Aneesah Veatch

Meet Our Leaders – June 2026

Rev. Dr. Néstor Gómez Bethany Fellows Disciple Leader

Where are you in the world and who do you do life with? 

I serve as the Lead Director/Pastor of First Congregational Church in Stamford, Connecticut.

Enneagram Number 
TBD – We will see this fall!

Tell us about your Call to Ministry.
My call to ministry is an open invitation from God to become involved in God’s kin-dom loving my neighbors as loving myself. It’s a call to serve and not to be served. It’s a call to give hope in a world in despair. It’s a call to walk along with those who have been put aside in the margins of our society. It’s a call to bring the light of God in the darkness of our souls.

Why Bethany Fellows?
Bethany has become a family of friendship and colleagues where I am free to be fully myself. It is a world of laughter and wisdom, where conversations emerge naturally and without judgment. Within Bethany, I have experienced both joy and grief, and learned that they can coexist together.

It is here that I have reaffirmed my identity within the community of those who follow the Way. Why? Because at Bethany, I can drink from my own well and hear the Spirit of God whispering in my ear: “Beloved.”

Can you share a retreat highlight?
At the Redemptorist Renewal Center 2025, a vivid experience for me was when we met together with the Disciple leaders and shared our stories of life. The question revolted around what was going in our lives. It was a prayerful moment of listening to others, meditating, and supporting one another. Then we drunk coffee and smiled.

Favorite Ice-cream Flavor or Dessert?
Strawberry

Bless us with words of wisdom or book that is sustaining you.
These days I’m reading, Have a Beautiful, Terrible Day! Daily Meditations for the Ups, Downs & In-Betweens by Kate Bowler. Recommended!

Meet Our Leaders – March 2026

Reverend Jenn Simmons Bethany Fellows Disciple Leader

Where are you in the world and who do you do life with? 
I am based in Springfield, MO and serve as the Lead Pastor of National Avenue Christian Church. My husband and I are marking 21 years of marriage this year! We have two beautiful kiddos, Desmond and Fiona.

Enneagram Number 
Enneagram 7 – The Enthusiast

Tell us about your Call to Ministry.
I have the joy and honor of helping to hold and curate space. Many of us have experienced religious trauma. I am amazed that people are willing to try church again. We practice radical hospitality, vulnerability, openness, and curiosity in hopes of finding healing and creating a welcoming space for all.

Why Bethany Fellows?
I am still in ministry because of Bethany. Here, I learned practices that helped sustain me in ministry. I found community. I learned and continue to practice trust. I am certain that without this circle, I would have left ministry long ago.

Can you share a retreat highlight?
At the last retreat in Atlanta, I got to live through my first hurricane. I was impressed by the care of the leaders and staff to help guide us through that space.

Favorite Ice-cream Flavor or Dessert?
Pistachio

Bless us with words of wisdom that sustain you. 
“Unless. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing it going to get better, it’s not.”

—Dr. Seuss

Porosity

Bellwether Farm ~ Wakeman, OH

“On a day when the world is weighty,

 dark and dense with need,

 I want to be the earthworm

  that gives itself over to tunneling,

 its every movement an act

of bringing spaciousness.”

I’m not sure how a poem about earthworms has whispered beauty and hope to me over the past couple of months. While I do love earthworms and have been known to walk the streets in my neighborhood post-rainstorm trying to rescue earthworms from a middle-of-the-road wiggling demise; I may be attracted to these words from the poem Lumbricus Terrestris by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer because they remind me of you all—this dispersed community we call Bethany and the ways that we practice together.

I am deeply troubled in heart, mind and body, echoing the pastoral expressions and stories shared during Bethany retreats, Zoom meetings, worship services and calls about what is happening in our country to the most vulnerable among us and to the communities we serve.

We are bearing witness to the fracturing not only of our cities, states and country, but we are also noticing how the pressures and challenges are impacting trusted leaders, grounded collaborators, and circles of trust. Our own thoughts and actions may be more susceptible to reactivity and negativity than ever before.

On a day when the world is weighty indeed.

And yet even in the midst of the darkness and density we are reminded to give ourselves over to bring spaciousness.

To bring porosity (I now love this word) to compacted, compressed places. You know this way. This space-making. This breath-taking way of listening deeply to colleagues and God, nature and your own bodies, histories and contexts. Just last month, Bethany Fellows on retreat in Ohio and Bethany Congregations retreating via Zoom and their leaders practiced again what we collectively know—that somehow God shows up in the midst of the tiniest expressions of spaciousness.

In the breathing, the listening, the praying, the worshipping, the celebrating, the wisdom seeking, the grounding in nature, the dancing with art and brilliant conversations, in the sharing of good food and soul-stirring song, in eye-watering laughter and wet-faced sorrow. 

I am so grateful that you all have taught me faithful ways to live in the weighty parts of life. May we find our way toward spaciousness, toward porosity, making room, slowly attending to God and one another even during these difficult days.

~Reverend Scott Hardin-Nieri, Co-Director and Pastor

Meet Our Leaders – October 2025

Reverend Steve Moore Bethany Fellows Ecumenical Leader

Where are you in the world and who do you do life with? 
I am based in Falls Church, Virginia and serve as the Pastor of FCC Falls Church. I do life with my amazing husband Mark and our Irish Setter Henry. Mark is a deep thinker, creative and a professional musician.

Enneagram Number 
Unsure! Hope to find out at our Spring 2026 retreat!

Tell us about your Call to Ministry.
It was an inward outward call identified outwardly by a college Campus Minister. The seed she planted began to grow and it was then I was able to name the inward call. Through a series of events, the spirit moved me to sell my house, move 600 miles from home, leave a job and enter seminary. Throughout it all – both the inward and outward calls have been at work in my life.

Why Bethany Fellows?
When Kim invited me to serve as a leader, I had already seen the fruit of Bethany’s ministry in the lives of young pastors. But it wasn’t until I joined a leaders retreat and experienced the sacred rhythm of the week that I felt God’s quiet nudge — an invitation to share my gifts and walk alongside those just beginning their journey in ministry.

Can you share a retreat highlight?
The spirit nudging me to deeply listen to one of the pastors and the deepening of understanding I learned from the pastor.

Favorite Ice-cream Flavor or Dessert?
Anything chocolate!

Bless us with words of wisdom that sustain you. 
Psalm 121 “I lift up my eyes to the hills— from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth…”

 

Meet Our Leaders – June 2025

Reverend Mollie Landers Hatt Bethany Congregations Leader

Where are you in the world and who do you do life with? 
I am based in Denver, Colorado and serve as the Associate Pastor of Lakewood United Church of Christ. I do life with my husband Andrew, our two kids Eleanor and Leo, and two brindle dogs – Katahdin and Cobbie.

Enneagram Number 
One! – The Reformer

Tell us about your Call to Ministry.
My call has been ever-changing, yet always rooted in building beloved community. Outdoor Ministry shows up in every facet of my call, as do more embodied faith practices. I’m called to follow in the ways and teachings of Jesus, imperfectly with others, as we seek to co-create a little more of the Realm of God here and now. And, as an Enneagram One, hearing and preaching God’s unconditional love is foundational!

Why Bethany Fellows?
I found Bethany Fellows (and it found me!) at a crucial transition point in my life and ministry. It gave me spiritual grounding, community, practices, and an ever growing web of connection to accompany me in ministry and life.

Can you share a retreat highlight?
The joy and inspiration of the First Dolphin Collection during the first co-hort of Bethany Congregations.

Favorite Ice-cream Flavor or Dessert?
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Mint Chip

Bless us with words of wisdom that sustain you. 
All shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well – Julian of Norwich