Wendy Feaga, DVM, President
Dr. Wendy Feaga has always been interested in evolution and that love led her to belief in God while in college. She graduated from University of Md, College Park, with a B.S. in zoology (1976) and from Ohio State University with a D.V.M. (1980). She has been a practicing veterinarian since 1980, starting her own veterinary office in 1987. She attended WesleyNexus’ first Evolution Weekend in 2014.
Wendy entered the lay ministry tract in the United Methodist tradition in 2012. She was certified as a Lay Speaker in 2016 and a Lay Minister in 2018. She served as an interim Lay Minister in 2022.
In addition to her ongoing veterinarian practice, she is an active part to the tech team at Glen Mar United Methodist Church, Ellicott City, MD. She is a member of the Network of Biblical Storytellers International, serving for 7 years as an epic teller, and a member of a local biblical storytelling group, Voices of the Heart, a guide of NBSI. She is excited to serve as President of the WesleyNexus Board and continue her love of science, which she finds affirmed in biblical texts.
Maynard Moore, PhD, President Emeritus
Maynard has been involved in the science and religion dialogue for ~20 years, through the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, & Religion program coordinated by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and also in an on-going dialogue group in the Washington Theological Union. During 2001-2002 he coordinated a series of sixteen formal sessions at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington DC that involved prominent scientists, including seven Nobel Laureates, among them Dr. Charles Townes, Dr. Julius Axelrod, and Dr. William Phillips. Currently Maynard serves on the Board of Directors for the InterFaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington DC, one of the nation’s oldest such organizations, now embracing eleven different faith traditions in the Nation’s Capital. In addition, Maynard maintains active memberships in the Center for Process Theology at Claremont Graduate Seminary in California, the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy at Wesley Seminary, and the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science. He teaches a regular Sunday morning class in Science & Religion at Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington. He has completed work for two graduate degrees from Southern Methodist University, an M. A. from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and the Ph.D. in Higher Education / Adult Education at the Union Graduate Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Maynard served on the host committee staff for the “Science and the Spiritual Quest II” Conference held at Harvard in October 2001, sponsored by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences at Berkeley. He has also been a participant in several “science and religion” symposia through past involvement with the John Templeton Foundation and the Metanexus Institute in Philadelphia. Through the International Consortium on Religion and Ecology, Maynard participated in the preparation work group for the “Future Visions” consultation in New York City in 2000, co-sponsored by the State of the World Forum and the New York Interfaith Center. He supported Bawa Jain, Secretary General of the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders, and assisted Dr. Douglas Johnston, Director of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, in planning the Summit Agenda.
Richard M. Ballew, PhD
Richard (Ricky) Ballew graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Ph.D. in chemistry (physical). He has worked in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries at companies including CuraGen, Celera Genomics, Covance, MedImmune, and AstraZeneca, where he has held positions in technology development, laboratory
automation, and information technology, as an individual contributor and in management. He is a Certified Lay Servant in the Central Maryland District of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church and currently serves the congregation of Memorial UMC in Poolesville, Maryland as its lay leader. His wife Helen is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church.
Rick Barr
Rick Barr is the founder and coordinator of the Montgomery County Science and Religion Discussion Group, which he started in November 2000. The group has met continually since that time. Rick has participated in a Metanexus Local Societies Grant with the Washington Theological Consortium and has given talks on science and religion throughout Montgomery County, Maryland. Rick has a BA in history from West Virginia Wesleyan College, a Masters of Science in Technology of Management from American University and an MA in Systematic Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary. Rick spent twenty years with Fannie Mae as a risk manager, auditor, and internal consultant prior to his retirement in 2007. Rick is a founding member of WesleyNexus.
Jennifer Secki Shields
Jennifer Secki Shields studied biology as an undergraduate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. As a doctoral student at the University of Virginia she studied evolutionary biology, conducted field research on salamanders, and served as an Award-winning graduate teaching assistant and a graduate teaching consultant. In several years of teaching and doing science outreach programs, she often found herself answering “God questions” from folks who wanted to know how she could be a Christian and an evolutionist. So, in 2000, she answered a call to professional Christian ministry. From 2000-2016, she served in church ministry as a Director of Christian Education, regularly teaching about the relationship between science and faith for learners of all ages. From 2004-2016 she chaired the annual Blackstone Seminar for Science, Theology, Ethics & Ministry, an endowed program in the Virginia conference of the United Methodist Church. In September 2016, Jennifer and WesleyNexus launched Discovery & Faith, a ministry dedicated to helping the next generation experience the harmony between science and biblical faith, which became an independent 501(c)3 in 2022. In addition to being the Executive Director of of Discovery & Faith, Jennifer is a Certified Lay Minister (United Methodist Church).
Rev. Dr. Eliezer Valentín-Castañón
Rev. Dr. Eliezer Valentín-Castañón, an Elder in the United Methodist Church since 1993, has served churches in Maryland, New York, and New Jersey. In 1994 he was appointed to the General Board of Church and Society in Washington, DC, where he worked on public policy issues. In 2005 he was appointed to the General Commission on Religion and Race, where he worked with local churches, annual conferences, and jurisdictions on developing a greater appreciation for the Church’s diversity. Pastor Eliezer served the Monrovia Charge (Central Maryland District) and Trinity United Methodist Church (Frederick, Maryland). In 2021, he was appointed as the Frederick District Superintendent (Baltimore-Washington Conference).
A native of Puerto Rico, where he spent his formative years, Pastor Eliezer graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a BA in Psychology. In 1990, he earned his Master of Divinity from Drew Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2002. His doctoral studies focused on Wesleyan Theology and History. In 2013 he graduated from St. Mary’s Seminary and University – The Ecumenical Institute of Theology, with a Certificate of Advance Studies in Theology focusing on Systematic Theology. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in theology with focus on Spirituality, Wesleyan studies and his cultural heritage through the Graduate Theological Foundation.
Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Zalatoris
Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Zalatoris serves as the pastor at Christ United Methodist Church (Cumberland) and LaVale UMC (LaVale) in western Maryland. Jeff is an ordained Elder and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Wesley Theological Seminary.
Prior to entering pastoral ministry, Jeff had a 15+ year career in biomedical research program analysis and biomedical research project management at Leidos & SAIC in support of federal research agencies and not-for-profit medical research advocacy organizations. Jeff holds a B.A. from Ohio Wesleyan University with a major concentration in Chemistry and a minor in Religion, and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the College of Medicine, University of Florida, and held a research post-doctorate in cancer pharmacogenetics at the Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Jeff sees the work of WesleyNexus as an invitation for churched and unchurched persons alike to engage creative thinking, broaden perspectives, and build connections through intentional, complementary dialogue between science and religion.