Staff

Elise W. Sutter serves as special projects coordinator for The Association of Theological Schools (ATS). She coordinates organizational efforts with the ATS Board, membership, and staff. Sutter assists the ATS Board in a strategic planning process and will help to coordinate the ATS/COA Biennial Meeting and other programming throughout the biennium. She also works with the executive team to incorporate the mission, vision, and strategic priorities of ATS through staff gatherings and human resources processes.

Sutter joined ATS in January 2023 as a part-time administrative assistant for student data. She coordinated the Entering, Graduating, and Alumni Questionnaires for member schools.

With more than a decade of experience in social work and mental health counseling, she was most recently the human resources coordinator for an early childhood education organization in Pittsburgh, and she led an adoption team to provide services for youth in foster care. Strengthened by her passion for helping others, she does volunteer work in children and family ministries, and she is the leadership counsel chair for an organization supporting families in crisis.

Sutter earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Chatham University and bachelor’s degrees in psychology and religious studies from Westminster College.

412-788-6505, ext. 222
leavitt@ats.edu

Amanda Leavitt serves as executive assistant for The Association of Theological Schools (ATS). She joined the ATS staff in 2022 as program assistant for initiatives. In that role, she supported the work of the institutional initiatives ATS administers on behalf of the membership, which includes the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative.

A certified coach through the National Association for Youth Ministry, Leavitt most recently served as director of next generation ministry at Venice Presbyterian Church in McDonald, Pennsylvania, and as director of youth ministry at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. She earned a bachelor of science degree in biblical studies with a concentration in youth ministry from Cairn University.

412-788-6505, ext. 267
hartung@ats.edu

Heather Campain Hartung (formerly Vacek) was named director of accreditation for ATS in 2023. She is responsible for facilitating accrediting reviews, providing education and support to member schools about the process of accreditation, and providing staff support to the work of the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting.

Hartung most recently served as vice president and dean of Moravian and Lancaster Theological Seminaries for the past two years. She began teaching at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2012, where she was appointed associate dean for academic affairs in 2015, and vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty in 2016. She held the position of associate professor of church history at both schools.

Ordained in the Moravian Church, Hartung served as a trustee of Moravian Theological Seminary for ten years. Among her publications, her book, Madness: American Protestant Responses to Mental Illness, explores reactions to mental illnesses from the colonial era through the 21st century. Her service in theological education follows a career in engineering and marketing in technology companies.

Hartung holds a ThD and MDiv from Duke University Divinity School, and an MBA and MEM (engineering management) from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

412-788-6505, ext. 239
moore@ats.edu

James R. Moore was named director of accreditation for ATS in 2021. He is responsible for facilitating accrediting reviews, providing education and support to member schools about the process of accreditation, and providing staff support to the work of the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting. Moore comes to ATS after 26 years at Trinity International University and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He most recently served as associate professor of educational ministries at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School of Trinity International University. Moore’s other roles have included associate dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, assistant dean of Trinity Graduate School, and director of administration for doctoral programs. He has been an active accreditation visitor and provides experience in the Commission’s work with accreditation and with the schools. In 2020, he was elected vice chair of the ATS Board of Commissioners.

Moore also previously served as assistant pastor and director of Christian education at Lifeway Wesleyan Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and he was a public school teacher in Indiana and Illinois. He is an ordained minister in The Wesleyan Church and a member of the Wesleyan Theological Society. His articles appear in the Baker Dictionary of Christian Education, Theological Education, Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Wesleyan Theological Journal, and Trinity Journal. He recently contributed “Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi: Advocate for Child-Centered Education” to A Legacy of Christian Educators, edited by Elmer Towns.

Moore earned his MA from Indiana Wesleyan University and his PhD from Trinity International University.

412-788-6505, ext. 265
naydenov@ats.edu

Emanuel D. Naydenov was named director of accreditation for ATS in 2023. He is responsible for facilitating accrediting reviews, providing education and support to member schools about the process of accreditation, and providing staff support to the work of the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting.

