Rev. British Hyrams:
Rev. L. British Hyrams hails from Chicago, IL, and surrounding suburbs. Before moving to North Carolina over ten years ago, she lived in various Midwest and Southeast regions with her family. British is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and holds two master’s degrees from Union Presbyterian Seminary- a Master of Divinity (M. Div.) and a Master of Arts in Christian Education (M.A.C.E.). She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Ministry degree at Duke Divinity School.
While not raised in the church, early exposure to the Christian faith drew British’s curiosity. Eventually, she became involved in the youth group at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago as a teenager. British’s faith journey would go on to include an expanding combination of “church homes” comprised of non-denominational, A.M.E., A.M.E. Zion, and U.C.C. congregations. Seminary provided her immersion in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and led to her ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament.
British started as a consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) in her early professional career and later worked as an Information Technology (I.T.) project manager and I.T. department supervisor for large healthcare organizations. After leaving corporate to raise her children, she taught in higher education as an adjunct math professor and volunteered with various community service organizations. More recently, British served two associate pastorates in Charlotte, NC, and is currently serving as Presbyterian Campus Minister at North Carolina Central University.
British serves in the broader denomination as a part of the UKirk National Gathering planning team; the inaugural event will be held in June 2022. She also serves as a board member for both William Black Lodge and Presbyterian Campus Ministry of North Carolina. British previously served on the Montreat Youth Conference Planning Team 2021 and as Conference Pastor for Triennium 2019.
British’s current civic and social involvement includes membership in the Union County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., participating in the activities of Durham Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods (CAN) Clergy Caucus, and volunteering with various direct service community organizations.
British is married to her college sweetheart, Kevin. Together they love and support three young adult children—Jamal, Akilah, and Aman.
Kevin Hyrams:
Kevin R. Hyrams is an innovative senior leader executive with proven general management, business development, marketing, technology, and global brand engagement experience. Kevin has demonstrated capabilities in optimizing and monetizing an organization’s intellectual property to exceed stakeholder expectations. Kevin leads diverse teams to deliver innovative solutions in global consumer, commercial, and industrial markets by leveraging expertise acquired through an extensive corporate background strengthened by broad entrepreneurial-related experiences.
Kevin currently serves as the Managing Director of Sidereal Global LLC, a holding company for Sidereal Branding, Sidereal Innovations, Sidereal Digital, Sidereal Media and has interests in other small cap firms that show profitable growth. Kevin’s commitment to a sole entrepreneurship journey began in 2012; however, he exceled in corporate America with well-established Fortune 100 companies prior to this time. Kevin moved from the Chicago, IL area to Charlotte, NC in 2007 when he joined Bank of America as the e-Commerce / ATM North American Consumer Service, Sales, and Relationship Management Executive and later held the role of Consumer Market Executive – Charlotte Beltway with Bank of America, Consumer and Small Business Bank.
Prior to joining Bank of America, Kevin was with Whirlpool Corporation in Benton Harbor, MI where he served as North American Region Director for national accounts. Kevin also spent more than 15 years with Eastman Kodak, a leading imaging innovator, providing products/services to the photographic, industrial, military, government, graphic communications and healthcare markets. Kevin directly managed organizations in North America and South America and served in a diverse collection of global advisory roles during his career at Kodak.
A Chicago native, Kevin earned an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. He is also a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where Kevin earned a B.S. in Product Design with minors in Industrial Engineering and Industrial Management.
Kevin grew up in the Catholic Church and attended Catholic schools until his sophomore year in high school. He also served as an altar boy and priests consistently encouraged Kevin to pursue a path into priesthood. Kevin’s passion and successes with baseball led him to pursue collegiate sports on scholarship instead of the religious order as well as his unwavering commitment to accompany his wife on her journey as a Presbyterian minister with PC(USA).
Kevin is a lifetime member of the National Black MBA Association and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. as well as a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. He is also the Executive Producer of youday!, a syndicated inspirational program airing on domestic broadcast television stations. Kevin is active in the Charlotte area through his board service with a number of established non-profit organizations. He is currently the President of the Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists (CAABJ) and the Vice- President of the National Association of Black Sports Professionals. Committed to addressing the worsening digital divide, he serves as the Policy, Advocacy, and Ecosystem Development workstream lead with Charlotte-Mecklenburg County’s Digital Equity and Inclusion alliance. Kevin also leads strategic initiatives as the Business Executive with the Park Community Development Corporation based in Charlotte focused on affordable housing, healthy living, and economic development for the Carolinas. Kevin continues to mentor a number of talented professionals as he commits to building a lasting legacy of excellence focused on leadership development as well as uplifting the Black community- particularly with improving economic mobility within diverse demographics.
Kevin’s wife, Reverend L. British Hyrams, is currently the Presbyterian Campus Minister at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC. Together they love and support three young adult children— Jamal, Akilah, and Aman.
Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity:
Lisle (she/her) is the founder and creative director of A Sanctified Art LLC, a collaborative arts ministry providing multimedia resources for worshiping communities. As an ordained Minister of the Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she approaches her work as an artist primarily through the lenses of pastor and theologian. Much of her work focuses on the spirituality of creativity and how it relates to both faith formation and wholeness/restoration. Residing in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with her husband and two wiggly pups, Max and Maven, she has a deep love for the Blue Ridge mountains. You can often find her gardening, tending to her flock of chickens, trail running, hiking, or adventuring with her husband, Paul. She serves on the strategy team for NEXT Church and the board for Hands and Feet of Asheville.
In addition to her work with A Sanctified Art, Lisle leads retreats for groups of all kinds (around varying themes), offers live painting for worship and events, and creates commissioned silk banner art for churches and conferences.