Board of Directors

Board Member

Jeff Kern

Jeff Kern currently works as the COO/CFO for Martin Aquatic in Orlando, Florida. While currently in the marketplace, Jeff previously served as a pastor and church planter and also led an international church planting ministry for 17 years. He resonates deeply with VitalChurch Ministry’s work to support leaders and churches across the country. Jeff and his wife Jill have four adult children and three grandchildren.

Board Member

Debi Lerma

Debi Lerma is a California native and shares her time in California and at her Mississippi Gulf Coast home. Debi and her husband, Rich, have one married daughter and three amazing and talented grandkids. After retiring as an Owner and COO of Optivest Storage, Debi became active in Community Bible Study and is their current Teaching Director. She also helps care for her aging mother and enjoys attending events and time with her grandkids.

Debi and her husband travel extensively, and Debi enjoys reading, studying God’s Word, and teaching Sunday School to 4 and 5 year olds. Her past ministry experience includes Biblical Counseling, Bible Study leadership, and Women’s Retreat Coordinator.

Board Member

Kristen Maloney

Kristen Maloney is a retired mediator and attorney based in Oakland, California. She is a Certified Christian Conciliator and Relational Wisdom Instructor. As a conciliator, Kristen has helped churches, individuals, and Christian organizations apply relational wisdom and biblical peacemaking principles to resolve conflict and reconcile relationships. She has taught relational wisdom and peacemaking seminars and has trained others to serve as coaches and mediators using a biblical peacemaking model. Kristen recently retired from her mediation practice. She has been married to Graham for 40+ years, has adult twins, and is a grandmother!

Board Member

James Matsuda

James Matsuda was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently the CFO of Numi Tea, one of the largest distributors of premium organic tea in North America. He has served as an Elder at Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church (MVPC) in Moraga, California. He has also served as chair of the Global Missions Team Committee and Diversity Co-Op at MVPC, as well as serving on the Focus Team when MVPC retained VitalChurch Ministry to help them through a transitional period.

James met his wife, Laurie, when they were teenagers while attending the Japanese Evangelical Missions Society Conference in Mt. Hermon, California. They were married in 1988 and have 2 adult sons, Kevin and Jonathan. In his spare time, James likes to golf and is an avid baseball fan. His favorite team is the San Francisco Giants.

Board Member

Brian Purvis

Brian Purvis lives in Middle Tennessee with his wife, Leslee. They have been married for over 33 years and have three daughters. They are currently involved in various ministries at Cross Point Church in Mt. Juliet. Brian and Leslee have served as volunteers with VitalChurch Ministry since they learned of the ministry when Brian was a leader in a church that VitalChurch served. Brian saw first-hand how God used the VitalChurch process in his former church and is now excited to serve on the Board to be part of helping other churches! Brian works for SUSE, an open-source software company, as the leader of Premium Support Services for the Americas. In his free time, Brian enjoys spending time with Leslee, exploring Tennessee, or enjoying the outdoors, coffee, water sports, or a great meal. Brian loves to work on projects of all shapes and sizes to remodel or revive spaces.

Executive Director

Garry Abbott

Before joining the VitalChurch team, Garry Abbott served for almost 14 years in a variety of executive level pastoral roles at Summit Church (a multi-site church located in Orlando, Florida). Garry and his family now live in Southern Indiana and are a part of a local church in their downtown community. Garry and his wife, Abbie, have been married since 2001 and have three children. Garry cares deeply about helping people take next steps in following Jesus and seeing the Church impact the world through displaying the character of Christ.