Meet the More Light Presbyterians Staff and National Board of Directors
More Light Presbyterians is supported by a dynamic staff and board of directors. More Light staff are available to visit your congregation or community group, and for individual consultation about furthering LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or just want to say hi!
The More Light Presbyterians Staff
More Light Presbyterians is supported by a dynamic staff. Meet Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia!
Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia
Transitional Head of Operations
Gender Pronouns: she/her/hers
Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the founder of Courageous Spaces. She earned her undergraduate degree at Rutgers University and M.Div.…
National Board of Directors
The More Light Board consists of 15 persons elected by the membership of MLP or appointed to fill vacancies per the requirements in the by-laws.
Nominations to the National Board of Directors are made by a Nominations Committee. The Nominations Committee solicits the MLP membership for suggestions for nominees and considers both within its composition and its proposed slate of nominees the diversity of sexual orientations, differing abilities, racial-ethnic backgrounds, gender identities and expression, ages (in conformity with applicable laws), synod of residence, and MLP membership categories.
If you would like to contact a board member, please contact us and we will get you in touch with the appropriate board member(s).
Adrian White
More Light Board Co-Moderator
Gender pronouns: they/them/theirs
Adrian White is a writer, Texan, and M.Div student at Vanderbilt Divinity School. They grew up in the PC(USA) and feel called to bring to life the church’s growing commitments to the inclusion and thriving of all children of God!…
Jessica Vazquez Torres
More Light Board Co-Moderator
Gender pronouns: she/her/hers
Jessica is the National Program Coordinator for Crossroads Anti-Racism Organizing and Training.A native of Puerto Rico, Jessica identifies as a “1.5 generation Queer ESL Latina of Puerto Rican descent.” From 1999 until the Spring of 2006 Jessica worked in the Office of [Racial] Reconciliation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis, IN.…
Rev. Pamela Anderson
More Light Board Member
Gender Pronouns: she/her
Pamela (she/her) has been a PC(USA) teaching elder for the last 31 years. She has served churches throughout California, New Jersey, and Australia and has been a professor of religion at the University of Phoenix.…
Avery Arden
More Light Board Member
Gender Pronouns: they/ze
Avery (they/ze, MDiv) is an autistic, genderqueer, leftist minister residing in Atlanta, Georgia with their wife and two cats. You can most often find them engaged in embroidery or other crafts; waxing poetical about the queerness of God, or digging into biblical Hebrew and Greek.…
Katherine Davoli
More Light Board Member
Gender Pronouns: they/them
Katherine is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Presently, they work full-time as a bench researcher neuroscientist, attend Seminary part-time, and are the Chair of LAMP: LGBTQIA+ Affirming Ministries of Pittsburgh, an organization that does ministry at the intersection of queer and Christian identities. …
Rev. Ann Deibert
More Light Board Member
Gender Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ann grew up in the Pacific Northwest and lived in California, New Jersey, and Maryland before she joined the pastoral staff of Central Presbyterian Church in Louisville, KY in 1996.…
Rev. Jeff Light
More Light Board Member/ Treasurer
Gender Pronouns: he/him
Jeff is the Transitional Pastor at Central Presbyterian Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Jeff had a 25-year career in Leadership Development at Sprint, IBM, and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and served churches in Lawrence, KS, Joplin, MO, and Lake City, CO.…
Rev. Ashley McFaul-Erwin
More Light Board Member/ Secretary
Gender Pronouns: she/her/hers
Ashley is a lifelong Presbyterian: beginning her journey in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland before moving to the US in 2011. Her move across the ocean has a deep connection to More Light.…
Shani McIlwain
More Light Board Member
Gender Pronouns: she/her
Shani is a ruling elder at Faith Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC where she also serves as Moderator (2022-23) of National Capital Presbytery. Hilarious and transparent are two words that describe Shani as a speaker. …
Rev Bruce Reyes-Chow
More Light Board Member
Gender pronouns: he/him/his
Bruce is a pastor, author, consultant, and coach. A 3rd Generation Chinese/Filipino, armchair sociologist, and technology enthusiast Bruce speaks and teaches on faith, race, parenting, and technology in a variety contexts from seminaries to conferences to congregations to pre-schools.…
Matthew Webb
More Light Board Member
Gender Pronouns: He/Him
Growing up in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Matt is the son of a Southern Baptist minister and grew up in that tradition, attending SBC seminary for 2 years until his theology evolved to a place where he could no longer be a part of an environment that would not honor the queerness of his personhood.…