leadership

KAYLEE VANCE - worship LEADER

Kaylee was raised in a military family and was blessed with the opportunity to grow up amidst diverse people and communities. Despite the restlessness of military life, she always found Church a solid constant in the midst of constant change. However, as a Mental Health Therapist, she began to question a faith that seemed at odds with her work with hurting people in a context of extreme social injustice. Through her deconstruction of her childhood faith, she found The Hearth, which offered her a glimpse into a Christian denomination that recognizes the beautiful messiness of faith and the overarching love and true grace of Christ. Through this new lens of mature Christianity, she began to appreciate anew the ways in which the clients she worked with taught her that the world is not a juxtaposition of black (street alleys) and white (picket fences), but rather a lush kaleidoscope of human experiences to be celebrated (and mourned) together. When she finally found a Church that could enter into this tapestry lovingly and without judgment, she knew God had a calling for her that was beyond anything she had imagined.
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Kaylee’s background in Clinical Psychology and her entrance into Seminary is preparing her for missional Church leadership, with a focus on reaching those who feel unwelcome or unwanted in traditional church settings - the people who joke, but often with a grain of belief, that they would be smote upon entering a vestibule. Her transitional leadership at The Hearth will be focused on sustaining this beautiful community and growing Christ’s Church to reach more individuals in Central Florida with a message of nonjudgmental love, community created by imperfect people, and warm hearts and cold beer. 

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​FRANCISCO VALENTÍN - WORSHIP DIRECTOR

​Francisco was born and raised in Puerto Rico. During some of his most formative years there, Ricky Martin’s “Livin' La Vida Loca” was one of the biggest hits. Which explains a lot about his wild personality (we’re being sarcastic). There are many things that Francisco is wild about, though. Among them, Jesus, family, community, playing music, The Beatles, and that sweet, sweet feeling of an ice-cold beer after a long week of work. 

Francisco studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA where he majored in Contemporary Writing and Production. After some years of living in New York City and teaching music there as well as touring the Northeast and South America, he and his wife decided to relocate here to Orlando, where everything was much cheaper and the weather was more like his native Puerto Rico. 

Francisco’s journey with faith has had many twists and turns. He was raised Catholic until age 16. At this age, he gave up on church as a whole because, among other things, he felt like it was excluding people more than it was including them. During his teens and early twenties, he wrestled with his love of God contrasted with his doubts and skepticism. Francisco and his wife Cindy found this church one fateful November morning in 2018. They immediately fell in love with the community and the sense of openness and acceptance.

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Katey Suits - Worship director

Katey was born in Indiana, but moved to Georgia at a young age, where she lived until moving to South Carolina for college, where she studied music. The Disney College Program is what initially brought her down to Florida, and she and her husband permanently moved to the Orlando area in 2019. 

Katey’s journey with faith is a continuing one, still evolving to this day. She grew up a pastor’s daughter in the Baptist denomination, and attended a very conservative Christian college. It wasn’t until meeting her husband (who had also grown up Christian) and coming to Florida that she realized how much freedom there is within the true grace of God. Moving to Orlando was definitely a culture shock, and there are many tenets of faith that she still wrestles with, but she rests in the freedom to struggle that Christ’s true love and peace allows, again, slowly evolving to be ever more the hands and feet of Jesus. 

One outlet Katey has found to be particularly restorative in her faith journey is through music, where she co-leads the Hearth worship team with Francisco Valentín. In her free time, she also enjoys going to the beach, spending time with her husband, Walker, and her two dogs, and of course, enjoying a cold beer.​

council members

Without a church home for decades, President Blake Scott was drawn to the Hearth’s warmth, weirdness, and acceptance (of people, paths, questions). Blake and Steffen became members after they were married at Castle Church Brewery (the Hearth’s former location) and are excited about the Hearth’s next chapter—especially new opportunities for fellowship, spiritual growth, and outreach (including to Haiti and our area’s LGBTQ+ community). Blake and Steffen’s two daughters and their partners—Marlena and Christian, Hannah and Ian—live in Orlando and Charlotte, respectively. Four of their five siblings and families live in Central Florida, and sister Jamie Harrell and cousins John and Bonnie Langsdorf and Leah McCormack are also Hearth members. Blake is a Professor of Writing & Rhetoric at UCF, where his teaching and research are focused partly on creating more effective and just communication in health and medicine. Blake loves to run, sing, and get loud at Orlando City and UCF football games. He tends to prefer malt-forward beers but likes to try them all!

