LIFESONG OUTREACH - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Member of the General Board
• Vice President of Physician Strategies, Via Christi Clinic Services and Chief Operating Officer, Via Christi Medical Associates ( VCMA )

Born and raised in Independence, Missouri, Mr. Hanson received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri, in 1971. A move to Wichita, Kansas, in 1973 to serve as Business Manager for Wesley Family Practice Residency was followed by 15 years as Practice Administrator for University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita. In April 2011, Mr. Hanson was appointed as Vice President of Physician Strategies for Via Christi Clinic Services, and also currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for VCMA (formally PMA) after holding leadership positions for PMA since 1996.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Member of the Officers Team
• President / Therapeutic Music Minister

Larry Hucke was born and raised in Kansas, and served in the U.S. Army in the Republic of South Vietnam during 1971. He has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in Mass Communication from Wichita State University. As an independent creative vendor of song and jingle production operating as Larry Hucke Productions during the mid-1970's and 1980's, Larry's work has aired on over 1500 radio stations across the country and on a variety of local and nationally syndicated television programs. Numerous advertising awards and a remarkable record of effectiveness and consistency have made his jingle and production work significant in the Midwest. In 1980, Larry created and produced what continues to be the longest running jingle in the Wichita, Kansas market. Due to Larry's professional credibility as an audio producer, in 1985 he was contracted by the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce to produce the audio recording of the winning song of the Wichita Song Contest to be aired nationally on the Paul Harvey radio broadcast. After two of Larry's original songs had been broadcast as part of a special feature on National Public Radio in 1976, Larry eventually produced his 1988 Kansas Heartland album project. This work resulted in Larry being recruited to conduct workshops in public schools throughout Kansas from 1988 to 1991. Combining the resources of children from these public schools and those who performed on "Colorful Characters of Kansas" from the Kansas Heartland album, Larry and his mother formed a group called "Kansas Kids", which performed publicly for a number of area events, including their appearance on a local TV network's mid-day variety program, "The Mike & Mogie Show". Even these many years later, his feature song from the album, "Tornado", is found on YouTube as "the best tornado song ever written"! In other music pursuits, Larry and his wife, Laurie, have teamed together in an effort to write and produce licensable music for the entertainment industry and multiple media formats, and to record and produce Larry's many other original songs. Larry has substantial experience with operating a medical oriented non-profit organization. Stemming from his participation in the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert and fundraising event for Huntington's Disease in the mid-1970's, he become heavily involved both personally and professionally for several years with The Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease, including his role as President of the local chapter from 1980-1983. During his tenure as President of the local chapter, he formally restructured the organization to comply fully with state and federal requirements, and he developed new strategies for raising funds that the organization had not previously ventured into such as securing grants from foundations and creating a very successful annual "Free Throw Classic" basketball event in which he recruited local celebrities and athletes, and which endured as an annual fundraising event well beyond his years of direct service in the organization. Additionally, his recording production business opened the door for him to create and produce a radio/TV PSA with legendary Olympic track runner, Jim Ryun, for the National CCHD organization, which aired nationally on ABC for over a year. Larry's devotion, passion, knowledge of the disease, ability to educate medical professionals, strategic fundraising efforts and his ability to recruit high-profile professionals into positions of leadership and responsibility led to the exceptional growth and stability of the local chapter. Among his other accomplishments with the organization, he set in motion the establishment of the first free-standing clinic in the United States devoted exclusively to the treatment and care of HD patients. Larry initiated and conducted in-service educational presentations in area hospitals and nursing homes regarding the care and management of HD patients. He also was instrumental in establishing and conducting the first successful brain tissue donor program in the National CCHD network, and one of the first in the United States. The recipient brain tissue bank in the Boston area eventually provided vital brain DNA for the Human Genome research. As a musician leading an organization aggressively battling a debilitating genetic disease, his exposure to the field of neurological research led him to become involved in researching the potentiality of the therapeutic impact of music. After an extensive review of the literature over a period of many years, he became convinced that music possesses intrinsic value well beyond ritualistic entertainment; when properly designed and focused, music offers an extraordinary therapeutic affect on human behavioral health - emotionally, biochemically, and overall neurologically, with effects ranging from transitory to permanent. This research became the genesis, or seed idea, behind the concept of LifeSong Outreach - the approach of utilizing familiar music as a communication device for reaching people in a powerfully therapeutic way.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Member of the Officers Team
• Office Administrator
• Secretary / Chief Administrative Officer / Therapeutic Music Minister

