Pastors & Staff

Rev. Melanie Hardison

Pastor of Pastoral Care
Mission Campus

Rev. Melanie Hardison comes from a long line of Presbyterians and has been ordained as a minister of word and sacrament as well as an elder and a deacon. She describes Village as “a place of warm hospitality, thoughtful engagement and hopeful authenticity.”

A graduate of Agnes Scott College and Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Melanie earned a dual degree in seminary: the Master of Divinity and the Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy. Prior to graduate school, she served as a program manager at the national level of the Presbyterian Church (USA) for 15 years. With experience as a therapist and hospital chaplain, Melanie is passionate about end of life care, grief and bereavement work, and spiritual practices.

Some of her favorite time is spent twirling around a dance floor doing the two-step, west coast swing, ballroom or country line dance. When she can’t be on the dance floor, Melanie enjoys deep conversation, growing vegetables, fruits, and flowers, hiking, traveling and any opportunity to laugh so hard she cries.

Lisa Harrison

Site & Communications Coordinator
Antioch Campus

Lisa joined the staff at Antioch Campus in June 2021 as the communications and site coordinator. Born and raised in the suburbs just north of Chicago, (Go Bears!) Lisa’s family was very active in the Village Presbyterian Church of Northbrook, where she and Tim were married in 1991, and where her father still serves on the Endowment Committee. Lisa and Tim raised their two young adult sons, Parker and Davis, as members of the Presbyterian Church of Stanley, where Lisa served as a deacon, taught Sunday School and VBS, rang in the bell choir, and chaperoned an amazing mission trip to Mississippi to help with Hurricane Katrina cleanup efforts.

Prior to joining the Antioch staff, Lisa taught middle school Social Studies, English and Spanish at The Barstow School for 12 years, and then worked as a magazine editor for several local publications for a decade. She earned her BA and MA in Education from the University of Kansas, where she met Tim, and where both of their boys have recently graduated. Needless to say, they are all avid fans of Jayhawks basketball.

Dr. Langston Hemenway

Director of Village Brass & the Kansas City Wind Symphony
Mission Campus

Dr. Hemenway is director of Village Brass. He also serves as the director of instrumental studies at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri. He earned his doctorate in instrumental conducting from the University of Michigan, his masters in conducting from the University of Kansas, and his bachelors in music education from the University of Oklahoma. Before being hired in summer 2021, Langston was already a beloved part of the Village family for his visionary and dynamic leadership of the all-volunteer Kansas City Wind Symphony, a Village Arts Alliance ensemble.

Rev. Chad Herring

Interim Senior Associate Pastor; Director of Adult Faith Formation
Mission Campus

The Rev. Chad Andrew Herring joins Village as our interim senior associate pastor, with 18 years of congregational leadership experience, first as associate pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church of Prairie Village, and then as pastor of the John Knox Presbyterian Kirk of Kansas City. Chad was elected to serve as moderator of Heartland Presbytery, a member of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board and as treasurer of the Synod of Mid-America. Recently, Chad was a resident chaplain at Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City, and completed seven years on the Prairie Village City Council. The unifying thread of this work is a desire to nurture emotional, spiritual and physical health for ourselves and for our neighbors, as God in Jesus Christ invites us to do.

Meanwhile, Chad delights in his twin teenage daughters and the Australian Shepherd and Wheaten Terrier pups that enliven his household. He prefers baseball (Royals) and hockey (Blues) when given the choice, uses fountain pens and often has ink on his hands to prove it, and is grateful to walk with Village during this time of faithful transition.

Laura Hobbs

Executive Assistant to Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka
Mission Campus

Greg Hoeven

Senior Video Producer
Mission Campus

Jenny Hull

Director of Child & Family Development Center

Children’s Music Coordinator
Mission Campus

Jenny Hull is the coordinator of Morning Stars, the Village Church Children’s Music and Worship program. She has been leading the oldest children’s choir since 2008. A cellist, Jenny received her undergraduate degree in music from Illinois State University in 1995. She received her Master’s in Education from the University of Kansas in 2002. After her children were born, she became a certified Kindermusik instructor, and started her work with Village Church in the music department, directing the children’s choir.

In 2007, Jenny began working at the Village Church Child and Family Development Center, where she now serves as director.  She also teaches preschool music classes and directs Village’s yearly drama camp for elementary students each summer.

Jenny and her husband Brad live in Overland Park with their two children, Brady and Katie.

Rev. Maggie Johnson Phillips

Pastor for Young Adult Ministry & Worship Arts
Mission Campus

Maggie is wildly grateful to be in ministry with Village Church. She was raised in the pews of Second Presbyterian Church, Little Rock, Arkansas, and she has previously worked at churches in Dallas and Atlanta. She is a graduate of the University of Tulsa (B.A. in Psychology) and Columbia Theological Seminary (M.Div.).