Vice President, Walker Suits, brings with him a Master’s in Divinity and experience as a Pastor in previous churches. If you’ve heard Walker preach, you know he is grounded in the grace and faith we hold dear as Lutherans. Walker’s wisdom and experience in Congregational Leadership and business management will bring a wonderful balance to our team.

Secretary, Shawnlei Breeding, grew up in Oklahoma where she graduated with a BS in Zoology from University of Oklahoma. While at O.U. she got involved with Cru (FKA Campus Crusade for Christ), which lead her to spend the year after graduation working with their college ministry in Belgrade, Serbia. Upon her return, she joined staff with Cru and moved to Orlando to work at their World HQ’s for 11 yrs. in various admin roles. She left Cru to pursue her dream of working with animals in 2003, first as a vet tech at a cat vet and then as a zookeeper at zoos in the Central Florida area, culminating with a bird keeper role at Disney’s Animal Kingdom for 11 yrs. While at Disney she went back to school for a Masters in Conservation Biology, which lead to a new career opportunity in 2016 as the EagleWatch Program Manager at the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey. Her spiritual journey has been full of many amazing experiences and also times of doubt and questions. She currently finds herself in a mode of deconstruction and is grateful for finding the Hearth community where she can be her authentic spiritual self. She has been married to her husband Steve since 1994 and is a mom to two cats who bring her much joy. She loves riding her Vespa, traveling to new places, and being outside enjoying nature.

Treasurer, Jeremy Carnes, has been attending The Hearth since 2019 and the Castle Church days. He works as a Postdoctoral Scholar and Professor at the University of Central Florida teaching writing and cultural studies. He enjoys spending his time with his wife, Jessica, and kiddos--Dreamy, Codack, Eila, and Mae-Lynn.

Council Member, Bryan Focht, retired from Cardinal Health where he was the VP-Controller of the Pharmaceutical Segment. He also spent 7 years with Deloitte and Touche, an international accounting firm. He is a life long Lutheran and has served as Council President and Treasurer at his past church in Dublin, Ohio. Bryan also served on the board of directors as the treasurer for a non-profit mental health counseling center in Dublin Ohio. He has 5 children and 3 grandchildren, with more on the way (grandchildren that is). Bryan resides in Celebration and relocated from Ohio to Florida in 2016. He has been an active member of the Hearth since 2020.

Born and raised in Orlando, Kendall attended various local churches but found her church home at The Hearth with her husband, Nick. The Hearth’s warmth, openness, kindness, and fun inspired her to volunteer as a Worship Assistant and eventually join Council. Kendall attended Flagler College and the University of Central Florida, and she currently works as a Marketing Coordinator. In her free time, she enjoys drinking IPAs and Hefeweizens, listening to Taylor Swift, going to Disney, working out, and spending time with friends, family, and her dog, Charley.

Council Member, John Langsdorf, was born in Cleveland, OH and grew up in Williston, ND and Albany, OR. He attended Oregon State University and graduated in 1972. He was employed by the US Government as an Air Force Civilian at the pentagon from 1972 until 2002. In 2006, he moved to Orlando. John has been a generous and faithful member of The Hearth for many years. John’s love for the Church and Home Brewing make him an obvious choice to serve in this leadership capacity.

Council Member Sienna Malik grew up in Pennsylvania and has lived in the Orlando area since 2016 and has been active in the Hearth since 2021. She completed her MFA in creative nonfiction writing from the University of Central Florida in 2018 and currently works as a writer for a faith-based humanitarian organization. In her free time, she enjoys thrifting, listening to vinyl records, going to the beach, advocating for environmental issues, reading, and hanging out with her pets and her husband, Dave.