Board of Deacons

Our deacons provide care to all our members. Please contact Erin in the church office for more information about getting in touch with one our deacons.

Bill Carpenter

Bill is a lifelong Presbyterian and has served the church as an Elder, Deacon and Commissioner to the General Assembly. He is currently completing a six year term on the Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry. He is also the preferred push mower operator on the New Hope Building and Grounds Committee. Born and raised in Greenville, S.C., Bill graduated from UNC Charlotte and remained in the Charlotte area for 40 years before he and Terri retired to Asheville in 2015. Bill spent most of his career working in the criminal justice system, first as a deputy sheriff and then in a variety of roles with the state probation and parole division. After retiring from state service he worked in mental health case management and in sales with outdoor retailer REI. Bill and Terri have been married for the best part of 48 years. They have one daughter, who resides in West Asheville. Bill enjoys writing, reading, movies, hiking and Terri’s legendary cooking. 

Joy Lee Eppes

Joy Lee was born and raised in Charlotte, where she attended Sardis Presbyterian Church. In 1960, she married Bill, and together they have one son, Ryan, who lives in Plainville, Massachusetts. Joy Lee can best be described as a “professional volunteer,” having served on the Board of Directors of the Mansfield Massachusetts Council on Aging and the United Way. She was also a member of the School Superintendent Search Committee and the Mansfield Town Manager Search Committee, delivered Meals on Wheels, and is an advocate for parents and children. After living in New York, Massachusetts, and Maine, Joy Lee and Bill returned to North Carolina in 2006. 

Janet Ferrell

​After growing up in Asheville, Janet was so happy to move back home in 2000 to make Asheville the family home again. She comes from a long line of Presbyterians on her mother’s side and over the years has attended various Presbyterian churches. Janet attended UNCA, where she met husband, Woody Ferrell, and graduated from UNCG with a degree in Fine Arts and continues to love that talent. In 2003, Janet found a new passion and started a nonprofit called First WNC to improve the lives of persons with disabilities, including their son, Austin. Janet and Woody have another son, Rush, who with his wife Caroline live in Janet’s childhood home. In addition to her work, Janet enjoys trips to her mother’s mountain home and quiet times at the beach.

Elaine Morse

Elaine grew up in southern Indiana and on the west coast of Florida.  She graduated from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg and received a Master’s degree at Indiana University, where she met her husband, Andy.  After graduate school, they moved to Atlanta, where they spent 40 happy, busy years.  Over time, as their faith journeys evolved, they were active members of Oakhurst Baptist Church, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, and most recently Central Congregational UCC.  She joyfully retired in 2016 after a 35-year career in IT, the last 22 years at Georgia-Pacific.  They relocated to Asheville in 2018 – long a favorite vacation destination for them – and they're thrilled to be permanent residents of this beautiful area!  They were extremely fortunate to find and join New Hope shortly after they settled here, and they have loved building new relationships and participating in services that support the Asheville community. 
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Ann Moorefield

Ann is a lifelong Presbyterian who spent her first 8 years in Illinois; did most of her growing up in Darlington, SC; went to Wells College in Aurora, NY, and graduate school at the University of Michigan; then lived in Clinton, South Carolina, for more than 50 years. In the fall of 2019, Ann moved to Asheville from Clinton, where she had taught English and Women’s Studies at Presbyterian College and raised four amazing children in full cooperation with her beloved husband, David, a Presbyterian minister, who also taught at PC.  She was active in church and community, especially in areas affecting women (Girl Scouts, League of Women Voters, feminist book club, etc.) Most recently within her church, she drew on what she had learned before David’s death to edit a brochure identifying community resources available to the homebound and their caregivers. She also became active within Stephen Ministry as a Stephen Leader. Now living at Deerfield Retirement Community, Ann is excited to be exploring new activities (such as pottery) and enjoying new friendships both there and at New Hope. She is looking forward to the time post Covid when all can interact in person and without masks. 

Karen Ward

Karen was born and raised in Dayton, OH, and was very active in her Methodist church there. She went to nursing school in Cincinnati and worked there after graduation. After living in Miami for 2 years, she took off for the west coast, living in San Francisco for 43 years. There she became active in the Presbyterian Church for 37 years, singing in the choir, serving as a deacon and an elder, assisting in monthly wholeness and healing services, and taking communion to the homebound. Karen traveled to Europe on tours with her church choir, and to many other countries on her own. While in SF she also completed a full-time, one-year intensive to be certified as a Hospital Chaplain. Her nursing career was mainly in the Operating Room, which gave her the experience to be part of five medical trips to a village in Guatemala. She moved to Asheville in 2012 and lives at Givens Estates. She is so grateful to have found a home at New Hope Presbyterian Church.