WORKSHOP LEADERS

​Jon Auten has served on staff at Kentucky WMU since August 2011 as a mission consultant for Royal Ambassador and Challengers. Prior to 2011, he served as the pastor for Poplar Level Baptist Church for 16 years. 
​Rick Howerton has served  as the small group specialist at LifeWay Church Resources and NavPress, and is currently the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Church Consultant for the South-Central Region of Kentucky. He has been a church planter, pastor, groups pastor, Baptist Campus Minister, teaching pastor, and church consultant. 
​John Barnett served over 12 years with the International Missions Board doing church planting.  He has over 16 years working with internationals, immigrants, and refugees.  John is a KBC missionary and consultant with the Kentucky Baptist Convention Missions Mobilization Team.
​Stacy Nall has served as preschool and children’s mission consultant for Kentucky WMU over fifteen years.  She was a school teacher for sixteen years before coming on staff.
​Richard Carnes, CFP®, CIMA® is President and CEO of the Kentucky Baptist Foundation (KBF). Richard joined the KBF in 2015 following his service as Vice President and Senior Client Advisor in PNC Institutional Asset Management, serving PNC’s Endowment & Foundation client relationships. Richard has also served as President of the Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation. He has 27 years of investment experience and has earned the designations of Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) and Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA®). 
​MJ Schopp lives in Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky and has been a widow nearly 10 years. She is a team member of Kentucky Joy In The Mourning with a mission to encourage and minister to other widows along my journey.
​Cathy Chinn is the Development Specialist for Kentucky WMU.  She has served as president of Kentucky WMU (2002-2006) and on the national WMU Foundation Board of Directors.
​Ann Tennison and her husband, and two sons have been serving as Ms in Indonesia for the past 8 ½ years. Currently, their primary ministry is serving all IMB personnel working in Indonesia and to the various people groups living in the mega city of Jakarta. Ann and her husband grew up in Kentucky and call Bowling Green home.
​Linda Cooper is the president of national WMU®. Linda is a native of Tompkinsville, Kentucky, and a graduate of Western Kentucky University, where she earned a degree in dental hygiene. She is a member of Forest Park Baptist Church, in Bowling Green, and also holds the position of WMU Director of Warren Association of Baptists,
​Cathy Terrell currently serves as WMU Director and Acteens Leader in her church, Barlow FBC.  She has a passion for missions that has been shaped and developed through her many years of involvement in WMU – from Sunbeams all the way to today!
​Donna Coffey lives in Hodgenville and is a graduate of the Women’s Ministry Institute of Southern Seminary. She has been widowed for almost 6 years and  is currently serving in the KBC widows’ ministry Kentucky Joy in the Mourning.
​Wanda Walker has served on the Kentucky WMU staff as a mission consultant for adults and churchwide since 2014.  Prior to serving with Kentucky WMU she served in counseling and social services for twenty-eight and one-half years.
​Benita Decker, RN is a Program Director in the Division of Women’s Health at the Kentucky Department for Public Health.  She also is the Worship Leader at Farmdale Baptist Church in Frankfort and an Executive Committee Member of the Kentucky Baptist Nursing Fellowship. Benita has been a registered nurse for 30 years.  She is a certified Bridges Out of Poverty trainer. She is passionate about population health her work focuses on empowering Kentucky citizens, especially adolescents and young adults, to achieve optimal health and well-being.    
​Austin Wilkerson is Trust Counsel for the Kentucky Baptist Foundation. Before joining the Foundation, Austin had his own practice where he represented businesses, churches, nonprofits, and other tax-exempt organizations as general counsel. Austin is a former pastor and represents, with several of his family members, a third generation of pastors. Austin is admitted to practice as a member attorney of the Texas State Bar and the Kentucky State Bar.
Liz Encinia is the Executive Director-Treasurer of Kentucky WMU. She previously held the position of ​Missional Lifestyle Strategist at WMU of Texas.
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