Director for Groff and Associates, a Christian outpatient mental health facility. As a certified domestic violence advocate, Jess is passionate about participating in Jesus' ministry “to proclaim good news to the poor…to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” (Isaiah 61:1) She enjoys singing and playing the piano, coaching Bible Quizzing, and playing board games. Jess resides in Fishers with her supportive husband (Riley), effervescent daughter (Susannah), and sweet-and-sour cat (Angel).
Joy Lee
Joy Lee helps develop creative compassion in the next generation of response workers.
Joy Lee is the Humanitarian Disaster Institute program administrator for Academic Programs and HDI Associate Fellow at Wheaton College. She has a background in Theatre and Community Arts. She cares deeply about faith-based humanitarian education, art as psychosocial care, gender-based violence issues, racial justice, and creating space for peace work. She has worked on projects in different mediums such as: Torn Memories of Nanking by Tamaki Matsuoka (a collection of testimonies); In Sundry Languages, a play by Toronto Lab Theatre; Make Food, Not War, a short documentary, by Siobhan Productions Inc.; Grand Course, a play by Heidi Shrek; Everything will Live Where the River Goes a mural, University of Dubuque. Joy has her M.A in Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership from Wheaton College and has B.A. degrees in Theatre and Semiotics, and Urban Education from the University of Toronto/OISE.
Learn more about the Humanitarian Disaster Institute HERE.
Lauren Daugherty
Lauren Daugherty practices creative compassion through healing art therapy.
Lauren Daugherty, MA, LMHC, ATR-BC, PMH-C, Clinical Assistant Professor of Art Therapy at Indiana University Indianapolis. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the State of Indiana, a Board-certified Art Therapist, and is certified in perinatal mental health through Postpartum Support International. Prior to her academic role, Lauren established the first art therapy program at a university art museum in the United States at the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University Bloomington. Here, she developed and implemented art therapy programming for individuals with cognitive and physical disabilities, children navigating traumatic experiences, veterans, college students struggling with life transitions, and Bloomington community members in an open studio format. Her work at the museum combined in-gallery experiences with traditional art therapy techniques to promote self-reflection and healing. Following the birth of her son, Reid, Lauren established her private practice where she specializes in working with adult females navigating infertility, infant and child loss, pregnancy, and challenges in the postpartum period. While she no longer works with individual clients, Lauren continues to develop partnerships with local community organizations to provide art therapy experiences for the perinatal community. Lauren and her husband, Rob, have a 4-year-old son, Reid, and they spend most of their fall and spring Saturdays on the sidelines of the soccer field. She and her family attend Mount Pleasant Christian Church and regularly volunteer at the Church’s Impact Center.