Our Staff

Larry Fowler is the founder of the Legacy Coalition. His 40 years plus of ministry leadership, including experience as youth pastor, missionary and senior executive for Awana, has prepared him for this significant new calling in life. Larry has authored several books on children’s and family ministry including Raising a Modern-Day Joseph and his most recent, Overcoming Grandparenting Barriers. In 2012, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award by the International Network of Children’s Ministry. Larry and his wife, Diane, live in Riverside, California. They have two children and seven grandchildren.

Steven Bradford has enjoyed a diverse career with experiences spanning for profit companies and non-profit organizations. He was employed in the Pharmaceutical Industry from 1977 through 2006 with roles covering Sales, Marketing, R&D, and Operations both in the US and International markets. In 2006 Steve joined Prison Fellowship Ministries (PFM) and was later appointed Vice President of the newly formed Colson Center, a dependent subsidiary of PFM. Steve left the Colson Center to begin consulting work through Three Cords Strong, an LLC set up along with his daughter, Christine Franklin. Steve and his wife Tina have three children and eight grandchildren and live in Maryland.

Diane Fowler has partnered with her husband, Larry, in life and in ministry, and loves complementing him by handling administrative work and serving behind the scenes. She also loves being a team leader in preschool ministry at her local church, especially when one of her grandsons is in the group! Diane balances serving as the administrative assistant for the Legacy Coalition with taking care of their three littlest grandsons three times a week. She and Larry have two children and seven grandchildren and live in Riverside, California.

Tina has been married to Steve Bradford for 41 years. Together, they have prayerfully raised 2 daughters and a son. Greatest joys and life celebrations have been to witness each of their children's baptisms and Christian marriages. They are now prayerfully encouraging their families as they raise their own children to know God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Tina retired from elementary school teaching to serve along with Steve at Prison Fellowship Ministries and The Colson Center for Christian Worldview. There she planned and helped to lead staff devotions and quarterly Days of Prayer. She is a graduate of the Colson Fellows program. Currently, she feels called to serve in several prayer ministries to strengthen and encourage pastors and churches locally and nationally. She believes through repentance and fervent prayer God will revive the Church to intentionally disciple their families and others for His glory and for the advancement of His Kingdom. Leading the prayer team for the Legacy Coalition gives her joy and great hope in the Lord's plan to sanctify all of our grandchildren (yours and ours!)

Until his recent “retirement,” John Coulombe served thirty-one of his 50+ ministry years as the InterGen pastor at the Fullerton Evangelical Free Church in Southern California, focusing on older adults. A graduate of Judson Baptist College, BIOLA University and Talbot School of Theology, John helped lead the Christian Association of Senior Adults (CASA), a national ministry to ‘experienced’ adults, during his stay at Fullerton. He and Jacque, wife of 54 years, have enjoyed a team approach to pastoring as well as a broader speaking/relational ministry around the country. Having been on board with Legacy Coalition from its inception, John serves as Director of Spiritual Development. John and Jacque have two sons and daughters-in-love and eight teenage grandchildren.

Charlie has served several large financial institutions from 1976 – 2008 holding the position of President and CEO over the last 21 years. Since 2008 he has consulted with banks and non-profits, is the Founder and CEO of a non-profit organization helping 2nd and 3rd graders read at grade level at over 40 schools in Central Arkansas and on the boards of several ministries and non-profits..
Charlie has continually felt God’s calling to serve others and is excited to be part of Legacy Coalition’s multigenerational discipleship commission. He graduated from Davidson College and received his MBA from Wake Forest University. He has been a leader for 30 years and now serves as an elder at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR. Charlie and his wife Jackie have two adult children who serve as a 2nd grade teacher and police detective and two granddaughters.
- Little Rock, AR

Dr. Joannie DeBrito is a licensed mental health professional with nearly 35 years of experience providing individual, couple and family therapy. She also conducts prevention and wellness seminars; training and supervising counselors and administering human services programs. While on the staff at Focus on the Family, Joannie combined her special expertise in crisis and trauma counseling and marriage and family therapy to provide resources for families struggling with the challenges of everyday life.

She is currently serving as a professional resource for the Legacy Coalition. Her “Ask Dr. Joannie” Q & A column has become a popular feature at legacycoalition.com. Joannie has two married daughters and (so far) two grandchildren. She and her husband John live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Deb has been actively involved in local church ministry for over 40 years, including 26 years of employment serving in the Awana ministry. Deb, alongside her husband Ken, started as Awana missionaries then moved into various staff positions for the Awana Home Office. As a global program designer for Awana, Deb combined her love for the Lord, His Word, and missions as she designed curriculum that would equip the local church to reach their mission field. Some of her favorite projects were helping with the Cubbies curriculum, Special needs resources, TruthSeekers, and Awana GO missions lessons. While Deb’s time working for Awana has come to an end, she continues to serve her home church as a Truth and Training Leader.

Deb is a published author including books, blogs, and devotions around the topics of preschoolers, children with special needs, and missions. She is also a prolific workshop creator traveling to speak and share all across the United States.

Deb has been married to the love of her life for over 45 years. Together, they have three adult children and 11 grandchildren. Living within 40 steps of five of their grandchildren is one of life’s greatest blessings. They consider their grandchildren to be one of their most prized treasures. They love spending time with them and getting to know each one.

Deb, along with Ken, have been part of the Legacy Coalition since its beginning when it was birthed at Awana. The vision of intentional Christian grandparenting resonated strongly with them, resulting in dramatic changes in the way they grandparent.

