About Our Team

EMAIL:  laura@thecaringcongregation.com

Rev. Laura Lee Berg is from Winter Haven, Florida.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky in 1981.  Laura then returned to Florida and worked as a litigation paralegal for approximately 16 years until she answered her call to full time ministry and attended Asbury Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida.  Laura received her Master of Divinity from Asbury in Orlando in 2006.  She is an Ordained Deacon in full connection in the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.  

Laura served at Edgewater UMC in Edgewater, Florida for 8 years as the worship leader for a non-traditional worship/dining experience intended as an outreach ministry to the homeless community and unchurched population in Volusia County, Florida. She then served as a Hospice Chaplain for 9 years before serving Coronado Community UMC in New Smyrna Beach, Florida as Minister of Congregational Care. Laura also serves as a Chaplain for the City of New Smyrna Beach Police & Fire Departments. While serving at Coronado, Laura received training in Congregational Care under the leadership of Rev. Karen Lampe, founding pastor of the Caring Congregation, LLC.  Alongside laypersons, Laura co-established a vital CCM ministry, facilitated several CCM workshops in her local church, and hosted a district-wide CCM workshop attended by clergy and laity from 18 churches.  In addition to overseeing the caring ministry in her local church, Laura has facilitated local support groups and nurtured CCUMC’s efforts in the area of outreach ministry/missions, both locally and internationally.  She has served in Peru, Haiti, Cuba and Guatemala.  

Laura has served in several Florida Annual Conference positions, including the District Committee on Ordained Ministry, Haiti/Florida Covenant Task Force, and the Board of Directors for the Wesley Foundation.

As a Florida native, Laura enjoys camping, boating, fishing, paddle boarding, kayaking and gardening.  Laura is married to Ward T. Berg.  As a “blended” family, they enjoy spending quality time with their 6 adult children and 3 grandchildren, on land or at sea.

EMAIL: monica@thecaringcongregation.com

Rev. Monica Childers is from Granite Falls, North Carolina. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Organizational Communications from Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina, where she continued her seminary work at Wesley Theological Seminary through the Center of Deacon Education at Pfeiffer University in Charlotte, North Carolina .

Monica was a young business owner for seven years, then closed her business in 2000 and started working in the corporate world, as well as working in the church as a part time youth director at Grace Chapel UMC in Granite Falls, North Carolina. It was there she answered the call to ministry. She moved to Salem UMC in 2008 serving in full time youth ministry before being appointed to St. Luke’s UMC, Hickory, North Carolina in 2013 where she served as the Minister of Youth and College Age Adults. In 2017, Monica was reappointed to St. Luke’s as the Associate Minister of Leadership Development, and oversees, Congregational Care, missions, fresh expression dinner church, leadership development with adults, preaches every fourth Sunday and leads a women’s small group.

Monica and her husband, David, are new empty nesters and welcoming a new daughter-in law, and son-in law into their family in the fall of 2022. When they are not busy planning two weddings, Monica and David like traveling, binge watching TV & sports, gardening, spending time with family and their fur babies Daisy, Bella, Lily, and Little Bit.

EMAIL:  lisa@thecaringcongregation.com

Rev. Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia was born in Tampa, Florida, one of a long line of native Floridians and teachers. She met her beloved Ed on a trip to NYC and they were married ten months later. They are blessed with two grown daughters, two sons-in-love, a brilliant grandchild, and an energetic dog.

Lisa didn’t grow up attending church. As a teen, she started attending a local Baptist church with her boyfriend. At age 16 she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior and was baptized. A few months later “the guy left, but God stayed.”

Lisa first found God through music and thought she would be a high school choral director. God had other plans. Lisa received a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of South Florida and served as a church music director for six years. Around year 4 of the 6, Lisa heard God calling her to become a pastor. The family refers to this event as the LCD - the life-changing decision. A few months later, Lisa, Ed, and their two small daughters left Florida for North Carolina.

In 2000, Lisa received a Master of Divinity degree from Duke Divinity School and was later ordained a United Methodist Elder in 2003 in the Florida Conference. She’s served congregations in Largo, St. Petersburg, DeBary, and Sarasota. She currently serves as the senior pastor of Coronado Community United Methodist Church in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

In addition to serving as a pastor, Lisa enjoys teaching, photography, theatre, travel, and writing. You can connect with her prayer, pilgrimage, and devotional resources at www.revlisad.com. She is indebted to the many wonderful mentors and teachers in her life, including her mother who first gave her a love for words.

