The Board of Directors for the Center for Preaching, Evangelization, and Prayer is a delightful mix of personalities and talents. Each board member brings unique strengths and backgrounds to help to create a vibrant non-profit organization which focuses on strengthening leaders in ministry. And as you can see from the photos, we have a good time doing it, too!
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President: Karla J. Bellinger
Karla J. Bellinger’s empirical research in preaching is currently pioneering new avenues for preaching assessment and improvement.
She is a woman with a broad experience of life. This wealth of wisdom flows into her consulting, speaking, and teaching, bringing refreshing insight into how to make the gospel real to the people of God.
Dr. Bellinger’s 2012 doctorate in preaching centered around a Catholic young listener study, surveying 561 Catholic high school students from six regions of the country. She also interviewed clergy to ascertain their needs in connecting their Sunday preaching with youth. Her thesis, entitled Are You Talking to Me? A Study of Young Listeners’ Connection with Catholic Sunday Preaching, provides insight into how to reach today’s youth, from their own words.
Karla has been a youth minister, high school theology teacher, soccer and volleyball coach, hospital chaplain, retreat leader, parish pastoral associate for evangelization and adult faith formation; she and her husband Daniel are the parents of five young adults. She is a certified lay ecclesial minister for the diocese of Cleveland. Before getting her DMin in preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology, she obtained an M.A. in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame and a B.S. in forestry from North Carolina State University.
Fun fact: Karla plays seven instruments, but rarely in public and few of them well.
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Vice-President: William E. Baker, PhD
Bill is one of the brains of this operation. He keeps us sharp, especially with insights into how the human mind works and how to measure those workings. Dr. Baker is the chair of the department of marketing at the University of Akron. He has a BA in psychology and a PhD in consumer psychology. His areas of expertise are consumer behavior and core competency alignment. He has been a Senior Research Adviser with Gallup since 2006 and is among the top cited authors in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science in the past 10 years.
Fun fact: In his spare time, Bill climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro long after the much of the world would have retired.
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Secretary: Lisa K. Massello
Lisa Massello brings strong organizational and leadership skills to our team. She also shares a wealth of background and experience in curriculum design/development as well as educational assessment.
Lisa is a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, where she serves as a lector and Eucharistic minister. She is currently a biology teacher at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. Previously, she served as principal at Our Lady of the Elms Dominican High School for eight years. Lisa holds three master’s degrees: in education, genetics, and educational administration.She says, “I love to take notes for this board and keep all of these fine minds on track…”
Fun fact: A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Lisa enjoys competing with her two Labradors in the team sport of dock diving.
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Treasurer: Mark Shelton
As treasurer, Mark Shelton helps to oversee the financial aspects of this organization. His four years at a bank may have helped him acquire this position, but his real passion is business development and fundraising.
As an award winning cinematographer/videographer with a strong background in advertising and marketing, Mark has been involved with non-profits and fundraising for over 30 years. In his current position at the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation, he helps to secure funding for continuing medical education programs for physicians.
“The non-profit world has always helped me connect to important causes I believe in and want to support.” The CPEP’s mission has the potential to impact the lives of people worldwide, and that potential is very exciting and invigorating.”
A Cleveland native, Mark, his wife Linda and daughter Christina belong to Saint Basil the Great Church in Brecksville, OH. Mark writes for the parish newsletter and is actively seeking funding for his parish’s Honduras mission.
Fun fact: Mark supervises the video booth for the filming of the Cleveland Brown’s football games. He has no control over whether or not they win those games.
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Phyllis Hilkert
(coming soon)
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Charles Parsons
Chuck has been a strategic consultant for a variety of organizations for many years. Having served on more than fifteen non-profit boards, he has been of great help in getting this new non-profit up and running, built on a solid foundation.
As a former school superintendent of the Wadsworth Public Schools, he led his district to be recognized by Money Magazine as one of best 100 Schools in the United States. In that role, he received the Exemplary Leadership Award from the Buckeye Association of School Administrators
Fun fact: Ask him about his grandchildren, who are the delight of his life.