As Director of Communications, Deb loves writing the Facebook posts, monthly Grand Happenings newsletter, and working on various other writing projects. Together, Deb and Ken, are deeply committed to leaving a godly heritage for their children, their grandchildren, and those yet to be born.

Jane and her husband Scott, are in full time Christian camping where Scott is the Executive Director. This has been the perfect ‘fit’ as it has allowed Jane to use her experience and gifts in children’s ministry while serving alongside her husband. Jane has taught Children’s Ministry Seminars around the country and is a speaker at camps, retreats, and women’s ministry events. Jane has the joy of being home with their three children, Alex, Blake, and Emma Grace. She is a true city-girl who has found the sweetest joys in rural Iowa, including a darling cow painting that sits right next to her coffee maker!

Barb and her husband, Gary live in La Mesa, CA. They have 5 children and 10 grandchildren. Barb felt God calling her to serve at Legacy Coalition in the fall of 2019 as a result of desiring to be an Intentional Christian Grandparent.
Barb has a background in business and is using the passion and skills she has learned to direct and host the Grand Monday Night webcast. Her husband, Gary, serves as the technical director and they are so happy to be working together. She feels truly blessed to be continuing her journey to learn more each week. She is committed to the future growth and outreach of Legacy Coalition and Grand Monday Nights.

Jon Ness has joined our speaker team after recently retiring from a successful career with Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, Iowa.  Jon played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones and brings great enthusiasm and experience in speaking to groups in a very inspiring way.  He has also served as a leader and teacher in his local church over the years, and just completed his 4^th year as chairman of the elder board at Valley Church in West Des Moines, IA.

Jon’s passion for the Lord and his family has always been the greatest priority of life for he and his wife Amy.  They have three grown children and nine grandchildren who all live close by.  Their desire to live as intentional Christian grandparents has been shaped and challenged by the message of Legacy Coalition and specifically the teaching of Grandparenting Matters seminars.  Jon’s desire to bring his audience to a greater understanding of our Biblical role as grandparents, and to realize the importance of passing our faith down to our children’s children has become critical as he fulfills his calling to leave a legacy.

Bill Parkinson is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and one of the founding pastors of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. Prior to being a teaching pastor there for three decades, he was an Area Director for Campus Crusade for Christ and served on the Speaker Team for Walk Through the Bible. Bill has developed a ministry in his church titled SageWorks, providing equipping opportunities and spiritual community for 700 Empty Nesters. He also does consulting with church leaders to provide strategies to engage this group.

Bill and his wife Ann are one of three couples who developed Raising A Modern Day Knight by Dr. Robert Lewis. They have four children and have taught several seminars on grandparenting, as well as holding “Cousins Camp Weeks” for the last ten years to mentor their eight grandchildren.

Brenda Peitzman is the director of resource development for the Legacy Coalition. Her experience as a business owner and national women's ministry leader has brought vision and creativity to resources that will equip grandparents to pass their faith down to future generations. Brenda and her husband Bob moved from central Iowa to Frisco,Texas in 2015 to be close to their two Dallas daughters, their husbands, and five of their grandchildren. They love every opportunity they have to visit their son and daughter-in-law and their three (soon to be four) children in Franklin, Tennessee.

George has been a senior pastor for 28 years at Riverpark Bible Church in Fresno, CA.  In 2017 he moved to the position of Teaching Pastor while remaining on staff at Riverpark.

George is a graduate of Biola University (Bachelors of Music – 1975) and Talbot Seminary (MDiv- 1979.

George and Linda grew up in Canoga Park, CA.  George and Linda have been married 45 years.   They were active members at Grace Church in Sun Valley, CA and had the privilege of sitting under John MacArthur’s ministry and teaching the first seven years of their marriage.  George then served as an associate pastor for 8 years in Auburn, California before becoming the senior pastor at Riverpark in 1989.  He has been in ministry for 38 years.

George and Linda have 3 married children and 12 grandchildren between the ages of 2 and 16.

George has a love for expositional Bible teaching.  He uses his expositional teaching in Grandparenting messages.  George and Linda are passionate about equipping grandparents to be intentional Christian grandparents.

Wayne Rice has been active in youth ministry, family ministry and grandparenting ministry for over 50 years. He is the co-founder of Youth Specialties, the nation’s leading provider of resources and training for youth ministry professionals. He is also creator of Understanding Your Teenager seminars, former Pastor to Generations at College Avenue Baptist Church in San Diego, and currently Conference Director for the Legacy Coalition. Wayne has authored or co-authored dozens of books including his most recent, Long Distance Grandparenting: Nurturing the Faith of Your Grandchildren When You Can’t Be There in Person (Bethany House). Wayne and his wife Marci live in Alpine, California. They have three children and five grandchildren. He also plays the banjo and has a bluegrass music radio program. Visit his website at waynerice.com.

Tim Robertson currently serves as Associate Campus Pastor at New Life Church in West Linn, Oregon. He graduated from Biola University (B.A. Christian Ed., 1974) and Denver Seminary (M.Div., 1977).

During more than five decades of vocational Christian ministry, Tim has worn a number of different “hats” – missionary and college professor in Mississippi, executive pastor in Colorado, university administrator in California, international church pastor in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as discipleship consultant to churches and nonprofits.

Tim and Debbi have been married for 49 years, have three married children, with eight grandchildren spread over three states. They are both passionate about “next-generation disciple-building”!

Tim loves teaching God’s Word, especially in ways that equip and mobilize the next generation of men and women to follow Jesus. He teaches weekly in multiple venues, and blogs less frequently at StrongStakes.org based on the imagery of Isaiah 54:2 – “lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes.”