Meet Our Team
Rev. Dr. Joan Prentice, Pastor
Prior to launching the Ephesus Project, Rev. Dr. Joan Prentice served as staff pastor for fifteen years at a thriving Baptist congregation where she directed ministry for new disciples, developed curriculum and programs for new disciples and ministry leaders, and provided spiritual counseling/care.
Pastor Prentice is a retreat leader, pastor, spiritual director, certified leader of S.E.E.L. (Spiritual Exercises for Everyday Life), and has served as an adjunct professor of Spiritual Formation at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Her joy is to be used by God to see lives healed and transformed by God’s love and to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor Prentice is a graduate of Carlow University and received her Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
Pastor Phyllis James
Pastor Phyllis James was licensed and ordained at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA. She was licensed in 1991 and ordained in 1993 under the pastorate of Bishop Donald Clay. She studied and was certified through the Moody Bible Institute and served as a teacher for many years at the Willa Lewis school of the Bible. For nine years she served as one of the Assistant Pastors at Shekinah Tabernacle.
Pastor James come to The Ephesus Project with the gift of evangelism. Her background ministry includes ministry with the Nehemiah Ministries serving various underserved communities and families in Crawford Village, McKeesport, and East Hills areas.
Pastor James' passion has always been the homeless and those outside of the walls of the church. She loves ministering at Grace Space: Grace to be who you are and space enough to grow. That’s what The Ephesus Project is: A church without walls.
Rev. Dr. Susan Vande Kapplle, Pastor
Rev. Dr. Susan Vande Kappelle is a retired Presbyterian (PCUSA) pastor after serving for 35 years in three churches in Western PA. She continues her spiritual growth and healing ministry through The Ephesus Project of Pittsburgh. With the Rev. Dr. Joan Prentice, she leads retreats and offers pastoral counseling for spiritual formation and responsible action which leads to personal and social healing.
After completing the Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary, she continued to foster her own personal and spiritual growth through continuing education in leadership skills and a depth of counseling through contemplative prayer, meditation and listening skills. God led her to take a Doctoral program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in spiritual formation to enhance in others a deep faith with responsible social action as followers of Jesus Christ.
Susan’s training and internship with the Reverend Tilda Norberg, the founder of Gestalt Pastoral Care, led her to become a Gestalt Pastoral Minister and Training Associate.
Susan enjoys a close relationship with her two children and their respective families including six grandchildren.
Minister Roy Pryor
Minister Roy Pryor joined The Ephesus Project in 2013. In June 2019, he was licensed to the Gospel ministry as an Evangelist. Since then, Minister Pryor has continued to grow into a powerful, gifted, and compassionate man of God—committed to serving both God and God’s people. A devoted prayer warrior and man of faith, Roy also has an insatiable appetite for the Word of God, striving to live out Scripture through his witness.
His favorite scripture is Nehemiah 4:14. “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” (NIV)
Minister Susan Roberts
Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, Minister Susan Roberts came to The Ephesus Project in2017 from Mt Ararat Baptist Church, where she had been a long-time member and served in the
Media Ministry. She was licensed to the Gospel Ministry January 1, 2023, at The Ephesus Project under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Joan Prentice.
Since 2024, Susan has been a student at The Marilynn J. Davis Christian Ministries International School of the Bible. In line with The Ephesus Project’s vision of healed and transformed communities empowered to live in relationship with God and one another, she is trained in Gestalt Pastoral Care after studying under Rev. Dr. Susan Vande Kappelle and Alexandra MacCrackin in 2022-23. She is also a graduate of Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC).
Minister Roberts is a firm believer of Philippians 1:6 (NIV), “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” and her passion is to share the truth of the Gospel through her gifts of Teaching and Creative Communication. She enjoys colorfully expressing scripture through abstract art and poetry.
Minister Rosilynn Gilliard
BIO COMING SOON!