Workshop Leader: Dr. Sharon Siler
Dr. Sharon Siler is the Executive Director of The Healing Place Center for Counseling and Spiritual Formation in Mechanicsville, Virginia and has provided care for persons experiencing death and non-death losses for a number of years. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the College of William and Mary and a Master of Science in Thanatology (the study of death, dying and bereavement) from Marian University. Sharon is an ordained minister, a trained spiritual director, and a certified thanatologist.
Luncheon Speaker: Rev. Katherine "Kay" Farley
Rev. Katherine “Kay” Farley is the Co-Pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church in Denver, Colorado and has served as President of the American Baptist Churches of the Rocky Mountains (ABCRM). She served several years on the ABCUSA Board of General Ministries. She was the Assistance Director of Admissions and Director of Student Services at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. During her tenure at Iliff she organized a chapter of the National Alliance of Pan African Seminarians (NAPAS). The first project was to have Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday become a holiday celebrated by the school. The appeal was successful and the University of Denver joined later in planning outstanding programs together for the holiday. She served over fifteen years as the assistant to the pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Denver, Colorado. She, her husband and a small group of faithful dedicated Christians organized Faith Community Baptist Church eighteen years ago. We are a church all about Family and Love, Worshipping God together!
Worship Leader: Minister Kabanya Vinson
Minister Kabanya is a gifted and anointed musician, singer, songwriter, producer, composer, and arranger. She hails from Albany, Georgia, where she began playing the piano by ear at the tender age of 3 and began training as a classical pianist at the age of 5. She continued her classical training through the years until later receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from the University of Georgia.
Minister Kabanya has worked with a myriad of premiere recording artists such as the late great Aretha Franklin, Michael McDonald, Jennifer Holliday, Kurt Carr, Karen Clark Sheard, Jonathan Nelson, and Ann Nesby (formerly of the Grammy Award-winning group, Sounds of Blackness). One of her greatest musical influences has been and remains to be her aunt, Dr. Bernice Reagon, founder of the Grammy Award-winning, all-women a cappella group, “Sweet Honey in the Rock”. In 2007, she was commissioned by Dr. Reagon to create and produce score transcriptions for many of the original compositions written by Dr. Reagon and the members of “Sweet Honey in the Rock”, which are used by choral ensembles and church choirs around the world.
She released her first album, “TheMOSAIC”, in September 2010. TheMOSAIC is still widely received today and the premiere single, “Consume Me”, can still be heard on many Gospel Jazz segments on many major market radio stations. It can be found today on most streaming platforms, the most popular of which is Apple Music.
Beginning at the age of 12, Min. Kabanya has faithfully served in music ministry for more than 40 years in various capacities such as keyboardist, organist, choir director, worship leader, and Minister of Music. She has organized, facilitated, and musically directed international choral tours in countries such as Taiwan (Republic of China), South Korea, Italy, including the cities of Rome, Vatican City at St. Peter’s Basilica, Florence, Venice, and lastly, Athens, Greece. For 10 years, she served as Minister of Worship and the Arts at Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Georgia, where the Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Hale is the founding and Senior Pastor. She most recently served as Minister of Music at Shiloh Baptist Church of Alexandria, VA, where the Rev. Dr. Taft Quincey Heatley is the Senior Pastor. She faithfully served at Shiloh for 7 years.
She is a proud mother of 4 adult children – Robert, III, Paris, Victoria, and Christina – who are all phenomenal musicians, singers, songwriters, producers, composers, and arrangers.
“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4). This passage of scripture captures the essence of Minister Kabanya’s heart and passion. To be called and appointed to invoke the Spirit of God and lead His people into His presence is her highest honor and greatest privilege. She accepts the call with sincere and earnest humility and appreciation. She wholeheartedly believes that the souls of men, women, boys, and girls are forever changed and transformed when they truly encounter the Presence of God.
Minister Kabanya is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at The Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia.