| Our Staff - Support Staff |
Mia Davidson Receptionist
mdavidson@vinecommunitychurch.com
Mia is our staff member most likely to be confused with a volunteer since she occupies the space commonly referred to as the “volunteer desk.” Contrary to popular belief though, she is not an over-zealous volunteer bent on stealing away service opportunities from the rest of the church. As our Receptionist, Mia is often the first person you come in contact with when you call or visit the office. This is a good thing since she’s really nice and all our pastors are really mean. Mia is mom to Larry, James, and Jaymel.
Dan Digman Pastoral Assistant
ddigman@vinecommunitychurch.com
Dan’s new around here. Give us time and we’ll come up with something. Here’s all you need to know right now: He’s from Ohio. He can throw a javelin a quarter mile. He can eat 30 hot dogs in 3 minutes. I’m not sure if that last one is true, but it sure makes him sound awesome. Dan is a pastoral assistant on staff. Or assistant to the pastor, depending on who you ask. His wife Claire loves him regardless.
Cavanaugh Gray Director of the Homeless Ministry
cgray@vinecommunitychurch.com
Cavanaugh Gray is a giant of a man. He is over 9 feet tall and his spear shaft is like a weaver’s rod and its iron point weighs six hundred shekels. Wait, that’s Goliath. I was just writing his website bio and got confused. Cavanaugh is pretty big though. He is our largest staff member physically but what is more impressive is his enormous heart. Cavanaugh is in charge of developing our homeless ministry. His wife Akua is smaller than him but with an equally large heart. That explains why their kids, Gabriel and William, are so loved.
Connie Gregory Book Keeper
cgregory@vinecommunitychurch.com
Vine Community Church without Connie Gregory is like Chicago without pizza, like America without baseball, like chips without salsa, like leaving for work in the morning without pants. She’s vital. As our Book Keeper, Connie is in charge of very important things. We’re not sure what those things are exactly…but she’s the only one in the office who doesn’t use her fingers when she counts, so we trust her.
Emily Clerk Building Cleaning Supervisor
eclerk@vinecommunitychurch.com
Toilets need cleaning. Somebody’s gotta do it. Emily is our gal. She is a great servant who doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty so everyone else can enjoy a clean facility. Of course, that may make you think twice before you shake her hand, but that’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make.
Terry Kessinger Office Manager
tkessinger@vinecommunitychurch.com
Terry has a very responsible position here. When anything goes wrong, she’s responsible. Typo in the program? Terry’s fault. Phone goes unanswered? Where’s Terry? Not enough programs? Terry again. A pastor missing? Terry’s had a bad day. Thankfully, she’s great at what she does so those occurrences are rare. Not only does Terry pretty much run the whole office, she finds spare ministry time for raising up young women in leadership. Terry is wife to Wayne and mom to Alanna and Adam.
Jim Rains Facility Manager
jrains@vinecommunitychurch.com
As our Facility Manager, Jim is the one you’ll most likely run into in the storage shed or up on the roof. What are you doing up on the roof by the way? Jim's motto since coming on the job has been, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In order to give him something to do the rest of the staff has adopted a new policy – breaking stuff. Since initiating the new policy the number of broken things at the Vine has risen by 44.6%. But at least Jim has something to do. Jim is husband to Marie and dad to Mike, Nathalie, Kaleigh, Sean and Summer.
Michael Petrik Worship Leader
mpetrik@vinecommunitychurch.com
Michael Petrik has an awful voice and stinks at playing the guitar, but he wears really cool jeans so we hired him as our worship leader. His hair isn’t bad either. Just kidding. He’s pretty good musically and the hair is his only downfall. His ability to lead the church in worship can be summed up with one word from the classic hymn “How Great Thou Art” – scarce. Kidding again. “Great” would be a better choice. As our worship leader, Michael is the one you’re likely to see on stage with guitar in hand and microphone in front of face. He leads us in singing our songs to God.
Jennifer Quinn Kids' Program Development Coordinator
jquinn@vinecommunitychurch.com
Here’s what you need to know about Jennifer Quinn. She’s a rally car driver. Former lead vocalist in a metal band. Invented the Rubik’s cube. Cage fighter. Summited Everest without oxygen. Karaoke champion. Created the recipe for Jell-O. Current Children’s Coordinator at Vine Community Church. Wrote the screenplay for Finding Nemo. Holds the record for most light bulbs eaten in an hour. Invented a “laundry robot” at age 12. She was the inspiration for the main character in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Don’t believe us? Why else would they name the character Dr. Quinn? Okay, so none of this is true. Except the part about rally cars. Alright fine, that’s not true either. But she is an excellent Children’s Coordinator and her son Yancy speaks some Spanish. Seriously.
Sheree Randle Worship Coordinator
srandle@vinecommunitychurch.com
Sheree is like a song-bird that speaks English…minus the feathers…and the beak…and she doesn’t live in a nest…oh, and she’s a human. Ok, so it’s not a perfect analogy, but wow can she sing! She actually teaches music for students at CCS here in Carbondale. We’re pretty sure she’s passed along some of her knowledge to her daughter, Imani. As worship coordinator, chances are you’ll see Sheree up on stage every now and then helping lead the church in worship.
Valerie Rasp Kids' Materials and Scheduling Coordinator
vrasp@vinecommunitychurch.com
Valerie (or Val for short or V for really short or simply nod in her direction if you don’t enjoy talking) is cool. When we asked Val what cool and interesting facts about her should appear on her website bio, she replied with “I love maps and getting lost while driving.” Apparently her love for maps doesn’t extend to an appreciation of their practical functionality. But that’s exactly what we were looking for in a Children’s Coordinator – a lost map-lover. Val is our most ironic staff member and is also the coordinator for age 3 through 5th grade and does the scheduling and material development.
Skyler Taylor Graphic Designer
staylor@vinecommunitychurch.com
Skyler Ray Taylor. This man’s creativity knows no bounds. Let the facts speak for themselves. Fact: Skyler sports some red hair and a crimson beard to make most men jealous. Fact: Skyler is often seen drumming in the worship band. Fact: His name really is Skyler and his wife’s name is Star. Fact: He drinks a cup of brilliance every morning and eats inspiration for lunch. And by brilliance we mean tea. And by inspiration we mean hummus. All that creativity flowing through his veins helps him design the graphics you see around the building. Clearly he’s the right man for the job.
Chin-Jen Wang Communication Specialist – IT, International Ministry
cjwang@vinecommunitychurch.com
Since Chin-Jen (you can call him Chin) started working at Vine Community Church, things have been running at a much faster pace. Maybe it's the new software he's constantly ordering. Or perhaps it's the fact that he literally runs through our halls to get his work done. Either way, he really brings his A-game when it comes to computers. Things have been getting accomplished at a much faster pace since he’s the one who keeps the operation going when our computers decide to stop working. Chin is our Communications Specialist...an impressive title considering he’s our only staff member for whom English is a second language. Chin and his wife, Phoebe, are often seen around the building with son Samuel in tow.