A few things Maggie loves include a fresh cup of coffee, worship liturgy, conversations around the table and the hopeful Church. When not serving the congregation of Village, you can find her practicing yoga, reading a book from her never-ending list, going on hikes with her dog Charlie, or hanging out in the kitchen while her husband Sam cooks dinner.

Julie Jones

Office Administrator/Receptionist
Child & Family Development Center

Désireé Keyes

Coordinator for Adult Faith Formation and Pastoral Care Volunteers
Mission Campus

Ann Kranker

Director of Finance & Accounting
Mission Campus

Dr. Jan Kraybill

Principal Organist
Antioch Campus

GRAMMY-nominated artist Jan Kraybill (DMA, FAGO) is a musical leader and dynamic speaker; a concert organist, pianist, and harpsichordist; an educator, church musician, and consultant; and an enthusiastic advocate for the power of music to change lives for the better.

In addition to maintaining a very active concert schedule, Dr. Kraybill is organ conservator at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, organist-in-tesidence at the international headquarters of Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri; and organist at Village on Antioch Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) in Overland Park, Kansas. She plays and oversees the care of the Kansas City metro area’s three largest pipe organs: at Community of Christ, the Auditorium’s 113-rank Aeolian-Skinner (installed in 1959) and the Temple’s 102-rank Casavant (1993), and at the Kauffman Center’s Helzberg Hall, the 102-rank Julia Irene Kauffman Casavant (2012).

Dr. Kraybill’s degrees in music education and piano and organ performance were earned at Kansas State University and the Conservatory of Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In 2010 she achieved the distinction of Fellow of the AGO, organists’ highest certification level. She has served in many local, regional and national roles in the AGO, The Hymn Society and the Master Teacher Institute, most recently as executive director of The Hymn Society in the U.S. and Canada. She is a member of Mensa. Her extra-musical interests include antiquing, lace making and riding her Harley-Davidson with her husband, Allan.

Dr. Joshua Maize

Co-Director of Music Ministry
Mission Campus

Joshua Maize (DMA) is a conductor, vocalist and teacher in the Kansas City area. He is co-director of music ministry at Village Presbyterian Church, where he directs the principal adult chorus, the Village Choir, as well as the Village Chamber Choir and Village Voices youth choir.

Joshua holds a bachelor’s degree in music education and a doctor of musical arts degree in choral conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance and a master’s degree in musicology and church music from the University of Kansas. He was an Ellen Battell Stoeckel Vocal Fellow at Yale University. Joshua has worked in Presbyterian and Episcopal congregations in Missouri, Kansas and Texas where he has established and grown choral and instrumental ensembles for people of all ages. He has served on faculty at the Conservatory of Music and Dance (UMKC) and currently serves as the sub-dean for the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

He has worked extensively as a choral conductor and vocalist, performing throughout the United States and Europe. Joshua has appeared on the rosters of the Norfolk Chamber Choir, Spire Chamber Choir and Te Deum Chamber Choir. He is a member of the American Choral Directors’ Association, Association of Anglican Musicians, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, the Royal School of Church Music and the American Guild of Organists.

Sarah McKee

Preschool Director
Mission Campus

Theo Musick

Music Ministry Coordinator
Mission Campus

Theodore Musick is a percussionist and music educator in Kansas City, Kansas. He holds percussion performance degrees from the University of Kansas (MM) and Washburn University (BM). He has studied with Michael Compitello, Tom Morgan and Keith Mallory. He is the assistant band director & percussion instructor at St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kansas and the music coordinator at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kansas.

As a performer, Theodore is the principal percussionist with the Fountain City Brass Band, the current North American and U.S. Open champions. He won the Best Featured Soloist Prize at the U.S. Open Brass Band Championship with Xylophonia and was hailed as performing with “a truly witty bit of xylophone magic” by 4barsrest, the brass band magazine. He recorded Xylophonia on Fountain City’s album Over the Rainbow. He regularly performs with the Topeka Symphony Orchestra and in the KC Metro area.

Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka

Senior Pastor

Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka  joined the staff in March 2016 as director of adult faith formation, later becoming senior associate pastor. He was called as co-pastor in January of 2023 and became senior pastor in December of 2023.

Rodger believes that because God created us all for relationship, discovering how to follow Jesus Christ happens best in community. He is profoundly grateful to be serving at Village Church and is inspired daily by the faith and faithfulness of this vibrant community of children, youth, young adults and adults.

Born in Honolulu and raised in Seattle at the Japanese Presbyterian Church, prior to coming to Village, Rodger taught at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta for 15 years as the Benton Family professor of Christian Education. Before serving on the faculty of Columbia Seminary, he was director of youth and young adult ministries for the Presbyterian Church (USA). Rodger is a graduate of Seattle Pacific University (BA), McCormick Theological Seminary (MATS), and Georgia State University (PhD.). Rodger is most at home in the classroom both as a teacher and as a learner. The son of Rev. Richard and Alice Nishioka, he is evidence that you can be a pastor’s kid and still love Jesus and the church.​