Presenters
Annual Gathering 2019
About the Presenters
Annual Gathering 2019
A diversity of perspectives will enrich our weekend theme through plenary and workshop sessions as we explore the theme, Well-being for All: Developing Resilience in Healthcare. Following are brief introductions of plenary session and workshop presenters. Watch for updates to this page as more information becomes available.
About Annual Gathering 2019
John Boll, DO, FAAFP
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Dr. John Boll is Associate Director of the Williamsport Family Medicine Residency at UPMC Susquehanna Health. He practices full-spectrum family medicine in Williamsport, Pennsylvania where he also does outreach in the Amish and Plain communities. He is very interested in teaching medical students and residents to prepare them to work in underserved communities. He and his wife, Jennifer, have five children.
Charlene Epp, MDiv
Lakewood, Colorado
Charlene Epp serves as an Intermittent Chaplain at Denver Health Medical Center. She serves in covering all units when on duty for this level one trauma center, offering ten hours a week of focused attention to the Labor & Delivery, Mom/Baby, NICU, Pediatrics and PICU. Prior to this role she has ministered as a hospice chaplain, served on a Palliative Care team, and worked full-time as a chaplain at Providence Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. She received her MDiv degree from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and is ordained in Mennonite Church USA.
Beyond vocational work as a chaplain, Charlene taught pre-school and elementary age children for over 14 years. She is a Spiritual Director, co-facilitating groups and companioning individuals in their spiritual walk. She is currently serving in a part-time capacity as a Regional Conference Minister in Mountain States Mennonite Conference. Charlene and her marital partner, Duncan Smith are active members at Glennon Heights Mennonite Church. They share the joy of having called many places “home” in their life together. Among the many delights of living, Charlene enjoys gardening, hiking, hosting guests, quilting, reading and writing.
James Nelson Gingerich, MD
Goshen, Indiana
James lived in North Goshen during the time he attended Goshen College. He fell in love with the diversity and pluck of the people living in the neighborhood. Understanding that the people in the neighborhood needed medical care, James decided to attend medical school in order to be able to provide the medical care that the community needed.
James graduated from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago in 1985. After residency, James, his wife Barb, and two sons moved back to James’s beloved neighborhood. James and Barb helped their neighbors create a health center in 1989. James’s community leadership and work for Maple City Health Care Center earned the National Dorothy Richardson Neighborworks Award in 2006.
In 2012, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s LEAP project chose Maple City Health Care Center as one of thirty-one exemplary practices from throughout the nation. James and other leaders from the thirty-one organizations contributed to a model of primary care that the foundation is now disseminating.
In addition to fostering healthy community, James enjoys bee-keeping, sailing, weaving, Sacred Harp singing, and regular trips to hear the Chicago Symphony.
Clair Hochstetler, MDiv
Cincinnati, Ohio
Clair Hochstetler was a Voluntary Service administrator and college admissions counselor before pastoring Church of the Brethren and Mennonite congregations. For the past 24 years he has been a professional chaplain in public hospitals and hospices in Goshen, Indiana; Canberra, Australia; and Cincinnati, Ohio. He and his wife Carole Anne moved to Cincinnati three and a half years ago after living/working seven years in Australia. He doesn’t like the idea of retirement but enjoys spending time with three grandchildren in Chicago. Clair maintains his balance in life by unicycling, balloon-twisting, clowning, playing harmonica, singing in community choirs, Lyft driving, and adventuring around the globe. He has been actively involved with Cincinnati Mennonite Fellowship and is a member of the Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship Board. His current biggest challenge in life is weaning from Facebook!
Harrison Horst
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrison Horst is a co-host and producer of Shifting Climates, a podcast sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions (CSCS) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. A lifelong environmentalist, Harrison is coming to realize that looking at climate change through the lens of “community health” may be more appropriate or relevant than the commonly-used lens of “planetary health.” The psychology of behavior change, especially in regards to climate change, has also been a particular interest of his for several years, and much of Harrison’s undergraduate research focused on climate change perceptions and the obstacles for personal behavior change.
