Meet the Board
Meet Our Board Members
Board Member Profiles
See also: Our Staff
Nina Bell
- Name
- Nina Bell
- Church Affiliation
- Jamestown Free Methodist Church
Jamestown, NY - Favorite Scripture
- Psalm 25:4
- Psalm 25:4
- “Make me know Your ways, O LORD ; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.”
- Hope for The Better Place
The Better Place is an extraordinary endeavor to bring people together to worship, pray, provide renewal experience and Sabbatical opportunities for pastors and leaders. It is by faith that we can dare to step out of the ordinary and step into the extraordinary. With millions of dollars spent in our community for sports, the arts, and tourism, we have an opportunity for the Christian community to pull together to bring the vision for “The Better Place” to fruition.
Brett Heintzman
- Name
- Brett Heintzman
- Church Affiliation
- Brett is the pastor of the Jamestown First Free Methodist Church in Jamestown, NY
- Favorite Scripture
- Rom 11:33-36 - Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
- Hope for The Better Place
- My hope is that through ministries like the Better Place, the grace of God will abound in tangible ways in Jamestown, the surrounding areas, Chautauqua County, Western NY, our State, our nation, and beyond. My hope is that people everywhere would connect with the God who created them, loves them, and desires to restore them to completeness as He designed from the very beginning. In order to know the living God of the universe, we must be before Him in a continual posture of prayer. As we humble ourselves before Him, He will shine down on us and speak to us, empower us and heal us, bring salvation and restoration. My hope is that the Better Place will be an integral part of that process in this area.
Mary Hinsdale
- Name
- Mary Hinsdale
- Church Affiliation
- Kiantone Congregational Church
- Favorite Scripture
- Psalm 18:2-3 - The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
- John 3:17 - For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
- Hope for The Better Place
My vision is for The Better Place to be a venue where God’s restoration can b e given to those in ministerial roles so they can b e renewed, regenerated, and refreshed. Jesus said – in Matthew 11:28 – Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. I believe that we can be the hands and feet for Jesus to provide a place where others can meet Jesus on their knees and be revitalized by Him. The Better Place may also have opportunities, confirmed by God through prayer, to unite with other like-minded ministries to work together for God’s purpose so that more can be done for Gods Kingdom that could be accomplished by working alone.
Ronetta (Ronnie) L. Lafferty
- Name
- Ronnie Lafferty
- Church Affiliation
- First United Methodist Church of Fredonia, NY
- Favorite Scripture
- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness...For when I am weak, then I am strong."
- Hope for The Better Place
That everyone who is a friend or a brother to Christ will choose, out of love and devotion, to sit at the feet of Jesus Christ for a while. May this location be a place where anyone can come and sit, receive bread enough for the day and living water to relieve their thirst.
It should be a place of healing and restoration, a place of worship and adoration.
This physical place should be in harmony with the environment.
I would not want maintenance to be a burden physically or financially. Flora should be local, mowing kept to a minimum (noise pollution), built to "green" standards using a minimum of resources and occupying a minimum of space.
Perhaps have the flora include a garden for herbs, fruits and vegetables; maybe an orchard. Thus food can be provided at low cost to guests. Also gardening is very much akin to working with God.
Please include a good system for air exchange.
C. D. ("Carly") Moore
- Name
- C. D. ("Carly") Moore
- Church Affiliation
- Wesleyan
Warren, PA - Favorite Scripture
- The Holy Bible, NIV... It varies from day to day. For now: Philippians 3:7-11 - But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
- Hope for The Better Place
It is my hope The Better Place will be on the cutting edge of ministry that brings renewal, revival and transformation to the pastors, the church and the entire region. It is my hope that The Better Place will be a model of empowerment ministry that gives pastors and churches a second wind, encouragement and a better understanding of communing with God. It is my hope that The Better Place will receive great blessings and multiply them by the grace of God many times over for others.
Kimberly R. Park
- Name
- Kimberly R. Park
- Church Affiliation
- Fluvanna Community Church
Jamestown, NY - Favorite Scripture
- Ephesians 4:32 - Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another; even as God, for Christ sake, has forgiven you!
- Romans 12 - [favorite passage This is my life line. I pattern my life after this portion of scripture.]
- Continually renewing my mind, loving without pretense, living in honor giving preference to others, rejoicing with those who rejoice, overcoming evil with good etc.
- Hope for The Better Place
My hope for The Better Place is to provide an atmosphere conducive to hearing the still small voice (I Kings 19:11 12). Society, occupations, family and even ministry keep us in a whirlwind most of the time. We need a place to separate ourselves from the “wind, earthquake, and fire, and learn to recognize and listen to the still small voice of the Lord. It is my hope that The Better Place would provide, and encourage an atmosphere conducive to many finding such a needed refuge. (As I personally reflect on my own life, the most precious time of God revealing Himself to me has been at a quiet retreat. A place where the still small voice was the loudest.) It is my hope The Better Place can provide such intimacy with our loving God.
James S. Pegan
- Name
- James S. Pegan
- Church Affiliation
- United Methodist Church of Boonville, NY
Boonville, NY - Favorite Scripture
- Luke 11:35-36 - Jesus said See to it, then that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you. (NIV)
- Hope for The Better Place
The better place already exists, but has been largely lost within the Church. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God had arrived and was within God's people. My hope for the Better Place is that, through prayer and fervently seeking God's face, Christian disciples will be healed of their earthly weaknesses and made available to boldly proclaim and advance God's Kingdom. The Better Place will be a tool to bring God’s people together, heal them and send them back to their places of ministry, wherever that may be. God will use the Better Place to tear down walls that exist between Christians, freeing them to more truly become the Body of Christ. The Better Place will be a catalyst for spiritual revival, a place where people’s eyes and ears will be focused and tuned into the things that God is already doing in our land so that they can praise him and get on board with him!
Cindy Robison
- Name
- Cindy Robison
- Church Affiliation
- Healing Word Ministries Church
Jamestown, NY
(An affiliate congregation of the Church of God, Cleveland, TN) - Favorite Scripture
- Matthew 4:4 - It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
- Hope for The Better Place
That everyone who comes will hear a word from God that will change their lives. That this would be a place that Isaiah 30:21 comes alive. And your ears will hear a word behind you saying, This is the way; walk in it, when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left.
Maureen Schafer
- Name
- Maureen Schafer
- Church Affiliation
- Revolutionary Life Church (a Dove Fellowship Congregation)
Jamestown, NY - Web site
- Samaritan House - an outreach ministry serving families in need.
- Favorite Scripture
- John 15:16 - You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you. (AMP)
- Hope for The Better Place
My hope is for renewal and unity among the churches of the region served by The Better Place. To be an oasis for pastors and prayer warriors to come and be refreshed. To be a place where we come together fulfilling Jesus Christ’s prayer: …so that they all may be one just as You, Father, are in me and I in You, that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent me. John 17:21
Mark A. Summers
- Name
- Mark A. Summers
- Church Affiliation
- Abbe Reformed Church
Clymer, NY - Favorite Scripture
- Isaiah 55:11 - So shall my word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
- Hope for The Better Place
First, That the BP will be a place of rest, refreshment, restoration and recharging for pastors, missionaries, Christian workers, anybody working on the front line of spiritual warfare needing a place of rest.
Secondly, I hope that The Better Place will be the leader in our area for teaching, developing and discipling the area churches and church people about prayer. Whether this is creating training seminars, teaching seminars, creating multimedia presentations or beginning prayer groups throughout our area, whatever it takes to teach about prayer to our local area.
