PERSONNEL NOTES

Marissa Witkovsky-Eldred has been hired by the Church of the Brethren as interim coordinator of Short-term Service. In this position, she will provide oversight and administration of short-term service experiences and placements, including the Faith Outreach Expeditions Ministry (FaithX, formerly Brethren Workcamps), and support recruitment of volunteers for Brethren Volunteer Service. She is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University with a bachelor of arts degree in Botany and Zoology and minors in Religion and Environmental Studies. In 2018-2019 she was the assistant coordinator of workcamps (through BVS) in Elgin, Ill. Marissa currently works as the senior admissions associate for Chapel Haven Schleifer Center in New Haven, Conn. Marissa began working as a remote employee from Washington, D.C., on Oct. 3.

Chelsea Goss Skillen has been hired by the Church of the Brethren as the director of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS). She is a graduate of Bridgewater (Va.) College with a bachelor of science degree in Liberal Studies, and of Regis University with a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. Chelsea will begin working from the General Offices in Elgin, IL on Oct. 24. She served two years as a BVS volunteer, one as the orientation assistant in the BVS office; she has also served through New Community Project, Camp Bethel, and a refugee program in Australia. Her recent work experience includes co-founding a small business to empower and educate authors to share their stories and helping to run a productions and publishing company. Chelsea has been a keynote speaker at several Church of the Brethren events. We welcome her to the district!

Precious Earley accepted the position of communications director for Eder Financial (formerly Brethren Benefit Trust), starting Sept. 26. Earley holds a bachelor’s in telecommunications from Ball State University, with a concentration in news, and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from the P.I. Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University. Her experience includes more than 17 years in various marketing and communications roles in higher education, banking, and the church. From 2016 to 2019, she was director of marketing and communications for the National Inspirational Youth Convention, an auxiliary of the National Association of the Church of God, which for more than 80 years has brought together nearly 1,000 delegates annually from more than 400 churches nationwide. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Christian Women Connection. Earley and her family live in Atlanta, Ga. She practices her faith within the Church of God (Anderson, Ind.) tradition and is a member of Community Church in Atlanta, where her husband is senior pastor.

Ruoxia Li has resigned as the co-director of Global Mission for the Church of the Brethren Mission & Ministry Board. She concluded her work with the organization effective Oct. 4. Ruoxia began her service on May 3, 2021, serving as co-director with her husband, Eric Miller.

Barry LeNoir, director of Camp Bethel in Fincastle, Va., will depart his role on June 30, 2023. He began his service on Aug. 19, 2002. During his tenure at Camp Bethel, he has overseen a 112-percent growth in camp attendance. He served on the Church of the Brethren’s Outdoor Ministries Association (OMA) Steering Committee from 2004-2010, receiving the OMA Camp Staff Award in 2011. Previous to his work for Camp Bethel, he was a teacher and three-sport coach in the Roanoke (Va.) County Schools 1992-2002, and was on the summer staff at camps in Virginia and Wisconsin. He and his family are planning to relocate to their family farm in Floyd, Va.