Though his degree is in sociology, Harrison has found himself drawn to communications and currently enjoys freelancing for a local news blog, The Harrisonburg Citizen. After the year-long CSCS Fellowship ends in July, he hopes to move to China and temporarily work as an English teacher at a university with Mennonite Partners in China. In the meantime, however, Harrison enjoys the bikeable pace of life in Harrisonburg. When he’s not thinking about climate change, Harrison enjoys playing saxophone with the community jazz band and coaching the local Bible quizzing team.
Carol Martin Johnson, MA
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Carol Martin Johnson is an Art Psychotherapist in private practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is married to Tim Johnson who served as Interim Executive Director of Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship, March through August, 2017. They have made Philadelphia (the city they love!) their home for more than 25 years. She enjoys walking and biking around the city, building shelters for several neighborhood cats and is working on perfecting her kombucha skills (with the help of several neighborhood critics!).
Susan A. Lanford
Vancouver, Washington
Susan Lanford serves as Director of Mission Services/Healthcare Chaplain for the Columbia Network, PeaceHealth, providing oversight to the work of spiritual care, organizational and clinical ethics, mission integration, and leadership formation. Prior to this role, she was Manager of Spiritual Care Services for PeaceHealth’s Columbia Network, coming to PeaceHealth from United Regional Health Care System in Wichita Falls, Texas, as its Director of Pastoral Care Services. Susan has also served as chaplain with Baptist Health in Little Rock, Arkansas and as Program Manager of an outpatient clinic at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, offering programs in stress and symptom management programs based on a behavioral medicine approach.
Susan has also been a free-lance writer, editor, and speaker for 30+ years in the areas of personal spirituality, finding and living one’s mission/purpose, holistic care, resiliency, and stress management. She earned a BA in English and Psychology from Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, Master of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, and did additional graduate study in marriage and family therapy at Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas. She is an ordained minister and endorsed chaplain with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and along with her husband Randy, an active member of Portland Mennonite Church. Susan and Randy have two grown sons and one grown daughter whom they adore, three amazing children-in-law, and six beautiful grandchildren. They share a delight in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and in finding themselves some of its newest residents.
Paul D. Leichty, MDiv
Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Paul Leichty has been Executive Director of Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship (MHF) since September 2011. After a medical leave of almost nine months, he returned to his role with MHF in September 2017. Paul has also served as a pastor, church musician, computer support person, disabilities advocate, and administrator/organizer of a number of church-related ministries. In addition to responsibilities at MHF, Paul is Executive Director of Congregational Accessibility Network and an occasional consultant as outgoing Director of User Services at Mennonite.net. He is an active teacher and elder at Agape Fellowship of the Mennonite Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He lives in Williamsport with his wife, Twila Charles Leichty.
Sarah Longenecker
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Sarah Longenecker is a podcast producer, photographer, and web-designer for Shifting Climates, a project sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions (CSCS) in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Though Sarah’s degree is in photography, much of her college education centered around environmental sustainability. Two experiences in particular that led Sarah to climate communication were a conservation photography course where students created projects in opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and a semester long program where she studied environmental ethics and environmental justice.
When she’s not working, Sarah spends much of her time reading up on pop culture, collecting compost, and sharing meals with friends. Her wildest dream is to one day collaborate with environmental artist, Jason DeCaires Taylor (look him up!).
Rebekah Maldonado-Nofziger, BSN, RN, DNP
Seattle, Washington
Rebekah Maldonado-Nofziger graduated this spring from the University of Washington with a Doctor of Nursing Practice in Population Health. She is a 2012 nursing graduate of Eastern Mennonite University. Following work in Seattle, Washington, she completed her nursing practicum in Gondar, Ethiopia as a fellow in the Strengthening Care Opportunities through Partnership in Ethiopia (SCOPE) program. Her project involved building partnerships with Ethiopian Orthodox Priests and the Health Development Army as health educators to meet new pregnant women in their homes and talk about the importance of antenatal care and having their delivery at the health center with a skilled attendant. The hope is that this will assist in ultimately reducing the maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Ethiopia. With the assistance of a SET grant through the Mennonite Health Fellowship, Rebekah completed her final project at the School of Nursing at University of Gondar for her DNP degree. She is currently seeking a career in public health either internationally or stateside.
