ReFocus Coaches play a vital role in guiding ministry teams through a self-evaluation process that fosters intergenerational discipleship and strategic growth.
Using the ReFocus three-step coaching model, coaches help churches assess their generational landscape, identify key areas for connection, and develop actionable plans for ministry impact. Coaches also provide a 6-month follow-up to support accountability and ongoing development.
To become a ReFocus Coach, you must first complete a ReFocus Ministry Cohort. Once completed, you can participate in a 4-hour ReFocus Coach Training, where you will learn the coaching framework, practice facilitating conversations, and gain access to exclusive resources. If you’re passionate about helping churches grow in intentional ministry, we invite you to take this next step!
Meet Our Coaches
Christina Embree
Founder/Director
christina@refocusministry.org
Christina Embree is the founder and director of ReFocus Ministry. She holds a doctorate in spiritual formation with a focus on age segregation and intergenerational ministry and a masters in ministry focused on Children, Youth, and Family Ministry.
In addition to coaching churches of multiple denominations and traditions all around the globe, she is widely recognized as a speaker and author in the areas of generational discipleship, intergenerational ministry, and family ministry
Christina coaches all of our ReFocus Ministry Cohorts including all follow-up coaching and leads the ReFocus Coaches Training.
Joy Brown
ReFocus Coach
joy@refocusministry.org
Joy has served as the Pastor of Worship and Family Life at Amherst Community BIC Church in Massillon, Ohio, for 15 years. Her passion is to see people of all ages grow in their knowledge and understanding of God’s great love for them and then to live their lives to honor God. She brings this passion into her work connecting generations together. She believes our faith is strengthened when we learn from one other and all generations can sow into the lives of others. She has seen firsthand how a congregation can come alive through intergenerational ministry models and she is passionate about seeing more congregations experience this life-giving approach to ministry.
Joy is also a wife and mother to two (soon to be three) amazing children who have grown in their faith journeys by experiencing intergenerational ministry in their own church. She understands the impact that one generation can have upon the next and the importance of discipling future generations.
Teresa Goller
ReFocus Coach
teresa@refocusministry.org
Teresa has served as a Director of Christian Educator for 31 years. Currently, she has been serving at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Decatur, IL for the past 16 years. Her ministry at Westminster, in addition to Christian Education, has included organizing and leading committees, leading our Worship service, and being responsible for communication.
Teresa has a passion for connecting generations. Her favorite part of what she does is watching meaningful relationships develop between the adult leaders and the children and youth. She is excited to help you and your church family find the ways they can connect across generations for lifelong discipleship.
Ryan Cagno
ReFocus Coach
ryan@refocusministry.org
Ryan was born and raised in Harrisburg, PA and still lives there with his wife Ashleigh, daughter Naomi and foster daughter DW. In addition to his role with ReFocus has served since 2010 in various capacities within the Brethren in Christ Church; currently he serves as the Pastor of Discipleship at Harrisburg BIC and as the Director of Next Gen Ministries for the BIC’s Atlantic Conference. He is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College (’11) and Princeton Theological Seminary (’18).
With experience and education in youth, young adult and adult ministry, Ryan is driven in all of his different roles to see generational siloes broken down, and in their place to see built up the type of vibrant, transformative, intergenerational church that Jesus envisioned and modeled.
Kelly Henderschedt
ReFocus Coach
kelly@refocusministry.org
Kelly Henderschedt has dedicated over two decades to Catholic ministry and education, serving as an educator, catechist, parish director of faith formation, and currently as the Archdiocesan Director of Faith Formation in Hartford. Her areas of expertise include family catechesis, parent formation, and evangelization. For the past 20 years, she has also enjoyed leading retreats for adults, teens, and children.
Deeply committed to fostering intergenerational faith experiences, Kelly emphasizes the importance of bringing families and communities together to worship, serve, grow, and learn. She works passionately to bridge gaps in ministry that can hinder meaningful connections across generations.
Kelly holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education, as well as a Master’s degree in Religious Education from Fordham University. She and her husband live in Connecticut and are proud parents of four young adult children.
Stephanie Peterson
ReFocus Coach
smp@refocusministry.org
Stephanie serves as the Pastor of Children’s Discipleship for the Brethren in Christ U.S. Great Lakes Conference and describes herself as a Jesus-following, dinosaur-loving, mac and cheese-eating mom, wife, artist and children’s minister who lives and works in Wilmore, Kentucky.
She currently creates children and toddler formation curricula while also working with parents and kiddos through Asbury Seminary’s Student Life and Formation Dept, The Brethren in Christ Great Lakes Conference and beyond!
Aria Rajnic
ReFocus Coach
aria@refocusministry.org
Aria studied Worship and Congregational Ministry at Messiah University and has served churches and ministries of various denominations in the areas of visionary leadership, worship, preaching, mentorship, and ministry to women, children, and families.
