Our Team

Brian Hehn

Brian is an inspiring song-leader equally comfortable leading an acapella singing of “It Is Well” as he is drumming and dancing to “Sizohamba Naye.” Experienced using a variety of genres and instrumentations, he has lead worship for Baptists, Roman Catholics, United Methodists, Presbyterians, and many more across the U.S. and Canada. He received his Bachelor of Music Education from Wingate University, his Master of Sacred Music from Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, and is certified in children’s church music (K-12) by Choristers Guild. He has articles published on sacred music and congregational song in multiple journals and co-authored two books under the title “All Hands In” published by Choristers Guild. While working for The Hymn Society as the Director of The Center for Congregational Song he also serves as adjunct professor of church music at Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina. Brian lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife, Eve, and son, Jakob.

Ben Brody

Ben Brody graduated from Whitworth University in 1998, and returned in 2003 to teach in the music department of Whitworth. Prior to his current position, Ben spent four years as director of worship and music at First Presbyterian Church of Seattle. At Whitworth, he teaches courses in church music, conducting, and music history, and coordinates music for campus worship services. Ben cares deeply about the role of music in corporate worship, and is passionate about helping pastors, church musicians, and worship committees develop faithful worship practices in their congregations. Ben is director of music at Colbert Presbyterian Church, in Colbert, Wash., and currently serves on the Washington state board of the American Choral Directors Association. He is also the president-elect of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada and is a published composer of congregational songs.

Mykayla Turner

Mykayla Turner is a Master of Sacred Music student attending Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. Under the direction of Dr. Marcell Silva Steuernagel, her thesis research focuses on the role of music in rural congregations. Mykayla has completed graduate coursework at Conrad Grebel University College and Southern Methodist University in both theological studies and church music. She is an active church musician and liturgist in both Mennonite and ecumenical contexts. In 2023, Mykayla obtained her A.C.C.M. in Piano Performance.

Shannan Baker

Shannan Baker is a postdoctoral fellow in music and digital humanities at Baylor University, where she recently finished her Ph.D. in Church Music (2022).  Her research interests focus on contemporary worship. She studies the theology and content of the lyrics, the music of the songs, the worship music industry, and how contemporary worship is used in the church.  While her current role focuses on research, she searches for ways to connect that research practically to the church.  Recently, she received the Vital Worship Teacher-Scholar grant from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship which allowed her to start the contemporary worship training workshops for the Church Music program at Baylor.

While Shannan currently lives in Waco, Texas, she is originally from Michigan. She received her B.A. in Music (Worship Arts) from Cornerstone University (2016), and an M.A. in Worship (2018) and Th.M. with a concentration in worship (2019) from Calvin Theological Seminary.  Also in Grand Rapids, she served as the worship director for Monroe Community Church for three years.  Currently, she volunteers at her local church where she leads worship and plays various instruments including drums, keys, acoustic guitar, and bass.

Yvette Lau

After obtaining her first and second bachelor degrees in Translation and Chinese (HKPU), and Music (CUHK) respectively and worked in music related work in the government and later in the church in Hong Kong, Yvette Lau furthered her study at Calvin Theological Seminary for M. A. in Worship (2008-2010). She served as a worship pastor in Hong Kong for several years after her graduation at Calvin. She also served as one of the executive committee members of the Hong Kong Hymn Society from 2011-2017. She served at the Worship Committee for the CMA Church Union of HK from 2006-2021. In 2017, she founded Anabas Ministry which is an organization for worship renewal and started to work as a freelancer for worship related ministries including consultancy work. Her passion lies in choral conducting, song writing, hymn translation from English to Cantonese (main translator for New Youth Hymns), event organization, translation of books on worship including The Art of Worship, Beyond the Worship Wars, The Worship Architect, and Glory to God, and training and teaching on worship. She has been the guest instructor on Worship for Alliance Bible Seminary, China Graduate School of Theology, Bethel Bible Seminary, and Hong Kong Baptist Theological Seminary. She is now pursuing Doctor of Pastoral Music at Perkins, SMU under the direction and supervision of Prof. C. Michael Hawn.

Maria Monteiro

Maria Monteiro nació en Recife, Brazil y actualmente ocupa el puesto de Lecturer en Música Sacra en Baylor University, en la ciudad de Waco, Texas. Ella también trabaja como Directora de Música en la Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de San Antonio, Texas. Antes de unirse a Baylor, Maria enseñó música y adoración por diecisiete años en la Universidad Bautista de las Américas en San Antonio. Su experiencia como docente universitaria y directora de música congregacional le ha provisto una conexión esencial entre sus intereses académicos en la música sacra y la vivencia práctica musical en una congregación local. Maria cumplió su carrera universitaria (1987) y su maestría (1991) en el área de historia de la música en Baylor University. Así también tiene un certificado de estudios de posgrado en musicología (1998) en Duke University. En 2021, Maria obtuvo su doctorado (PhD) en el área de música sacra en Baylor University.

Originally from Recife, Brazil, Maria Monteiro serves as Lecturer in Church Music at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and as music director at Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana (First Mexican Baptist Church), in San Antonio. Before joining the Baylor faculty, she taught for seventeen years at Baptist University of the Américas, also in San Antonio. These roles and activities have provided the essential connection between her academic interest in church music and the practical involvement in the musical life of a present-day congregation. Maria holds a Master of Music (1991) and a Bachelor of Music (1987) degrees in Music History and Literature, from Baylor, a certificate of graduate studies in Musicology from Duke University (1998), and a Ph.D. in Church Music (2021) from Baylor University.