Michaela Mast
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Michaela Mast is co-host and producer of Shifting Climates, a podcast sponsored by the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions (CSCS) in Harrisonburg, VA. Though her bachelor’s degree is in psychology, Michaela’s deepest interests lie at the intersection of disciplines – the places where psychology, neuroscience, theology, and creative art converge. Her passion for climate change communication lies at this intersection, where the physical, mental, and spiritual health of each person in our global community comes into focus.
Along with her work as a fellow for CSCS, Michaela is a volunteer assistant for Eastern Mennonite University’s Cross Country and Track & Field teams. A competitive runner herself, if not on the track you may find her exploring the mountains bordering the Shenandoah Valley, seeking out good four-part-harmony, honing her novice pottery skills in the ceramics studio, or cooking a new ethnic dish with her family.
Grant Miller, MDiv
Elkhart, Indiana
Grant Miller recently completed a Master of Divinity at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary with a focus in History, Theology, and Ethics and works as the Communications and Projects Manager at the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism. He currently lives in Elkhart, Indiana and is an active member of Berkey Avenue Mennonite Fellowship.
Indigo Miller, BSN, RN, MPH
Boston, Massachusetts
Indigo Miller is a registered nurse hailing from the slopes of the Colorado Rockies and finishing her Master of Public Health degree at Boston University. She received her BSN from Goshen College in 2013 and worked in her hometown of Colorado Springs for several years as a long-term care nurse and postpartum hospital nurse. In 2016-17 she spent eight months of public health volunteering in Tanzania. Indigo has been drawn to studying and advocating for sexuality education and reproductive health and was a 2018 BU Maternal Child Health Practice Fellow working on a project assessing and evaluating the integration of reproductive services and substance use disorder treatment. She loves staying active with running, cycling, and yoga in Boston, while making an effort to explore this new New England wilderness. Indigo currently serves as Vice-President of the MHF Board and chair of the Development Committee.
Sibonokuhle Ncube
Harare Zimbabwe
Dr. Sibonokuhle Ncube is national coordinator of Compassionate Development Service, the relief and development agency of the Brethren in Christ Church of Zimbabwe. She has 18 years of experience in various development contexts, including programs in climate change management, climate finance governance and disaster preparedness. Sibo and her husband live with their three daughters in Harare, where she serves as Deaconess at the Lobhengula Brethren In Christ Church. Her presentation at Annual Gathering is possible through the cooperation of the Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions, (CSCS).
Michael Reece, ND
Ephrata, Pennsylvania
Michael Reece is a naturopathic doctor from Ephrata, Pennsylvania (just north of Lancaster, PA). He received his ND degree from the John Bastyr College of Naturopathic Medicine (now known as Bastyr University) in 1983, and has practiced in Pennsylvania since graduation. He is a member of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Pennsylvania Association of Naturopathic Physicians, California Naturopathic Doctors Association, Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians, and the National Center for Homeopathy. He served as President of the Pennsylvania Association of Naturopathic Physicians for 11 years, and served four years on the AANP Board of Directors. He worked to help pass licensing legislation in Pennsylvania since 1999. November 2016 saw the passage of a registration bill for naturopathic doctors in Pennsylvania, and he is now working with the current PANP President in meetings with the Pennsylvania Board of Medicine’s Rules and Regulations Committee. His hobbies include playing drums and keyboards with various musical groups.
Janelle M. Zimmerman, RN, BA
Reinholds, Pennsylvania
Janelle Zimmerman works in pediatric home care and does health coaching as a ministry. She grew up in an Old Order Mennonite community in rural Wisconsin, and moved to Pennsylvania in 2011 to attend nursing school. The inevitable culture clash led to an exploration of sociological concepts in an attempt to make sense of her experience. Since 2012, she has been presenting to academic and professional audiences about various aspects of Amish and Mennonite culture. Her hobbies include guitar playing, reading, and continuing education. She loves and serves Jesus together with an eclectic group of believers in a house fellowship.