An educator with more than 30 years of experience in theological education and formation for ministry, Naydenov comes to ATS from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School of Trinity International University (TEDS). He served as director of the master’s programs and director of the MA in Theological Studies Program, and he led the Office of Extension and Affiliated Education. He recently served on the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting where, along with many other responsibilities, he contributed to the work of the Global Awareness and Engagement Initiative of ATS. Prior to TEDS, he was involved in launching Bulgaria’s first accredited seminary after the fall of Communism.

Naydenov, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America, is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the American Academy of Religion, a cofounder of the Roundtable for Distance Education, and a contributor to the Bulgarian Journal of Theology and other indigenous theological and educational projects.

He earned an MDiv from Bethel Theological Seminary and a PhD in religious studies in the area of systematic theology from Marquette University.

412-788-6505, ext. 220
rempel@ats.edu

Valerie Rempel was named director of accreditation for ATS in 2021. She is responsible for facilitating accrediting reviews, providing education and support to member schools about the process of accreditation, and providing staff support to the work of the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting. Prior to accepting her role at ATS, Rempel most recently served as vice president and dean of Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary at Fresno Pacific University. She joined the seminary faculty in 1996, was appointed dean in 2014, and became vice president in 2019.

Rempel also served at Fresno as associate professor and J.B. Toews Chair of History and Theology, and she was a past director of the Center for Anabaptist Studies. She is an experienced accreditation visitor and was a member of the ATS Redevelopment Task Force. Rempel was elected to the ATS Board of Commissioners in 2020. Her scholarship includes contributions to the California Mennonite Historical Society Bulletin, Direction, The Conrad Grebel Review, and the Global Dictionary of Theology.

Rempel earned an MA from Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary (now Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary), and an MA and PhD from Vanderbilt University.

412-788-6505, ext. 232
meinzer@ats.edu

Chris A. Meinzer, senior director and COO for The Association of Theological Schools (ATS), is a CPA with more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. Since joining the ATS staff in 1999, he has provided oversight of ATS financial and business affairs as well as the ATS institutional database—a repository of institutional, enrollment, personnel, financial, and development data provided by ATS members. Meinzer has done extensive analysis and research of this data and presented his findings in a variety of settings to administrators and boards of theological schools.

In addition, he has provided counsel to ATS member schools on issues of finances, organizational planning, and strategic thinking. Through discussions with theological schools and their leadership, Meinzer has encouraged reflection on intergenerational stewardship and its impact on both academics and economics within these schools. He has designed and implemented a revision of the ATS Strategic Information Report, a useful strategic tool that provides ATS member schools with peer and industry data on a variety of market fundamentals.

Meinzer holds an accounting degree from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Divinity degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.

412-788-6505, ext. 248
deasy@ats.edu

Elsie Miranda was named director of accreditation for ATS in July 2018, and transitioned to director of diversities in 2023. She previously served on the ATS Committee for the Revision of the Standards from 2012 to 2014, and she has served on many evaluation teams and as a member of a peer group examining programs for Latiné students for the ATS Educational Models and Practices project. She came to ATS after 22 years at Barry University Department of Theology and Philosophy, serving most recently as associate professor of practical theology and as director of ministerial formation. As a Cuban American and practical theologian, she has focused her research interests on the intersection of faith and how socio-culture and socio-political realities impact both human formation and efforts toward peace and justice at local and global levels. As a Roman Catholic, she has been actively involved in the practice of synodality—“walking together” as an action of the Spirit in the communion of the Body of Christ and in the missionary journey of the People of God—convening groups in English and Spanish.

Miranda is the past president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians in the United States (ACHTUS), for which she coordinated the first bilingual colloquium in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2016. Currently, she serves on the Formation and Religious Education Committee for the V Encuentro—a national conference on Hispanic Ministry in the United States coordinated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. She is also an active member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and the Association of Practical Theology. Her scholarship includes contributions to the edited volumes Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Urgent Matters (Convivium Press, 2016) and Hispanic Ministry in the 21st Century: Present and Future (Convivium Press, 2010) and as coeditor and contributor to Calling for Justice Throughout the World, Catholic Women Theologians on the HIV AIDS Pandemic (Continuum Press, 2009). In her research and teaching, she continues to explore contemporary theological issues at the intersections of science, culture, and the church in the modern world.