Born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, Laurie began gaining professional experience as a singer and guitarist on stage as well as in the studio recording demo's and performing back-up vocals during the 1980's. She became heavily involved in the contemporary style worship team at her church in 1990 where she served for eight years. In a concurrent venture, Laurie became a founding member of the gospel bluegrass band Psalm Country (1992-1998) through which her organizational skills helped the band comply with state and federal laws for small business structures and mediate successful regional promotion and radio airplay of their 1995 self-titled album. Also in the 1980's, Laurie became Office Administrator and then Interim Manager for a small upscale hotel, responsible for all accounting, staffing and personnel matters, guest services, marketing and property maintenance. This led her to accept a position with a real estate management company in 1989. During her 19-year career in commercial real estate, she rose from the position of Administrative Assistant to Property Manager and Marketing Director responsible for a large portfolio of high-profile commercial properties in Wichita. Her responsibilities as Property Manager included overseeing the maintenance, smooth functioning, safe operation and overall appearance of the properties, preparation and control of annual operating budgets for each property, and coordinating property management functions with the company's accounting functions. A wide degree of creativity and latitude was required of her in performing a variety of tasks and in leading and directing the work of others. Responsible to foster and maintain positive business relationships with tenants, Laurie was the primary contact with store managers and owners of locally owned businesses, franchises and national retailers. She facilitated move-in orientations, tracked tenant's business success and growth levels, gauged their satisfaction with their location, and handled dispute resolution and rules enforcement. As Marketing Director, she oversaw the marketing budgets, initiated and coordinated events, promotions and advertising for each property in accordance with the marketing policies and objectives of her employer, working with tenant marketing representatives, ad agents, publishers and broadcast representatives. Furthermore, Laurie successfully developed a Voluntary Merchant Marketing Association which attracted the participation of both local and national retailers, and she cultivated positive community relations for her employer through networking, events and cooperative on-site non-profit fundraising activities - an effort which resulted in her service as Honorary Chair on the Committee for an annual fundraiser for the Independent Living Resource Center from 2007-2009. Meanwhile, Laurie ventured into the local jazz scene in 2000 and enjoyed being a featured guest vocalist at several jazz venues, during which time she met her husband, Larry Hucke. In 2001 she joined a classic rock and jump blues band, eventually departing to concentrate on her newly developed musical performance schedule with Larry, using repertoire spanning a wide range of genres including blues, jazz, classic folk-rock hits and originals. Laurie's other performance talents include commercial voice over and singing jingles, while her heart is most dedicated to the ministry of worship to Jesus Christ and service reflecting her Christian faith. In 2008 Laurie received extensive business-to-business training, and in 2009 she and her husband started some new projects in audio production. Among the projects accomplished the first year, they completed a music video of one of Laurie's songs, The Winepress. Meanwhile, opportunities to bring a special ministry to aging and disabled people using music as a basis for their services began significantly increasing for them and they have discovered a unique aptitude for serving in these difficult environments. As this ministry has become clearly one of their most powerful experiences for positively impacting other individuals in great need, Laurie and Larry have committed themselves to doing all they can to make it possible to continue meeting this tremendous need in their community.

Philip Wood was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He is the eldest of five children. His father, George Wood, served as an evangelist and a pastor. His mother, Betty, was a wonderful helper and minister in her own right. When Philip was ten years old, he made a personal commitment to become a follower of Jesus. In 1969, at the age of fifteen, His father was called to serve as an evangelist in the United States of America. When Philip arrived, he attended high school and then went to Oral Roberts University where the Lord prepared him for His call into full-time ministry. Upon graduation from Oral Roberts University in 1975, Philip traveled from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Creve Coeur, Illinois, where he served as an Associate Pastor while studying to earn his Masters Degree at Lincoln Christian Seminary. The Lord began to reveal the idea of "communities of heaven" during this ministry when he began two small home groups. Upon completing his seminary work, Philip returned to Wichita, Kansas in 1978 to work with his father, George Wood. It was during this ministry that Philip met Cathy Leason and they were married in 1980. The Lord gave them two wonderful sons, Jonathan and Daniel. In 1982, Philip and Cathy left the traditional ministry to establish a new house church ministry called Community Discipleship Ministries ("discipleship in community"). They began their first house church with four other people. This ministry was later renamed, Faith Community Church - a fellowship of house churches. After planting many house churches and assembling them together each Sunday in rented facilities for corporate worship, Faith Community Church purchased a church building in 1987 and became well established in the city. While serving as the Senior Pastor of Faith Community Church, Philip and Cathy incorporated a new house-church planting ministry called Communities of Heaven Ministries (COHM) in 2003. In January 2012, Philip and Cathy were blessed and sent out with provision for the first year by Faith Community Church to "retool" Communities of Heaven Ministries as a new home-based disciple-making ministry in Wichita. As a part of their disciple-making ministry, in March 2013 Philip prayerfully and joyfully accepted the request of LifeSong Outreach to pastor a small congregation which meets every Wednesday afternoon at a senior independent living community in Wichita. This gathering, appropriately named "WOW", or Worship on Wednesday, is a service of LifeSong Outreach under the Fiscal Sponsorship of Faith Community Church. The pastoral position of WOW was and is a ministry of his father, Rev. George Wood, who has stepped down for an indefinite period while healing from a stroke. As Philip and Cathy have been instrumental in setting up house churches in Wichita without a central assembly or facility, they have also embraced the Lord's final commission to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Member of the General Board

