Leadership - The Church of The Incarnation

Staff

Get to know a little bit about the members of our staff, clergy and lay leadership at The Church of the Incarnation.

RECTOR

AUBREY SPEARS

Aubrey serves as the Rector (Senior Pastor) of the Church of the Incarnation. He and his wife, Janielle, have five children. Raised in Houston, TX, Aubrey received a BA from Houston Baptist University, a MDiv from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and a PhD from the University of Liverpool. Some of the things Aubrey loves are: “My beloved wife and our dear children, good neighborhoods, gardening, the fiction of Dorothy Dunnett, Cry the Beloved Country, coffee, tea, watching and discussing movies, a fire in the fireplace when it’s cold out, my parents and wife’s parents and our siblings and their families, cooking with my wife, leisurely meals with friends, great discussions about big questions, my work, and the life and thought of Abraham Kuyper.” In addition to pastoring the Church of the Incarnation, Aubrey serves as a Fellow in Practical Theology for the St. George’s Centre for Biblical and Public Theology and on the committee for the Scripture and Hermeneutics Seminar.

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ASSOCIATE RECTOR

KEITH BREAULT

As the son of an Air Force pilot, Keith grew up all over the United States. Keith and his wife, Joanna, met at the College of William and Mary, were married in 1998, and have five children (two in college, and three still at home). They lived in Charlottesville from 2011 to 2022. After pastoring two churches over the course of 17 years, Keith began exploring ordination in the Anglican tradition. In the fall of 2016, Keith began a curacy at The Church of the Incarnation, then transferred to Church of the Holy Cross in Crozet where he served as an associate pastor. Since transitioning from full-time ministry, Keith worked as vice president for business development with Commonwise Homecare. The Breaults are delighted at the opportunity to worship, grow, and serve within the Incarnation family.

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

LAURA LOWE

Laura grew up in the church world, with her father, uncle, and grandfather all pastors in various church traditions. Laura attended James Madison University where she met her husband, grew to love Harrisonburg, and discovered her calling to serve the church. She has held various roles at Incarnation through the years from the first fellow, children’s director, and the Executive Director for the past few years. Laura graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary with a Master’s in Biblical Studies in 2022. She has two young sons, Timothy and Matthew, and alongside her husband loves serving the church and the Harrisonburg community. In her rare moments of free time when she is not chasing her sons, she enjoys reading just about anything, cooking, and eating out with her husband and friends.

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PASToR FOR YOUTH AND Worship

WILSON WEST

Wilson West serves as our Pastor for Youth and Evangelism as well as heading up our music direction. He and his wife Callie have two young sons. Wilson received a BA from Mississippi State University, and his MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. Before coming to Incarnation, he served at a church in New Orleans for two years. Wilson’s loves are his family, music: discovering, listening to, and playing it; reading, traveling, and spending good time with people.

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DIRECTOR OF CHILDREN’S MINISTRY

SUSANNAH ODA

Susannah has been attending Incarnation with her husband, Aaron, since 2018. She holds a Masters of Teaching in Education with a concentration in Elementary Education from James Madison University. In the past ten years, Susannah has worked in a variety of educational settings including public schools, forest schools, outdoor education programs, and higher education. She enjoys creating spaces for children to experience the presence of God through engaging scripture reading and contemplative work. She and her husband host the Westover small group. In her free time, Susannah enjoys going on walks, playing music, beekeeping, and cozying up with a good book.

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PARISH ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

BETH NEALON

Beth is our parish administrative assistant. She grew up in Richmond. She met her husband Dave at UVA. They raised three daughters in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Lacey Spring since 1999. She considers herself an honorary member of COTI, as she has completed our Essentials course, and has fond memories of the Episcopal liturgy of her childhood church. She enjoys playing folk music, hiking, birding, watching British TV, and hugging trees.

Email Beth.

