Staff
Below are bios of the wonderful people who make up the Central staff. The bios are nice, but your best bet is to get to know them in person!
For general information, questions, or comments, email us at . To reach a specific person at CPC, please use the e-mail links below.
Pastor
Katheryn Barlow-Williams
Pastor
Katheryn was called as Pastor at Central in September 2017. She graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, where she received a Master of Divinity, along with the Aaron E. Gast Award for Urban Ministry for her work with inner-city youth and the inmates at a maximum security prison for men. During her 12 years serving at Oak Hills Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Katheryn developed outreach programs to serve the community. These efforts fostered an increasing level of cultural diversity in the church’s membership.
She and her husband, Gray, have three children: Sarah, Rachel, and Sam. Katheryn loves traveling to explore God’s amazing world, hiking with her Labrador retrievers, distance swimming, strong coffee, and all things chocolate.
Parish Associates
Tom Estes
Parish Associate
In August 2002, Tom Estes became our Parish Associate for Pastoral Care. Tom is the emeritus moderator of our Board of Deacons, helps supervise seminary interns, and assists the pastors with other duties. He and his wife Sally moved to Austin in retirement in late 2001. They have five children and nine grandchildren.
Mary Swierenga
Parish Associate
In November 2011, Mary Swierenga became our Parish Associate for Adult Education. A graduate of both Wesley and Columbia Theological Seminaries, Mary served as the Pastor for Spiritual Formation for 17 years in Vienna, VA. After 35 years in the D.C. area, she moved to Austin in April 2011 to live near her children and grandchildren.
Jim Collier
Parish Associate
Jim Collier grew up in Houston on the banks of Buffalo Bayou. After attending Rhodes College in Memphis, he came to Austin Seminary where he earned a M. Div. and later the D. Min. John Knox Presbytery ordained him to the ministry on July 20,1969, the day men first walked on the moon. He served churches in Texas, New Orleans (his foreign mission tour) and northeast Ohio. He loved working on education programs and youth ministry – especially camps and conferences and a variety of mission trips. After retirement he and Janelle started coming to Austin during the winter and were warmly welcomed at Central. In November 2922 they sold their home in Ohio and graduated to apartment living in Austin. They have a daughter in Bee Cave and a son in Vermont who have blessed them with 5 wonderful grandchildren.
Office Staff
Lisa Korson
Office Manager
Lisa is the part-time CPC Office Manager. She is a native Austinite and after graduating from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Sociology, she completed her M.S. in Organizational Management at the School for International Training in Vermont. Lisa worked in the nonprofit sector for 13 years, before becoming a full-time event planner. More recently, Lisa transitioned her focus to motherhood and has twin daughters with her husband, Jake.
Andi Brauer
Neighbors Program Manager
Andi joined the team at Central Presbyterian Church in 2022. She oversees the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Program and collaborates with our partners to provide resources to our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Andi represents Central Presbyterian Church on the Board of Directors of the Religious Coalition to Assist the Homeless.
Andi is originally from Indianapolis and went to school at Loyola University Chicago, and received her Master’s in Social Work from UCLA. She spent 15 years working in public policy for the Texas Legislature and other nonprofits and has a background in coalition building and project management. She is a former foster parent, founder of a nonprofit for children in foster care called Learning Bridge and is a strong community advocate on homelessness, gun violence prevention, and foster care. Andi enjoys spending time with her family and three teenagers, Max, Mia and Nina, listening to live music, hiking, movies and reading.
Robyn Greer
Children and Youth Ministry Coordinator
As a native Austinite, Robyn first began her career in film in the early 2000’s. It was not until she had children of her own that she discovered her calling to work with children of all ages.
Robyn enjoyed working with both the YMCA of Austin and Austin Discovery School. She has participated as an instructor in the childhood enrichment program STEMed, and created the Young Workers Committee for the film union of Texas and Oklahoma, IATSE Local 484.
As a film maker, Robyn understands the importance behind each person’s vision in order to properly share their story. She is so happy to be working with the families of CPC, where she can share in such a beautiful community’s faith and joy together.
Music Staff
Carlos Cordero
Director of Music Ministry
“I am a Composer and New Choral Music Advocate, connecting with people through new choral music. I enjoy helping others brainstorm unconventional solutions to their challenges. My mission is to help organizations create opportunities for living artists to collaborate in a more meaningful way.”
For more information on Carlos: www.thehappychoir.com
Nathan Quiring
Organist
Nathan grew up in Plainfield, NJ, where he started learning to play the piano as soon as he learned to read, and became a full-fledged church musician in high school. After attending Virginia Tech, Nathan served as the Director of Music at United Presbyterian Church in Plainfield, before relocating to Austin and discovering CPC. He has played in numerous ensembles with a wide range of styles, from musical theatre to avant-garde experimentation, and currently performs with two bands, Lost & Nameless and Golden Lights.
Hannah Kriese
Children’s Choir Director
Hannah is a graduate of Oklahoma City University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, where she studied musical theatre, vocal performance, and theatre performance. She also attended Westlake High School. Hannah has a 7-month-old son named Camden and a 2-year-old dog named Owen. She previously worked as a singing Disney princess for children’s birthday parties, and a Respite therapist for children with autism, and currently teaches voice and basic piano.
Building Staff
Lety Medieta
Brandon Lairson
Sunday Morning Childcare Staff
Hortence Kabaya
Other Staff
Kathi Thomas
Thursday Concert Coordinator
Kathi Thomas has loved music most of her life, from hearing Ferrante & Teicher and Roger Williams as a child when her parents played their records, to Pete Seger & Peter, Paul & Mary when her sister played her albums, to piano lessons, band and a major in music. Kathi was a music major at Sam Houston State University on a full music scholarship, and then transferred & finished her degree at UT Austin, where she was a member of the Longhorn Band, Wind Ensemble, UT Orchestra, and Sigma Alpha Iota, (national music fraternity for women.) Following college, Kathi taught band for a year in SE Texas, and then left to go into her family’s florist business. Kathi is still in the floral business, but also enjoys music as an avocation. She plays in the Hill Country Community Band and Longhorn Alumni Band, and was formerly a member of the CPC Handbell Choir and the Austin Symphonic Band.
As volunteer Concert Coordinator, Kathi is responsible for booking musicians for 49-50 Thursday concerts each year. She considers these concerts a gift to the city of Austin and has volunteered for this program since 2003. She is appreciative of the generosity of the musicians of the greater Austin in helping these concerts survive and thrive since their beginning in 1980.
Win Bent
Events Coordinator
After serving as Church Secretary, Office Manager, and Majordomo from 2004 to 2018, Win “retired” to become the coordinator of concerts, festivals, book signings, and the many other events that take place at CPC. He and his wife, the Lovely and Talented Susan Richter, moved to Austin in 1996; since then, he has been onstage, backstage, front of house, and production staff for many shows, occasionally even enjoying a show from the audience seats.