She has cared for families as a pastor, nanny, housekeeper, and birth doula. One fun fact about Aria is that she’s a lifelong dancer and loves guiding people to connect with God through movement.
She has become a ReFocus coach because she believes God expands His people’s faith through relationships with one another across differences, including life stage and generation, and she loves walking with churches as they bravely step into the ways God desires to bless them.
Matt Franks
ReFocus Coach
matt@refocusministry.org
Matt Franks serves as Lead Pastor of Arvada United Methodist Church in Arvada, Colorado, where he is passionate about building communities of faith that are curious, courageous, and deeply connected across generations. Drawing on Wesleyan theology and years of local church ministry, Matt brings a warm, collaborative approach to helping congregations discover their story and grow into it together. He also co-hosts The Bearded Theologians podcast and loves finding the sacred in everyday culture — from the Psalms to the big screen.
Koren Lindley
ReFocus Coach
koren@refocusministry.org
Koren Lindley serves as Deacon of Faith Formation & Outreach at Trinity Lutheran Church in Madison, SD. Koren is passionate about creating spaces where people of all ages can belong, learn, worship, and grow together as children of God. Koren believes that faith is formed in relationships and that every generation has gifts to share. Through intergenerational ministry, storytelling, and creative learning experiences, she helps congregations discover meaningful ways for children, youth, and adults to connect, serve, and deepen their faith together. When she is not serving in ministry, Koren enjoys reading, quilting, creating art, spending time with her family, and hearing the stories that connect us to one another and to God.
Maureen Brown
ReFocus Coach
maureen@refocusministry.org
Maureen Brown serves as Pastor of Intergenerational Ministries at Forest Grove Community Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and brings more than 30 years of ministry experience. Passionate about helping generations grow together in faith, she has dedicated her ministry to fostering meaningful discipleship and connection across all ages. In addition to coaching, Maureen is a Spiritual Director and speaker. Her greatest passion is to see individuals, leaders, and churches gain greater clarity, purpose, and alignment in their calling. She is committed to helping people remain deeply rooted in Christ and nurture a faith that transforms lives across generations.
Renae Boehmer
ReFocus Coach
renae@refocusministry.org
Rev. Renae Boehmer is an ELCA pastor and Director of the Holy Playground Initiative in the South Dakota Synod, helping congregations imagine worship and community life where all generations—especially the youngest children—are welcomed as full participants. Before this work, Renae served as pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she had also spent five years in children’s ministry, nurturing spaces of belonging, wonder, and faith formation. Renae brings experience from parish ministry, children’s ministry, and clinical pastoral education/chaplaincy in the Twin Cities. As a coach, she finds joy in sharing practical ideas while also helping each congregation discern its own faithful path—because ministry is rarely one-size-fits-all. Renae believes the best ministry conversations include deep listening, honest questions, plenty of grace, and, whenever possible, a well-timed snack.
Laura Overbo
ReFocus Coach
laura@refocusministry.org
Laura Overbo is an ordained pastor in the ELCA and currently serves the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Watertown, SD. She is mom to three boys, two in college and one in high school. Thanks to the kids, they have three cats and two dogs. Laura loves to quilt, read, and spend time at their cabin on Lake Poinsett.
Beth Herrinton-Hodge
ReFocus Coach
beth@refocusministry.org
Beth Herritnon-Hodge is a Teaching Elder/Pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with forty years of experience in faith formation, congregational ministry, and curriculum development. Her initial sense of call and the ministry that stirs her heart is working with children, youth, and families, bringing together people of varied ages and generations to grow in faith and service. Beth currently serves a small congregation in Georgetown, Kentucky, where she is promoting a vision that embraces intergenerational worship and community. She enjoys putting into practice what she's learned in ReFocus Ministry about bringing together generations in lifelong discipleship. She looks forward to walking alongside other church leaders as they refocus ministry in their congregations.
Beth is married to Jay Hodge, a retired PCUSA pastor. Together, they parent two young adult children who are leaving the nest and making their way in the world.
Jacki Braun
ReFocus Coach
jackie@refocusministry.org
The photo and biography for Jacki Braun are coming soon.
Your Coaching Journey
Your ReFocus coaching experience begins with a FREE 30-Minute Initial Coaching Call and ends with a congregation connected to one another and their community like never before. Together, you and/or your team will discover the generations in your church, identify the bridges and barriers to intergenerational interaction, and create an action plan to grow your community.
Connect Generations Coaching & Assessement
Connect Generations Coaching is a one-time intensive coaching experience that uses a research-based ministry assessment tool designed for churches to complete in less than a week.
You’ll work directly with a ReFocus Coach in this unique coaching experience that offers specific insight into the barriers and bridges to connect generations in your faith community.
Email for a sample of the Connect Generations Assessment.