CURATE (PASTORAL RESIDENT)

ERIC CODDING

Eric is our Curate. Eric and his family moved to the Valley in 2011 for Eric’s position of Associate Dean of Students at EMU. In 2017, Eric began working at Blue Ridge Christian School where until recently he served as the Director of Advancement and the Dean of Christian formation. Eric has a deep interest in Christian spiritual formation and appreciates how solid biblical teaching and preaching at COTI thoughtfully engage challenging cultural realities. He is married to Heather who works locally as a nurse practitioner. Eric and Heather have one adult child, Caleb, one college-bound child, Caitlyn, and two high school boys, Joseph and Matthew.

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MEDIA COORDINATOR

BROOKE CHAO

Brooke came to Harrisonburg to attend JMU. A few years later, she met and married her husband, Alvin, in 2000, and they have two (mostly) grown children. She works from home as a graphic designer. In her free time she also loves to garden, paint and dabble in various art mediums. Brooke and Alvin have been part of Incarnation since 2021. They’re members of the Preston Heights small group and love calling the Shenandoah Valley home.

Email Brooke

FACILITIES DIRECTOR

AMANDA STATON

Amanda serves as our Director of Facilities overseeing the building and grounds. She came to the Valley full time in 2014 to attend Bridgewater College where she graduated with a degree in Language and Literature.

Amanda has been attending Incarnation since 2021 and helps lead the Maplehurst small group. When she’s not working at Incarnation, Amanda is the taproom manager at Sage Bird Ciderworks. Amanda can be found reading outside, on a walk, or just hanging out with her big ol’ dog, Benny.

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Non-Stipend Pastor in Residence

Martin Rhodes

Martin was baptized in the Mennonite church in Dayton, VA as a teenager. He received a Master of Theological Studies from Duke University Divinity School in 2007.

Martin pastored and helped to lead three congregations before coming to Incarnation in 2018.

In addition to his priestly work, Martin is the Discipleship Ministries Coach at VMMissions and serves on the board of Pax Dei for Nuba and on the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Christ our Hope.

Martin has been married to Sylvia since 1999 and they have 3 children: Elliot, Vincent and Annaliese.

Martin enjoys international travel with his family, body surfing in the Atlantic Ocean, baseball, motorcycling, and cutting and splitting wood.

Email Martin

Parish Council

Within the Anglican tradition, the Parish Council (also known as the Vestry) provides counsel to the rector (senior pastor) and manages the church’s property and finances to support the vision and mission of the congregation. Incarnation’s Parish Council is comprised of eight lay leaders, the assistant rector, and the rector. Lay members are elected during the annual celebration to represent the larger membership of the church. Lay members can serve up to two consecutive three-year terms.

Our Parish Council members are: Bob Brown, Alvin Chao, Nell-Marie Colman, Ed Good, Molly Hollingsworth, Stephanie Layman, Kenlyn Miller, Chris Rooker, Ben Taylor, and Donna Trainum.

RECTOR’S WARDEN

BOB BROWN

Bob Brown has been a professor of religious studies at JMU for 14 years. He received an M.Div. from Trinity Divinity School, after which he served as Youth Pastor at a church in Indiana. He returned to school and earned a Ph.D. from the Univ. of Iowa, teaching at a number of universities before coming to JMU. His teaching and research interests center around Religion in America. He has been a member at Incarnation since 2012, and helps lead the West Side small group. He served on the parish council from 2016–21, and served as rector’s warden from 2019–21.

Email Bob

PEOPLE’S WARDEN

NELL-MARIE COLMAN

Nell-Marie has lived in Harrisonburg since 1994 — falling in love with Harrisonburg as a JMU student and deciding to make it her home. She is the Director of Content for a global technology company. Nell-Marie and Gil have two children, Daniel and Anna, and they have been a part of the Incarnation community since early 2012. During that time, she’s served as a small group leader and prayer team member. She and her family belong to the Summit Avenue small group.

Email Nell-Marie

TREASURER

ALVIN CHAO

Alvin Chao came to the valley over 25 years ago to study for his Master’s of Business Administration from JMU. He has worked at JMU in the IT department managing web content for the JMU website for most of his time in the valley. He and his wife Brooke have two children, Dylan and Jade and have been at Incarnation since 2021. He has led the Preston Heights/Old Town small group and has served on the parish council as Treasurer since Fall 2022.

Email Alvin