Our Board
The Executive Board of Directors and the Advisory Board provide oversight and advice to help further the mission of NEU to plant churches among New England's poorest neighborhoods.
Executive Board of Directors
Beth Clark was born and raised in North Carolina where the Lord saved her during her college years. She studied at UNC-Chapel Hill and met her husband at the campus church they attended. She and her husband have four adult children. Beth retired in 2021 from Brown University's School of Public Health where she worked as an academic coordinator. She has enjoyed volunteer activities and visiting her kids in her more flexible retirement years, and is grateful for the opportunity to serve the mission of NEU Church Planting.
Bill Gore brings a wide range of experience to the Board of Directors. He has had a 35+ year career at Proctor & Gamble which has enabled his Kingdom service. With a long history of discipleship and mentoring in local churches, he has served in leadership in three churches. Bill is committed to teaching God’s word to all ages and serving the kingdom wherever he is needed. He is married with five adult daughters and one granddaughter. Bill brings both spiritual and organizational wisdom to help NEU Church Planting enable church planters spread the gospel among urban neighborhoods.
Kara Bettis Carvalho is an editor at Christianity Today and a campus missionary at Roger Williams University with her husband Shane. She has a master's in theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and serves as a deaconess at Mount Hope Church in Bristol, RI. Previously, she served on staff at a Boston area church and worked for several years as a journalist. Kara and Shane currently live and minister in the city of Fall River, MA. She has served on the NEU board since 2023.
Luke Harding and his wife, Sara, have had five children—Jane, Jack, Hudson, Annie, and Rosie. Both Luke and Sara grew up just outside of Detroit. Luke completed his seminary education at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where they were members at Third Avenue Baptist Church. After seminary, Luke was part of the pastoral team at a church in Rotherham, England—location not unlike our inner city communities. Luke is the lead pastor at Godspeed Church, our partner in mentoring Pastoral Apprentices.
Tom Gandek is Vice President of Technical Operations at Vertex, located in Boston. Tom grew up as the son of a pastor, graduated from Princeton University and MIT, and has been an active member of churches wherever his family has lived. Tom and his wife Katie have three adult children and a Hungarian Vizla, Packer—named for their favorite football team when they lived in Wisconsin.
Board of Advisors
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Dr. Doug Logan is the Founder and President of Grimké Seminary in Richmond, VA. Before founding Grimké, Doug served with Eric Mason as the Connections Pastor at Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philadelphia, PA. He then planted Epiphany Fellowship Church in Camden, NJ. Currently, in addition to his role at the seminary, Doug serves as the Church Planting Pastor at Remnant Church in Richmond. He is the author of On the Block, The Soul-Winning Church, and most recently with Mez McConnell, The Least, the Last and the Lost. Doug and his wife Angel have been married since 1996 and have three sons.
Joel Kurz and his wife Jess moved to Baltimore in July, 2008 and began work toward planting a new church. Over time, a core group was gathered and The Garden Church constituted as a church in 2012. Joel graduated from Spurgeon Baptist Bible College in 2003 (Mulberry, FL) with a B.A. in Biblical Studies, and later earned a Master of Divinity from Southern Seminary (Louisville, KY). He previously served for five years as a youth pastor at Greensboro Baptist Church in Maryland, Joel and his wife, Jess, have four children, Jadyn, Eden, Haddon, and Chapman and they live in west Baltimore. Joel is also the director of One Hope, a ministry devoted to planting more churches like the Garden Church.
Matthew Spandler-Davison serves as the Ministry Director for Practical Shepherding. He oversees the work of the Practical Shepherding Ministry Team with responsibility for Church in Hard Places, The Shepherd’s House, Practical Shepherding Women, Replant Cohorts, and International ministries. Matthew is the church planter and a preaching pastor of Redeemer Fellowship Church in Bardstown, Kentucky. He is also the co-founder and Executive Director of 20schemes, a church-planting ministry in Scotland’s poorest communities. He serves as a faculty member of The Heartland of Texas College of the Bible which works to train men and women in the Texas state prison system. Originally from Stonehaven, Scotland, he served in the British Coastguard, worked at the Scottish Parliament, is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and was awarded a doctorate by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Matthew is married to Tracy and has two daughters.
Morgan Proudfoot and his wife, Jess have deep New England roots. Though Morgan originally grew up in inner-city Seattle, most of their family is in New England. Since being married 20 years ago, Morgan has served at a couple of small churches, planted a church in Pittsburgh in 2007, and then served on staff at The Village Church. Most recently their family made one last and final move back home in August 2018 to New Bedford, Massachusetts to plant and establish a new church in the city. Morgan has a degree in Sociology from Edinboro University, and is finishing his M.Div from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Their family lives in the West End of New Bedford.
Thabiti Anyabwile (MS, North Carolina State University) is a pastor at Anacostia River Church in southeast Washington, DC. He’s the author of several books, including What Is a Healthy Church Member?, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons, Reviving the Black Church, and others. He and his wife, Kristie, have three children.
Tyler St. Clair is the lead pastor of Cornerstone Church in Detroit, Michigan. He also serves as the network lead for Church in Hard Places in Acts 29’s U.S. Midwest Network. Tyler is married to his best friend, Elita, and they have five amazing kids.