2020 Keynoting Team
Click here to read about our 2020 Keynoters!
Rev. Sara Beckham grew up at First Christian Church McKinney and has always considered The Christian Church her home. She has a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in Psychology from Texas Tech University and a Masters of Divinity from Brite Divinity School.
Rev. Sara has served at Juliette Fowler Communities since November 2014 and dearly loves the community as her home, place of work, and church.
She is married to Rev. Jonathan Brink and together they have one fur baby named Mocha. They love to travel, garden, cook, and have fun!
The Rev. Dr. Lara Blackwood Pickrel is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She serves with the good people of First Christian Church in Smithville, Missouri as their Senior Minister.
Lara is married to the Rev. Chuck Pickrel, who is also a DOC pastor and JSK keynoter. They live in Kansas City, MO with their daughter, Violet, and enjoy being a part of both regional youth ministries and JSK camps together.
Lara has been involved in JSK camps since the summer of 2006 when she counseled an Eighters camp for the first time. She has counseled JSK camps every summer since 2006, with the exception of the last three years when she and Chuck began keynoting together.
Rev. Beth Herrinton-Hodge comes to her keynoting role from her work as a Small Group Leader at Eighters camps and as a JSK Ministry board member. She's a Presbyterian pastor, Christian educator, and curriculum editor who worked to develop a sexuality education curriculum for her denomination before she stumbled upon Just Say Know Ministry resources.
Beth loves the camping format for Created to Be Me (Eighters) camp and enjoys visiting and leading the program at various camps.
Beth's "day job" is the director of the Academic Support Center at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Beth is married to Rev. Jay Hodge, who pastors First Presbyterian Church in Shelbyville, KY. Beth and Jay parent two children, both of whom attended Eighters at Camp Wakon'da Ho in Kentucky.
Rev. Suzanne Motter is the Minister for Children, Youth and Families at Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kansas City, Missouri. She's been a part of Just Say Know since she attended 8er's Camp in 1993 at Lake Brownwood Christian Retreat. As soon as she was able, she began serving at 8ers Camps as part of the Program Team, Counselor, Director and has been a Keynoter since 2016. She's served on the Camping Ministry Teams in several Regions and helped to bring Just Say Know to Kentucky and the Kansas City Region. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas Christian University and a Master of Divinity from Brite Divinity School. She is married to Ryan Motter and they have two incredible daughters and the sweetest dog.
Rev. Ryan Motter is an Associate Minister at Community Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Kansas City, Missouri. He’s been a part with Just Say Know since 2014 and has extensive camp experience going back to his own roots as a camper at Tall Oaks Conference Center in Linwood, KS, starting when he was in 7th Grade. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Texas Christian University and a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University Divinity School.
Rev. Chad Penhorwood has been ordained in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) since 2011. He has multiple Undergraduate Degrees from three different institutions, and a Masters of Divinity earned from Lexington Theological Seminary.
I have been part of the Just Say Know camping program since 2008 when I was a Small Group Leader at Camp Wakon’Da-Ho in Kentucky. I have had the honor of serving beside my wife as my main keynote partner at both Camp Caroline and Bethany Beach. I have been privileged to serve with two other Female Keynoters at Disciples Oaks in Gonzales, Texas and Camp Caroline.
My wife, Rev. Kara Swartz, our four daughters, and two dogs live in Winterville North Carolina. I am currently working as a Teacher’s Assistant with AU EC kids and track coach at an area Middle School.
Matt Slayter attended 8ers as a camper in the early 2000s and has since served four summers as an 8ers small group leader leading up to his current role as a keynote speaker. Matt originally hails from Fort Worth, Texas, and has earned a BFA in Theatre Studies from Texas Christian University (Go Frogs!), as well as a Master's in Teaching from RELAY Graduate School of Education.
After spending six years as an elementary school teacher, Matt now serves as the Classroom Programming Coordinator for Pop Culture Classroom, an educational non-profit. Matt loves all things nerdy, including traveling to comic and gaming conventions across the country and educating teachers about utilizing pop culture in their classrooms. Matt currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with his partner Andrew and their two dogs.
Sarah Stewart has been keynoting for Created to Be ministries since 2011. Before keynoting, she spent her summers as far back 2002 serving as a small group leader and program team member. Sarah was the first camper turned keynoter. She attended her own Created to Be Me camp in 1995.
Sarah received her bachelor's degree in English and Theatre from Midwestern State University in 2003. She obtained her masters in English in 2007 from Midwestern State as well.
Sarah lives in Holliday, Texas with her husband Karl Stewart, who has served as an officer with the Wichita Falls Police Department since 2005. They have two children, Michael and Gwynaeth. Sarah is a professor of English at Vernon College, and she also works as a director and producer at The Wichita Theatre in Wichita Falls, Tx.
Rev. Kara Swartz received her BS from Ohio University, Athens and her MDiv from Lexington Theological Seminary. She has been pastor at Hooker Memorial Christian Church in Greenville, North Carolina since 2013.
Kara began her journey with Just Say Know Ministry along with her husband, Chad, in the Summer of 2013. She feels that the conversations on spirituality and sexuality are so vital to the church and she and Chad really wanted to be part of that and have been keynoting since 2014.
Kara lives with her sweet spouse, Rev. Chad Penhorwood, their four daughters and two dogs! Their home is full of a lot of love, a ton of laughter and all of the chaos. Kara’s prayer is to let every single person she comes in contact with in this life know they have value, they have worth, and they are fearfully and wonderfully made, created to be exactly who they are and they are loved by God!
Jenna Engelken first experienced Just Say Know as a camper, the camp was lead by the writers of the program, Linda and Richard. She has a Bachelors in Health Care Management and has grown up within Disciples of Christ.
Jenna has always has always enjoyed camp and bringing together her medical background and educating the youth of today has grown into one of her passions.
Jenna is married to David and has one child named Josie that help keep her busy along with her job as an Events Coordinator/Manager with Strang Hall, a local restaurant.
Ready to learn more? Contact us today for information!
Just Say Know Ministry
c/o Rev. Michael Ratliff
P.O. Box 132941
Spring, Texas 77393
(830) 217-9023