Board of World Mission Staff and Offices
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
The Rev. Judith M. Ganz
Executive Director
Judy began her position of Executive Director on June 13, 2011. She will lead the Board of World Mission in its worldwide efforts on behalf of the Northern Province, Southern Province and Alaskan Province of the Moravian Church. With the Board, Judy will develop vision, strategy and action for the mission activities of the church in its historic and vital partnerships with Moravian Churches in Alaska, Costa Rica, Eastern West Indies, Guyana, Honduras, Labrador, Nicaragua, and Tanzania. In addition, Judy will guide the work of the Board as it encourages congregations throughout North America to more fully participate in God’s mission locally as well as globally. She will represent the Northern and Southern Provinces in matters pertaining to the worldwide Moravian Unity.
Mission work has been central to her life as she served in Nicaragua in the 1970s and as a director of the BWM for 12 years. She also worked as the HIV/AIDS Coordinator for the BWM from 2004-2006. Trained as a nurse, with degrees from St. Olaf College and University of Wisconsin, Judy served in the medical field until 2004. She entered the Lay Ministry Program with the Southern Wisconsin Synod of the ELCA in 2001, and went on to earn a Master of Divinity degree from Unity Theological Seminary in New Brighton, Minnesota in 2008 and a Certificate in Theological Studies from Moravian Theological Seminary.
Judy served as a lay pastor for Christian Faith Moravian Church in DeForest, Wisconsin, and as a student pastor at Emmaus Moravian Church, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. She was ordained as a deacon in the Moravian Church on August 24, 2008 after receiving a call to serve the Edmonton Moravian Church in Canada, where she has served since October 2008.
She and her husband Charlie reside in Bethlehem, PA. They enjoy sharing time with ther children and grandchildren located in different areas of the U.S.
Lisa Mixon
Director of Administrative Services
Lisa has assisted in our Bethlehem office since 2004. Prior to that, she worked for over twenty years as a Director of Human Resources in a facility for persons with developmental disabilities. Lisa and her husband Joe are graduates of Moravian College. They have two daughters, Ariel and Chelsea. The Mixons are active members of East Hills Moravian Church.
The Rt. Rev. Samuel J. Gray
Director of Intercultural Ministries
Sam was born in Winston-Salem, NC. His intercultural experience began at an early age when his parents, the Rev. and Mrs. Joe Gray, took him to Nicaragua when he was 5 weeks old. He lived in Nicaragua for 11 years; his mother taught her five children all through elementary school. He gave his life to Christ at an old fashioned revival service at Grace Moravian Church in Mt. Airy, NC in 1968.
After graduating from The Stony Brook School (Long Island, NY) in 1972, Sam attended Moravian College from 1972 – 1976, majoring in Religion. He was active in choir, band, the Campus Christian Association and a jazz band, “The Brethren.”
He worked for the Moravian Church in Honduras for one year, organizing a student group in Tegucigalpa.
In 1978 he returned to Moravian College for further study in Elementary Education and then attended Fuller Seminary (Pasadena, CA) in the summer of 1979.
In January 1980 he began full-time service for the Board of World Mission in Honduras as a high school teacher, Director of the Bible Institute, Christian Education Director, Student Group Organizer, and founding pastor of Israel Moravian Church in Tegucigalpa, serving there for 13 1/2 years. During that time, he married Lorena Alvarez, a Registered Nurse, from Cocobila, Honduras.
Sam returned to Moravian Theological Seminary in 1993, graduating in 1996 with a M.Div. and was ordained as a deacon in May, 1996. He served as Assistant Pastor of Emmaus Moravian Church and Director of Youth Ministries for the Eastern District of the Northern Province.
Sam and Lorena have three sons: Luke, Tim and Christian David, as well as two grand-daughters, Rachel and Gabriella Marie.
Mark Ebert
Director of Volunteer Resources
Mark has worked for the Board of World Mission since 2004 coordinating and preparing teams to serve in the mission field. Currently acting as Director of Moravian Volunteer Resources (MVR), Mark, his wife Terresa, and their two sons, Daniel and Christian, continue to actively seek the Heart of God.
Sheila Beaman
Working in the Winston-Salem office, Sheila has served the BWM for 21 years, previously working in secular business administrative positions. Currently, she is a member of Macedonia Moravian and serves as an Elder, Sunday School teacher, and band and choir member. She and her husband Charles have two sons, David and Jonathan, and three grandchildren, Abigail, Joshua, and Tabitha.
Jill Kolodziej
Jill primarily serves mission in two capacities with the Moravian Church, one as a representative of the Antioch Project of the BWM as well as the mission coordinator of the Sturgeon Bay Moravian Church in Wisconsin. These and other denominational ministry involvements overflow into approximately fifteen years of service with the greater Moravian Church. She and her husband John reside in Sturgeion Bay WI and have 3 daughters, Sarah, Janelle, and Lauren, and three grandchildren, Jordyn Grace, Mekhi John, and Eli Gary.
Mailing address for Bethlehem office:
Board of World Mission
PO Box 1245
Bethlehem, PA 18016-1245
Street address for Bethlehem office:
1021 Center Street
Bethlehem PA 18018
Telephone: 610.868.1732
Fax: 610.866.9223
Mailing and street address for Winston-Salem office:
500 South Church Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
Telephone: 336.773.1732
Fax: 336.725.1893