Calvary Road Ministries

Standing Committees of the Board

FINANCE COMMITTEE

The Finance Committee (i) advises the Executive Committee on matters related to the financial management of CRM, (ii) supervises the management and investment of CRM’s funds, (iii) oversees CRM’s financial reporting and compliance with applicable governmental and financial rules and regulations, (iv) supervises CRM’s tax reporting and compliance, and (v) oversees the preparation of, and compliance with, the annual budget to ensure that expenditures do not exceed budgeted amounts.

Sonya B. Coffman

Houston, TX

TREASURER AND CHAIR

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Sonya Coffman is an accomplished trial lawyer and Certified Public Accountant—albeit retired. She received a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Memphis, where she was the valedictorian of her class, and a J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas at Austin. Before practicing law, Sonya worked for an international Big 8 public accounting firm (Ernst & Young), worked in the Federal Express strategic planning group, and worked as a securities broker for Smith Barney. She also taught accounting courses at Austin Community College.

Family law was the focus of Sonya’s law practice. She was Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, AV peer-review rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and designated a Texas Super Lawyer (Family Law), from 2017-2023.

Upon retiring from the practice of law in June 2023, Sonya enrolled at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where she is currently taking remote classes in pursuit of her Master of Divinity degree.

Sonya also is active in civic and charitable organizations, having served as an officer (including Treasurer), director, and/or event chair for the Symphony League of Beaumont, Julie Rogers Gift of Life, Neches River Festival, Beaumont Community Partners for Children, Beaumont Rainbow Room, and the Hope Women’s Resource Clinic. She is currently on the Board of the Junior League Houston Sustainer Transfer Club.

Sonya and her husband, Richard, are long time CRM supporters and short-term mission trip participants. They attend Second Baptist Church in Houston.

David Crane

Cherryville, NC

President

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David Crane (David) graduated from Columbia Bible College in 1984 and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1988 with a Master of Divinity degree.

From 1986 to 1989, David and his wife, Renee, helped plant the Central Baptist Church of Henderson, North Carolina, where he served as Minister of Music, Youth, and Children. Thereafter, from 1989-1993, David served as the Senior Pastor of the Beulah Baptist Church of Kents Store, Virginia.

From 1993 to 2015, David and Renee served with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (IMB) as full-time “boots on the ground” missionaries in various leadership positions throughout East Africa. Their work in East Africa focused on church planting, mobilization, teaching, and preaching the Gospel to unreached people groups. Upon retiring from the IMB, David and Renee commenced serving with CRM. David assumed the CRM presidency in late 2019.

David and Renee have been married for forty-eight years and live in Cherryville, North Carolina. They have three adult children and four grandchildren.

Austin Henry

Strawberry Plains, TN

MEMBER

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Austin Henry (Austin) is the owner of B & G Catering in Knoxville, Tennessee, one of East Tennessee’s largest catering companies. He is a longtime CRM Board member and previously served as the CRM Treasurer for over five years. Austin has been on over a dozen CRM-sponsored short-term mission trips to East Africa, including planning and leading CRM-sponsored construction trips. He has an eye for detail and thrives on logistics. Austin especially enjoys taking folks on their first short-term mission trip to see what God does in the lives of those who follow the Lord’s leading and step out of their comfort zone. In 2021, Austin took a part time on-call position with Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). He has been deployed several times all over the world on DART-sponsored disaster relief trips, including the devastating earthquake in Antakya, Turkey, in 2023. He met his wife, Annie, while working at Camp Ba Yo Ca, a Baptist youth camp in the Smoky Mountains. They have been married over twenty years and have three children. Austin and Annie live in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. They have been members of Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church for thirteen years where they both serve in the college ministry and Austin serves as a deacon.

Mark Shepherd

Maryville, TN

MEMBER

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Mark Shepherd (Mark) graduated from Tennessee Tech University in 1990 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering. Thereafter, he worked for over twenty-eight years at DENSO Corporation, a global automotive components manufacturer, where he held several engineering and manufacturing management positions. Mark retired from DENSO in 2018 after serving as the Southeast Regional Project Leader responsible for new product and manufacturing deployment in North America. Mark is active in the community, serving on the Tennessee Tech University Engineering Accreditation Board and working with various local charities, including Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee and the United Way of Blount County. Mark is married to his wife, Jennifer, a retired physical therapist. They have two children who are both pursuing their education at East Tennessee State University. Mark and Jennifer live in Maryville, Tennessee.

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

The Development Committee is responsible for making recommendations to the Executive Committee and the Board regarding Development initiatives and other matters, and carrying out such initiatives after they are authorized.

