Spiritual Formation Staff
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Matt Benson, Jonathan Doran, Jeff Eenigenburg, Andrew McPeak (back) |
Dr. Matt Benson, Vice President of Spiritual Formation and his wife, Melody, love raising their children (Jonathan, Joshua and Emilyn) to welcome college students, visitors and missionaries to fellowship on the back porch. Now in his 15th year at Bryan, Matt brings to the table his experience as pastor, worship leader and pastoral counselor, as well as a keen sense of kingdom-living, leadership development and strategic thinking. As an undergraduate at Piedmont College, Matt studied computer science and history, and went on to study at Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.). He most recently completed a doctorate in Spiritual Formation from Talbot School of Theology.
Andrew McPeak is the Coordinator of the Worldview Initiative. He graduated from Bryan in 2011 with a Major in Liberal Arts, and was on staff with the Worldview Initiative for three and a half of his four years at Bryan. While at Bryan, Andrew gained a variety of valuable experiences. For two years he was the President of SSTOP, which is an anti-human trafficking group at Bryan. He also spent the summer of 2010 serving and sharing the word of God to the people of India with a Missions organization called Word For the World. Through his position as Coordinator of the Worldview Initiative, he is able to travel and speak to youth all over the United States. Andrew hopes to continue to train and develop youth and young adult leaders into men and women with a passion for God for the rest of his life. He and his wife Anna were married in August of 2011, and live in Dayton, TN.
Bonnie-Marie Yager, Assistant Director of Faith & Mission, graduated from Bryan with a degree in political communication (2007). After several months of fundraising and development work with non-profit organizations in Bratislava, Slovakia, she worked as the Director of Research for Worldwide Interactive Network (WIN) and as Director of Public Relations for The Refuge Tennessee, a ministry for homeless women and families in Harriman, TN. Bonnie-Marie devoted her first four years at Bryan to Worldview Formation programs, directing and traveling with the Worldview Initiative, and developing on-campus strategies to foster healthy dialogue toward the continuing cultivation of a biblical worldview within the Bryan community. She now oversees and develops international missions internships, spring break service trips and a variety of local ministry opportunities for Bryan students. Her passion remains the same: to help the global body of Christ see how faith and life intersect.
Kauri Tallant, Assistant Director of Counseling & Soul Care and Instructor of Psychology, graduated with her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Richmont Graduate University in 2010 and is working towards licensure. She is a Bryan alum (2003) with a degree in psychology. Kauri has a passion for challenging individuals to see their pain and brokenness as avenues to experience God’s presence in a real manner. She has been enriched by a variety of professional experiences: case manager for foster care, support staff at a clubhouse for adults with mental illnesses, writer for home studies for adoption/foster care, and technician at a center for eating disorders. In her free time, Kauri enjoys party planning, making and eating fondue, running, and Contra dancing.
Amy Hutchinson, Coordinator for Strategic Support, grew up in Sioux Falls, SD, and studied Spanish and Biblical Studies at Northwestern College in Minneapolis, MN (2004). She worked for two years as a barista and a bilingual associate educator for the Minneapolis Public Schools before moving to Vancouver, BC, to study at Regent College. She then had the most unexpected joy of working for two years in 1st and 2nd grade classrooms with William, a determined and artistic boy with autism. Amy loves playing Scrabble, thrifting for treasures, eating spicy food, and writing letters. She desires to see God establish his people, as we learn to listen to our Father, hope in the Lord Jesus, and wield the power of the Holy Spirit.
Eric McEachron graduated from Bryan (2009) with a Communications Studies degree, and went on to live in Japan for three years. There he was surprised to meet his beautiful wife, Rachel, who was also working as an English teacher in order to serve alongside the same missionaries and church planters. Because Eric believes that "the local church is the hope of the world", he eagerly offers his time and gifts in service to the church, whether in his home city of St. Louis or the land of the rising sun, and now in Dayton, TN. Eric enjoys exotic cuisine, especially sea urchin, eel, and other raw meat from the sea.