Teri was born in Lafayette, Indiana, and later moved to Goddard, Kansas, where her father was a physician. She won the "Miss Wichita" pageant as a teenager, then attended college in Indiana, majoring in Fine Arts, and was chosen "Miss Indiana". In the competition for "Miss America" she was named "Most Outstanding Young Woman of America." She moved back to Wichita and became TV host for CBS affiliates throughout Kansas. At the age of 26, Teri suddenly developed adult onset partial complex seizures resulting in 18 seizures a day and leaving her completely disabled for three years. Two major surgeries involving the removal of a portion of her brain the size of an egg prevented her from dying, but left her with severe disabilities. After the surgeries she had to re-learn basic physical and cognitive functions, which motivated her to start a program to train the left side of her brain to take over for the removed portion of the right side. At the time, neurologists thought the damage was permanent. One mentor, Dr. Bruce Woods, Ph.D., gave her courage to believe that she could overcome her disabilities. He advised her to enroll in graduate school, train her brain to think in new categories, learn theology, philosophy and science. He encouraged her to become a pastor, then a doctor, and then to use what she learned in order to help others. Teri earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts, Emphasis Speech, at Friends University, magna cum laude in 1982. She earned her Masters of Philosophy and Theology, Emphasis in Theodicy Theories at Friends University, summa cum laude, in 1994, and then her Master of Divinity, Emphasis in World Religions, Liberation Theology and Process Theology at Phillips Theological Seminary, magna cum laude in 1999. Ordained in 1999, she was asked to serve as Executive Director of Ecumenical Ministries and Campus Minister of Wichita State University representing seven denominations for seven years. Teri then earned her Ph.D. in San Francisco, California at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Department of Consciousness, Emphasis Neuroscience and Consciousness, in 2010. Her Dissertation was published in May 2010: "Neuroplastic Possibilities for Expanded Consciousness: A Consideration of the Effects on Brain Dynamics and Consciousness of Neurophysiological Alterations Attributed to Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and Temporal Lobectomy Resection and Recovery." Teri's book, Reaching for the Crown, was published with a Foreword by Dr. Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral in 1995. She has traveled the nation as a speaker and currently serves as Kansas Epilepsy Advocate with new research on Neuroplasticity (the malleability of the brain) and Neurophenomenology (experience, consciousness and the embodied mind), and on Neurogenesis (how the brain creates new neurons) and Stroke recovery. Her mission is to continue consulting those facing major brain surgery and recovering from brain trauma. It gave her great joy when she was told by recent Mayo Clinic brain surgery patients that their lives were saved because of her work with them. Since the doctors at the Mayo Clinic saved her life years ago, she is grateful to be able to give back as a doctor herself. Highly respected Neuropsychologist, Bruce P. Hermann, Ph.D., stated, "Less than 1 of 1% of people who survived what Dr. Strong survived have accomplished what she has. Her work will be studied for years to come and will help us to better understand how the brain can heal."

George Wood served as senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas from 1970-1981 and led the congregation, which formerly met downtown, to its present location on North Rock Road. Upon his departure from Central Christian, George and his wife, Betty, continued to be involved in full-time ministry both in the United States and Australia. George's beloved wife, Betty, went home to be with the Lord in 2004. He has five married children, 17 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. George is remarried now to his caring companion, Joan, and still enjoys a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive on his Harley (to the chagrin of his wife). As the calling placed upon the heart of a man to serve God is not satisfied just because the calendar says he has done his job, George has "retired" five times (so far), only to return to ministry in one form or another. Sometimes he serves at Central Christian, sometimes at the church founded by his eldest son, Faith Community Church, and now as the pastor of a small congregation which meets every Wednesday afternoon at a senior independent living community in Wichita. This gathering, appropriately named "WOW", or Worship on Wednesday, is a service of LifeSong Outreach under the Fiscal Sponsorship of Faith Community Church. George's commitment to serve as long as he can is summed up in one of his favorite hymns:

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Member of the General Board

Dr. Brown hails from Missouri, where he earned his Bachelor of Science (Math and Chemistry), summa cum laude, at Missouri Valley College in 1969, and then his Doctor of Medicine degree at the University of Missouri, School of Medicine in Columbia, Missouri in 1973. From there, he came to Wichita, Kansas, where he completed his Family Practice Residency at Wesley Medical Center in 1976. He is licensed to practice Medicine and Surgery in both Missouri and in Kansas. From 1976 through the present, he has had numerous academic teaching appointments including his current position as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Kansas, School of Medicine in Wichita. He is also currently affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians, Medical Society of Sedgwick County, Kansas Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The recipient of countless professional honors and awards throughout his career, Dr. Brown has always maintained a vital role in this community through medical organizations including various membership and chair positions with Wesley Medical Center, Medical Staff Administrative Activities and Committees, and with the Medical Society of Sedgwick County in which he also served as President in 2009. In recent years, he has also joined the Board of Directors at the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, held the position of Vice President and President for Wichita Family Medicine Specialists, and is a Chairman on the Wichita Health Information Exchange Board of Directors.