Miranda earned an MA in pastoral ministry with a concentration in religious education from Boston College and a DMin in practical theology from Barry University.

Christopher M. The (pronounced ‘tay’) equips ATS member schools to improve and enhance their educational missions by gathering, analyzing, and disseminating insights from student data. As director of student research and initiative management, he also oversees the virtual infrastructure for ATS grant-funded initiatives and liaises with coordination program personnel for the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative of the Lilly Endowment Inc.  He came to ATS in 2017, having served multivocational roles in student services (Fuller Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University) and student/young adult ministry at an Indonesian American congregation in the American Baptist tradition. Prior to 2022, he served the ATS Commission on Accrediting as director of commission information services.

A former English Ministry pastor at two Asian American churches in Southern California, The was raised in a Chinese-Indonesian immigrant congregation in the Reformed tradition and later ordained to ministry by a Chinese/Taiwanese church in the Pentecostal tradition. A selected participant in the 2014 Summit for Future Theological Educators of Color and Summit on Christian Leadership (Forum for Theological Exploration), he was named a 2016 fellow of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) and represents the Religious Liberty Council on the BJC board of directors. He has published refereed articles and contributed to book chapters on resourcing immigrant churches for civic engagement, leveraging evaluative principles for character formation in theological education, understanding the unique mentorship needs of doctoral students of color, and surveying the placement of diasporic Indonesian communities among world Christianities. His dissertation involved qualitative research on the congregational formation of Indonesian American emerging adults at two Los Angeles-area churches.

A co-editor and contributing author for the anthology Kristianitas-Kristianitas di Asia Tenggara (Christianities in Southeast Asia, 2022), The also serves on the editorial board for the SINTA-accredited Indonesian Journal of Theology. He holds BA (music) and MA (religion) degrees from Azusa Pacific University, and MDiv and PhD (theology) degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary.

412-788-6505, ext. 270
yarborough@ats.edu

 Having previously taught at Wake Forest University School of Divinity and at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, Yarborough comes to ATS from Phillips Theological Seminary where she was assistant professor of African American preaching, sacred rhetoric, and Black practical theology. Her research reimagines the nature and purpose of preaching and worship through the rhetorical and ritual practices of Black women throughout history and aims to decenter normative systems of power and paradigms of proclamation by considering platforms beyond the pulpit for the voices of preachers. She has published several journal articles and is a contributing author in multiple books.

 Yarborough is a preacher, an ordained minister in the Baptist tradition, a poet, and an enneagram coach. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Wake Forest University School of Divinity and her PhD in homiletics and liturgics from Vanderbilt University.

412-788-6505, ext. 264
barra@ats.edu

Alyson Barra joined ATS in 2023 as program assistant for diversities. She helps coordinate the planning, presentation, and post-production of resources and programs related to the diversity, Committee on Race and Ethnicity, Women in Leadership, and global engagement missions of the organization. 

Prior to ATS, Barra was a patient access lead at the Birmingham Free Clinic in Pittsburgh, where she worked with a diverse team of providers to care for the uninsured of Western Pennsylvania. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Albion College, completing coursework in international studies, classical piano, and Spanish.

412-788-6505, ext. 250
williams@ats.edu

Saren Williams joined the ATS staff in 2022 as program assistant for leadership development. She supports the ongoing and expanding work of the learning opportunities and resources ATS provides to those who serve at ATS member schools.

Williams most recently worked at Hickory Run Campground in Denver, Pennsylvania, and as a family counselor at Sky Ranch Horn Creek in Westcliffe, Colorado, organizing weekly events, family activities, and Bible studies. She received a bachelor of arts degree in biblical and religious studies with a minor in classical studies from Grove City College.