About Us
Who We Are
The Children's Spirituality Summit (CSS) (formerly the Children’s Spirituality Conference: Christian Perspectives) is a Christ-centered and ecumenical organization of scholars and thoughtful practitioners dedicated to promoting informed practice regarding children's spirituality. We currently meet biennially and represent a broad range of Christian faith traditions.
Our key purpose is to create opportunities for dialogue and collaboration between researchers and practitioners through our gatherings and publications. We serve as a thought leader in the global discussion of children’s spirituality from a Christian perspective to influence practice in the varied contexts where children are spiritually formed.
Our Board
Mimi Larson, PhD
Board Chair
Dr. Mimi Larson is the Executive Director for the Center for Faith and Children and an Assistant Professor of Educational Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Prior to joining the TEDS faculty, she served for over 25 years in practical church ministry and was Visiting Assistant Professor of Christian Formation & Ministry at Wheaton College. Her research is in the area of children’s faith formation with a particular interest in how faith is formed in early childhood. She serves on the board for the Society of Children’s Spirituality: Christian Perspectives and her latest book is Bridging Theory and Practice in Children’s Spirituality: New Directions for Education, Ministry and Discipleship (edited with Robert Keeley, Zondervan, 2020). Dr. Larson regularly consults with churches regarding their ministry with children and families and has developed curriculum for children’s ministry in the local church. As a recipient of Calvin’s Institute of Christian Worship’s teacher-scholar grant as well as a worshipping communities grant, her current research focus is how ministry leaders thoughtfully engage children in worship.
Robin Turner, DMin
Vice Chair
Robin has over a decade of experience leading and advising Anglican children and family ministries across the USA and now runs a resource website, www.WorshipWithChildren.com. She earned her Doctorate of Ministry in Leadership and Spiritual Formation at Portland Seminary. Her dissertation,"Children's Faith Formation as Mutually Transforming Opportunity: Leading Systemic Change," focuses on equipping pastoral and lay leaders to value and learn from the children in the context of the local church. Robin has a BA and MA in Christian Formation & Ministry from Wheaton College (IL). She lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, Sam, and three young children: Davy, Jack, and Caroline.
Kirsten Hitchcock, MA
Secretary
Kirsten Hitchcock is the Director of Digital Children’s Ministry Resources at David C Cook and is the Children's Pastor at The Practice Church. For over a decade, she has served in many capacities including curriculum and content development, divorce and grief care for kids, and ministry director. She is passionate about helping kids who are hurting and equipping leaders to walk alongside kids through the ups and the downs. She has an MA in Christian Formation and Ministry and focused her studies on the ontological root of divorce and the spirituality of children. She is a wife and a mom, is an extreme extrovert, and loves to meet people over a cup of coffee.
Dana Kennamer, PhD
Dana Kennamer, Ph.D.
Treasurer
Dana serves as the Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Abilene Christian University where she teaches courses in early childhood education and children's ministry. Prior to entering higher education, Dana served as a classroom teacher in preschool and elementary grades in Miami, Houston, San Antonio and Abilene.
Dana earned a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in Early Childhood Education in 2001. Her dissertation explored young children’s perceptions of God from a contextualist perspective. This research was later included in Children’s Spirituality: Christian Perspectives, Research and Applications under the title Six Children Seeking God. Dana’s other publications include Along the Way: Conversations about Children and Faith, I Will Change your Name:
Messages from the Father for a Heart Broken by Divorce, and Let All the Children Come to Me: A Practical Guide Including Children with Disabilities in Your Church's Ministry.
Despite Dana’s busy life as an administrator and academic, on Sunday mornings you can find her with her kindergarten and first grade friends at church. She has served in children’s ministry at her church in various capacities for almost forty years where multiple generations know her simply as "Teacher Dana."
Joseph Seo, PhD
Joseph Seo is a pastor in the Family and Children's Ministry. He has been serving a Korean American church in the Chicagoland area for the past 16 years. He received his B.A. in Linguistics (Turkish) from Osaka University of Foreign Studies, M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a M.A. in Christian Formation and Ministry from Wheaton Graduate School, and a Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The field of his specialization is children's faith formation in immigrant families and the influence of the parents on their children.
Joseph was born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised as a missionary kid in Osaka, Japan. He is married to Joo, a wise God-fearing woman, and has a son, Hymn, who loves fishing and soccer.
Henry Zonio, PhD
Director of the Center for Academic Excellence at Asbury University in Wilmore, KY. Henry
Zonio earned his MA in Sociology at San Jose State University and Ph.D. in Sociology at the
University of Kentucky. Henry has taught at Asbury University, the University of Kentucky,
Transylvania University, and Eastern Kentucky University.
His research focuses on children,
families, social inequalities, and religion. Specifically, Henry researches how children and
adolescents learn about race and gender in the context of religious education programs at the
churches they attend. He is currently conducting a 2-year survey project investigating youth
attitudes on race and religion funded by a Louisville Institute Project Grant for Researchers.
Henry brings 25+ years of practical children’s ministry to his research. He also has written for
Children’s Ministry Magazine and has contributed book chapters to edited volumes on child research methodology and children’s spirituality.