Meet the Collective
Grace Sutherland
Grace began dancing at Dramatic Truth School of the Arts at age 4 and graduated from the ballet program at the age of 17. Grace began dancing professionally the following year when she moved to Texas to dance with Ad Deum II. Grace learned various styles of movement from Shizu Yasuda and Randall Flinn, as well as guests such as Alicia Graf Mack, Roxanne Delores, and Durell Comedy. Some of her favorite styles of movement include Limon, Graham, Ballet, and Jazz. Grace was given the opportunity to use dance in outreach and ministry projects with Open Sky Arts Collective during the first couple years of her time in Texas; she eventually joined Open Sky as a company member in 2018. In 2019, Grace moved to Dallas from Houston to teach dance at Cornerstone Ranch, a ranch for adults with special needs. While her love for teaching movement grew, Grace joined Zion Dance Project as a company member. During her time in Texas, Grace found that dance could be used as a powerful tool to not only worship God and interact with Him, but also reach the hearts of those who don't know Him yet! Grace moved home to Kansas City, MO in 2020 and joined Störling Dance Theater for two seasons. After moving back to KC, Grace began to feel God putting Maranatha on her heart. Not knowing fully what it would look like, she began renting a dance studio and asking dancers to join her to worship and pray together to ask God what He wanted Maranatha to do. Since then, Maranatha has grown into a project based collective, gathering artists to host the presence of Jesus and make His name known through outreach and dance performance.
Collective
Hannah Adamo • Hannah Anderson • Alexis Beurskens • Shannon Benton • Emma Browning • Katie Casey • Mike Casey • Christopher Cheng • Brianna Collins • Molly Cook • Roma Catania • Ann Sterling Dale • Dillon DeGraw • Kaleen Frisbee • Grace Gimmotty • Chloe Waters-Gloria • Havilah Gililand • Beret Holaday • Daphne Johnson • Rachel Keller • Jane Kilpatrick • Katarina Larson • Jen Lawrence • Izzy Lee • Anna Leighthart • Heidi Loubser • Liz Meyers • Kira Michaela • Amy Miller • Leah Mitchel • Natashia Moten • Gabriel Morton • Covenant Olatunde • Amanda Patton • Elora Pfeifer • Sarah Roberts • Rana Schmidt • Andrew Schmidt • Sherah Shipman • Truman Sutherland • Bess Trew • Grace Unruh • Kaden Vandorn • Chelsea Villamayor • Natalie Wilson • Alex Wilson • Jackie Winnie • Madison Winters
Tribe
Piper Bohlender • Claire Burch • Henley Ferguson • Iris Friedline • Charlotte Henderson • Cambry Henderson • Eliysha Rivera • Yashab Rivera • Gabbie Strong
Bios
Christopher Cheng
Hello, Christopher here! I work as a dental hygienist full time and do videography on the side (mostly weddings). I go to a house church near Lee's Summit and enjoy volleyball, reading, and spending time with friends!
Charlotte Henderson
Hi, I’m Charlotte! I’m 15 years old, and I live in Shawnee, Kansas with my parents and 7 siblings. I fell in love with dance when I was 10 years old, and after going back and forth from dancing and sports for a few years, finally committed fully to dance when I was 14. I’ve performed ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz, musical theater, and tap with Greenleaf performing arts, and am also a member of Greenleaf’s junior dance company, Velocity. I believe that the Lord wants to use this gift in my life to bring Him glory, and I’m so excited to see where He takes me!
Jen Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence started dancing in Hawaii at a young age and continued to perform as an amateur throughout her teenage years. After attending college, she moved to Kansas City, where she returned to dancing for the first time after a long break at the Dramatic Truth School of the Arts. During this time, she developed wonderful friendships with Grace and others in the Kansas City dance community, which eventually led to her involvement in Maranatha Arts Collective.
Now living in Kansas City, Jennifer serves as a business owner, Pilates instructor, physical therapist, administrator, and designer. However, her favorite role is being a mother to her three beautiful children and a wife to Vaughn Lawrence.
Heidi Loubser
Heidi Loubser is a Kansas City based freelance dance artist working in a variety of secular and faith based settings. She graduated from Störling’s Artist Development Program (now Störling Conservatory of Dance) in 2019. Heidi enjoyed three seasons with Störling Dance Theatre before joining Earthen Image Movement as a founding member in 2023. In 2025, she premiered her first full length work as a choreographer, Prelude to Genesis 1. Learn more at linktr.ee/heidiloubser
Liz Meyers
Liz Meyers is local freelance dance artist and dance instructor. She trained at The Culture House in ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, tap, and contemporary. She also received her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance from Störling Conservatory of Dance in 2024 and is working toward becoming a certified Pilates instructor through Polestar Pilates. Liz loves using dance as a form of praise and worship as well as a creative outlet to explore movement. She can’t wait to see where the Lord takes her on her dance journey!
Elora Pfeifer
I danced with Kansas City Movement in Blue Springs, MO for approximately fourteen years. Nine and a half of those years I was an assistant teacher. Taking that role gave me the honor of being a substitute teacher when it was needed and has now gave me the ability to teach dance at Engage Kids and Kansas City Movement. After graduating high school, I then danced for a year at Störling Conservatory in Olathe KS and earned my Certificate of Dance.
Sherah Shipman
My name is Sherah, and I’m a Houston native and graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. I earned a BFA in Dance and a minor in Arts Management from SUNY Purchase in New York. I’ve danced with Ad Deum Dance Company, Zion Dance Project, Earthen Image Movement, Maranatha Arts Collective, and Kharashim Dance Company, performing and serving in the U.S., France, Switzerland, and Israel.
When I’m not dancing or traveling for missions, I work at Blossom Heights, a nature-based, child-led preschool in Houston, and work with sweet piano students. I delight in exploring the world through the eyes of little ones and love sharing the joy of music, movement, and the love of the Lord in all I do.
Natalie Wilson
Natalie is a graduate of Dramatic Truth School of the Arts and performed with their company for several years. She also earned a Certificate in dance from the Ailey School in New York City, and while there worked with choreographers such as Matthew Rushing, Hope Boykin, Jennifer Archibald, and Amy Hall. She has performed nationally and internationally with several organizations, including the Ailey Student Performance Group, GX International, Arrows International, Zion Dance Project Summer Series, and the ICEJ Feast of Tabernacles in Israel. Natalie enjoys spending time with her husband Ben and her 3 daughters, Leorah, Miriam, and Corinne, and is thankful for the opportunity to serve as a choreographer and dancer in Maranatha Arts Collective.
Emma Winter
My name is Emma Winter, and I am a recently graduated high school student, and a student at Greenleaf Performing Arts. I have been a student of dance for about 5 years, and though I am still growing every day, it is truly a passion of mine.