Leadership Coaching Project Coaches

Reach out to a coach directly, or use the form above if you would like to talk with the coordinator about coaching or about the strengths of the different coaches.

Nancy Foster

A lifelong Episcopalian, Nancy has served as a lay leader in many roles at both the parish and diocesan levels, and she understands the challenges priests, vestry members, and other key volunteers face. She is an expert at helping leaders embrace change so that they and their parishes come out healthier, with new energy for ministry. Nancy was a trainer in the Diocesan Church Development Institute for the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan, working with parish teams on trust development, the process of change, and appreciative inquiry. She spent most of her professional life in education and holds a PhD in educational leadership. In her own parish and diocese she helped create and carry out a covenant with a neighboring parish so the two could call a full-time rector together. Her mission is to work with individuals and parishes to discern God’s call for them.

Phone: 231-846-0110  |  Email: nfoste01@gmail.com  |  Schedule: calendly.com/nfoste01

Rachel Harrison*

The Rev. Rachel Jagielski Harrison is rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Painesville, Ohio. Before answering the call to ministry she earned a BS in communication studies and business management from Ohio University and spent several years working in her family’s small manufacturing business. She received her MDiv from Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, in 2019. As a priest her ministry has included work with the unhoused and a focus on feeding ministries. As a rural ministry specialist, Mother Rachel hopes to use coaching to help small rural congregations have the greatest possible impact in their communities. She particularly enjoys working with vestries and other small groups.

Phone: 419-704-7258  |  Email: rachel.jagielski@gmail.com

Annette Joseph

Annette is a priest at St. Peter’s in Bridgton. “Coaching is part of what I do every day. I serve as a special education technician in the classroom, and I have to see the best in my students and tease it out of them. Coaching is just like that. You are whole and capable—you just need someone to listen and help create the goals for where you want to be.”

Phone: 207-890-8188  |  Email: arjoseph7@gmail.com  |  Schedule: calendly.com/arjoseph7

Pamela S. Lenartowicz*

The Rev. Pam Lenartowicz is a cradle Episcopalian who was always active in the church as a lay leader. After hearing a call to ordained ministry she was ordained a priest in 2012. Before ordination she spent thirty-five years as an adult and geriatric nurse practitioner. Pam completed her coach training in the spring of 2021 and has since trained further at Virginia Theological Seminary. She lives in rural northern Michigan and is priest-in-charge of two small congregations, so she understands the intricacies of small, rural ministry, both lay and ordained, and looks forward to coaching people of every order toward their ministry goals.

Phone: 989-858-6199  |  Email: pamlynch@msn.com

Lesley MacKellar

Lesley is a cradle Episcopalian and an active member of St. Francis in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Zionsville, Indiana, where she has served on numerous committees, on the vestry, and as senior warden; most recently she co-chaired a very successful capital campaign. She represents the Diocese of Indianapolis on the Province V Executive Board. Lesley first became interested in coaching while working in global sales leadership development for a large corporation in Indianapolis, where she developed and delivered coaching workshops and coached colleagues. She set up her own executive coaching practice in 2017 and has since coached more than five hundred leaders across a range of industries and organizations, including faith-based ones. She holds the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coaching Federation.

Phone or text: 317-908-4426  |  Email: lesleymackellar@gmail.com

Heather Barta

Heather is passionate about how coaching can transform a person or a group as they set goals and move into the future. The first time she experienced coach training, she found herself imagining a church where every leader has a coach—and the confidence and support that would give them. Church leadership is hard, overwhelming, and sometimes heartbreaking. A coach listens deeply while encouraging a leader to follow their heart and their gut. Regular coaching invites accountability and the freedom to be flexible: to try, to fail fast, and to try another idea. She holds ACC accreditation from the International Coaching Federation.

Phone: 989-413-3229  |  Email: revbarta@gmail.com  |  Website: BreathePlanDo.weebly.com  |  Schedule: calendly.com/revbarta

* Rural ministry specialist