EMAIL:  hernandezlopez_e@yahoo.com

Rev. Dr. Eric A. Hernández López was born in Guatemala and from the age of four he was raised in Camuy on the island of Puerto Rico. He is an ordained minister of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico and the pastor of “El Renacer” Methodist Church in Bajadero, Arecibo. He has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, a master's degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras, a master's degree in Divinity from the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico and a doctorate in Church Leadership from the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. 

He has been Spiritual Director of the Emmaus Community of Puerto Rico and president of the Board of Ordained Ministry of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico and the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico. He has offered courses for the Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico, the Hispanic-Latino Pastoral Initiative of Duke Divinity School, North Carolina, and the Course of Study program in El Salvador. 

Together with his wife Heidy S. Vale Adorno they have a wonderful daughter named Aurora Isabel and a wonderful son named Iker Emanuel. His passion is writing, and some of his books are Escoge la sabiduría, El camino hacia la cruz y Echar Raíces. He is a basketball fan of the “Capitanes de Arecibo” and New York Knicks. He also likes to sing and play the piano.

Learn more about Eric on his website at https://www.erichernandezlopez.com

EMAIL: herrera2581@gmail.com

Rev. Tino Herrera is the lead pastor at Trinity UMC in Kansas City and an Ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church. Prior to his current role at Trinity, Tino was a congregational care pastor at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas (five years), and prior to that served as an associate pastor at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church in the Oklahoma Annual Conference. He loves the day-to-day work of pastoring the people of his congregation and receives joy from helping them recognize the movement of God in their lives. His passion is creating and living into God’s beloved community.

Tino grew up in Norman, Oklahoma. After feeling a call to ministry from his home church, he attended Oklahoma City University in OKC. At OCU he studied religion and dedicated much of his time to full time youth ministry. After graduating, he pursued his MDiv. at Saint Paul School of Theology. Currently, Tino is working on his doctorate at Wesley Theological Seminary and serves on the Board of Trustees for Saint Paul School of Theology.

Tino is married to the love of his life, Samara, who works for the Kansas City Public Schools, and together they have one daughter Samaiyah. For fun, Tino loves fishing, reading a good book, and watching a good flick.

EMAIL: aperez@umcdiscipleship.org

Alma Perez is an experienced Spanish-language Acquisitions Editor at the General Board of Discipleship, a position held since 2000, where contributions focus on the Hispanic/Latino National Plan and the establishment of new faith communities in the USA. Prior experience includes a role as Sub-director of the Training Division within the Human Resources Area at the PR Department of Health from 1990 to 1997, overseeing training matters and ensuring regulatory compliance. Additionally, Alma worked as a Training Technician at the Governor's Office in Puerto Rico from 1988 to 1990, managing training activities and needs assessment. Alma holds a Master's degree in Public Administration with a focus on Personnel and Adult Education, a Candidate to Master's degree in Instructional Systems and Educational Technology, and a BA in Humanities with a specialization in Foreign Languages including French, Portuguese, and Italian.

EMAIL: mary@thecaringcongregation.com

Mary Haines is a Congregational Care Minister for Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. It was at the urging of Karen Lampe, while working on staff in Congregational Care for five years, that Mary received her CCM training. 

In her first career, armed with a BS in Accounting, Masters in Business (University of Alabama and Western Illinois University) and a CPA license, Mary spent 20 years in private accounting as a Controller, Auditor and Systems Analyst working for companies such as Standard Oil in Chicago, President Riverboat Casinos in Iowa, and Kindercare Learning Centers in Alabama.  After God blessed Mary and her husband with two adopted sons, she left full time employment, started teaching accounting and consulting part-time using her passion for technology and life-long learning. 

Beyond grateful to blend her passion of teaching, technology, and serving pastors as a CCM, Mary plays a vital role running webinars, systems, accounting, marketing, donor and client relations for TCC , and keeping the wheels turning, while providing perspective as an end user for Karen Lampe's model of care ministry.

Mary resides in Overland Park, Kansas, with husband Terry. They have two adult sons, Joshua and Caleb. Mary loves watching a good movie or an exciting game of football, travel,  and volunteering in her community.