Carolyn Moomaw Chilton

Carolyn Moomaw Chilton writes and blogs as a spiritual discipline and an invitation to conversation with others. She a leadership development coach with clergy, clergy spouses and lay employees, as well as a spiritual director. She also works as a consultant with churches and vestries in the areas of formation, development and evangelism. She can be contacted through www.episcopalevangelist.com

Wendell Glick

Wendell is a composer, choir director, and music educator, with a particular interest in contemporary hymnody and choral music. He holds degrees in music composition from Wilfrid Laurier University (BMus), the University of Toronto (MMus) and Western University (PhD), and is a life member of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada.  Wendell’s compositions and choral arrangements have been performed by middle school, high school, college, community and touring ensembles in more than 20 states and provinces, as well as in Ireland, England, Scotland, Poland and Jamaica.  In addition to his music work, he enjoys model trains, tree houses, aviation, rainy days, and life with his best friend Janelle and their four lively children.

David Calvert

David Calvert is the Creative Arts Director for Grace Community Church in rural North Carolina, and a PhD graduate in Theology and Worship from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Cristen Renee Mitchell

Cristen Mitchell is a native of Draper, Virginia and currently lives in Christiansburg with her husband, Brandon and daughter, Anna. She is the full-time Director of Worship Arts at Blacksburg United Methodist Church in Blacksburg, VA. There she oversees the music and worship arts ministries and works with a variety of choral and instrumental ensembles in leading worship. Cristen is the founding president of The Voices of Appalachia and now serves as the Artistic Director. Previously, she served as the assistant director for the Blacksburg Children’s Chorale. 

Cristen is a Doctor of Pastoral Music Candidate at Southern Methodist University, holds a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from James Madison University, a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Radford University, and a Church Music Certificate from Virginia Wesleyan College. Cristen has traveled with her choirs to perform at venues such as Carnegie Hall, and she has been a soloist on stage at the Lincoln Center. She was the 2018 recipient of the John & Mary Virginia Foncannon Choral Conducting/Sacred Music Scholarship, and the 2019 recipient of the John & Mary Foncannon Choral Conducting/Coaching Scholarship.

Matthew Boutda

Matthew Boutda is a conductor, organist, and singer from Toronto, Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Sacred Music degree from the University of Toronto. Currently, he is pursuing his Master of Music in Literature and Performance, studying
choral conducting with Mark Ramsay at the University of Western in London, Ontario.

With a passion and desire for choral music, Matthew is delighted to be a part of the rich music program as Director of Music at Leaside United Church, in Toronto. Here, he plays the organ, conducts, and oversees the Leaside Chancel Choir, Junior Choir, and C-Flats Youth Jazz Band.

As a conductor, Matthew has been the Assistant Conductor of Pax Christi Chorale, one of Canada’s finest oratorio choirs in Toronto for the past three years.

Recently, Matthew helped to form the Uniting Voices Collective. This is a group of musicians that are dedicated to sustaining community through shared song during this time of physical distancing. Uniting Voices Collective has provided and continues to provide interactive virtual sessions that inform and uplift choristers, directors and musicians.

Anneli Loepp Thiessen

Anneli Loepp Thiessen is a PhD student in the Interdisciplinary Music Research program at the University of Ottawa, where her studies with Dr. Jada Watson promote an interdisciplinary musicological approach to issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the contemporary worship music industry. Anneli is the co-director of the Anabaptist Worship Network, and was a committee member for the new Mennonite hymnal, Voices Together. She holds her ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music, a graduate diploma in Arts Management from Queen’s University, and was named a Yamaha Fellow of the Eastman Leadership Academy in 2020. She enjoys writing music for worship, guiding youth in uncovering their song leading abilities, and helping communities consider how their congregational song can be more inclusive.

Megan Mash

Megan Mash began serving as the Music Minister at Sebastian United Methodist Church in August 2010. She attended Simpson College in Indianola, IA and graduated summa cum laude earning a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Religion. In May 2010 Megan graduated magna cum laude with a Master’s of Sacred Music with a concentration in organ from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. Here she studied with Larry Palmer, David R. Davidson, Julie Scott and Michael Hawn and Christopher Anderson. She served as Dean of the Treasure Coast Chapter of AGO for the 2017-2018 season.

Slats Toole

Slats Toole is a musician, writer, educator, preacher and theater director/sound designer based in Minneapolis, MN. They are an active member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and have had formative experience in Baptist (CBF and Alliance), United Methodist, Episcopal, and Reformed churches.  They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a Master of Divinity and Certificate in Theology, Women and Gender from Princeton Theological Seminary.  They serve on the Friends of NEXT Church team, and are the resident sound designer for the In[heir]itance Project.

Slats’ Lenten poetry series has been compiled in the collection Queering Lent, and their work has also been published in “History of Hymns”, Call to Worship, Sacramental Life, and The Presbyterian Outlook. They have been a featured guest artist with A Sanctified Art. Slats has led workshops on expansive language and queer theology (with a particular emphasis on gender identity) throughout the United States and Canada.  Slats’ work centers around creating space in the church where all are welcomed, embraced, and loved.

Joslyn Henderson

Joslyn Henderson is a full-time graduate student at Truett Seminary and Baylor School of Music, having first earned her Bachelors of Vocal Performance from Spelman College in Atlanta.  She is a prolific gospel singer and worship leader. In addition, Joslyn is also an active member of the Waco Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.