Richard L. Coffman

Houston, TX

VICE PRESIDENT AND CHAIR

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Richard L. Coffman (Richard) is a trial lawyer based in Houston, Texas. He received a B.A. in Accounting from Texas Lutheran University (19780, and both his master’s in professional accountancy (1980) and law degree (1989) from the University of Texas at Austin.

Prior to attending law school, Richard, who also is a Certified Public Accountant, worked for two international Big 8 public accounting firms. He also taught courses in accounting as an adjunct professor at the University of Washington and University of Texas business schools.

As a trial lawyer, Richard principally represents individuals and businesses throughout the United States in complex commercial litigation, class actions, and mass actions. His litigation practice is focused in the areas of antitrust, agriculture, consumer, and other commercial disputes. He also represents individuals injured in ski accidents.

In addition to CRM, Richard has been active in several other civic and charitable organizations, having recently concluded a ten-year term on the Board of Trustees of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), first as its Treasurer, and for the last six years, as the Board Chair. Richard also was a charter member of the Westchase Rotary Club in Houston, where he served as its first Treasurer, and later, was a member of the Downtown Houston Rotary Club, where he served on the Lombardi Trophy Committee for several years.

Richard and his wife and (retired) law partner, Sonya, live in Houston, Texas, and are members of Second Baptist Church. They have been married for over 35 years and have one daughter. Richard and Sonya are long-time supporters of CRM through giving, going, and prayer.

David Crane

Cherryville, NC

President

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David Crane (David) graduated from Columbia Bible College in 1984 and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1988 with a Master of Divinity degree. From 1986 to 1989, David and his wife, Renee, helped plant the Central Baptist Church of Henderson, North Carolina, where he served as Minister of Music, Youth, and Children. Thereafter, from 1989-1993, David served as the Senior Pastor of the Beulah Baptist Church of Kents Store, Virginia. From 1993 to 2015, David and Renee served with the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (IMB) as full-time “boots on the ground” missionaries in various leadership positions throughout East Africa. Their work in East Africa focused on church planting, mobilization, teaching, and preaching the Gospel to unreached people groups. Upon retiring from the IMB, David and Renee commenced serving with CRM. David assumed the CRM presidency in late 2019. David and Renee have been married for forty-eight years and live in Cherryville, North Carolina. They have three adult children and four grandchildren.

Lori Bryan

Boone, NC

MEMBER

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Lori Bryan (Lori), a native of Lakeland, Florida, was raised in a Christian farming family that valued God, community, and family. At age 21, she committed her life and the right to determine her path to God. That decision took Lori on a journey that she could not have ever envisioned. Lori has traveled to more than eighty countries, worked long-term in nine, and lived almost fifteen years of her life outside the United States. She has worked in both the corporate world and with multiple international humanitarian/mission-oriented organizations in a variety of roles—including teaching Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines; participating in and/or leading multiple short-term mission trips for World Changers and CRM; serving as an IT consultant and program manager in the Middle East, North Africa, Italy, South Sudan, and the West Bank; and teaching and serving as a dorm parent at the Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. During her career, Lori has created and overseen multiple programs benefiting various marginalized third world people groups, including leprosy village residents, the physically disabled, the elderly, students, survivors of genocide, persecuted Christians, the deaf community, internally displaced persons, war refugees, T1D patients, and African refugees. Lori has over 300 hours of concentrated trauma/first responder/critical incident stress management training from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) and other local and international organizations. She has utilized this training to create a 3-day debriefing program for an international humanitarian organization employing aid workers. Her current focus is teaching war victims and refugees about the effects of and healing from trauma. When in the United States, Lori is based in Boone, North Carolina. She is an active member of Christ the King, a fellowship of Christians that worships God in the Anglican tradition.

Lester Nail

Moore, SC

MEMBER

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Lester C. Nail (Lester) is a retired attorney. During his thirty-five-year legal career working for Walmart, Food Lion, Inc., Paramount Parks, Inc., and Denny’s, Inc., Lester’s practice focused on labor and employment law. He also served as General Counsel for Food Lion and Paramount Parks. Lester surrendered his heart to our Lord Jesus Christ many years ago and has been richly blessed ever since. He has served on the boards of several Christian organizations and traveled to Cuba and Guatemala on short-term mission trips. Lester and his wife, Lindacarol, have been married for thirty-seven years and live in Spartanburg, South Carolina. They are members of First Baptist Spartanburg where Lester is a deacon and Sunday School teacher. He previously served on the Finance Committee. Lester and Lindacarol have two adult daughters. They are long-time supporters of CRM.