Meet the Staff

Ministry Staff:

Mike Rowe - Senior Pastor
Linda Krier - Director of Children's Ministries
Jonathan Der - Youth Pastor
Tony Payne - Minister of Worship, Music, & Arts
Joe Weinzettel - Minister of Worship, Music & Arts; Communications Manager
Leonard Tuggy - Visitation Pastor
Kathy Soneson - Toddlers Campus Preschool Director

Office Staff:

Gloria Hofmann - Receptionist
Carol Novak - Church Administrator
Sandy Dede - Finance Manager
Lori Atkins - Business Manager
Rachel Ehorn - Executive Administrative Coordinator

Meet Mike Rowe - Senior Pastor

Family: Mike and his wife Maggie have three children: Adam, Amber, and Jordan

Where were you born? Buffalo, NY

Hobbies & Interests: Swimming, golf and gardening

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? My favorite food is Maggie’s cooking, but my favorite restaurant is Culvers.

What would you do if you had spare time?

1. Home renovation
2. Build a waterfall/fish pond in my garden
3. Golf
4. Read a good book

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months?

1. Fiction – Black Red White by Ted Dekker
2. Ministry – One Size Doesn’t Fit All by Gary Macingtosh

Education: Master of Divinity and a Bachelor of Gardenology

What do you do around First Baptist? I am the Senior Pastor – which means I’m the Bible Preacher, the vision castor, the problem solver, the buck stopper, the team’s head coach as well as the head cheer leader, the counselor, the comfort giver the peace maker, the path finder – in short: The Pastor!

Meet Linda Krier – Director of Children's Ministries

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Family: Husband Jon, Children: Kristen and Justin

Where were you born? I was born in Roseville, MN but grew up in Fort Lauderdale, FL

Hobbies & Interests: I love to travel . . . . ocean vacations are a must! In what spare time I have, I enjoy hanging out with friends, taking a 2 mile walk with Jon and “craftsy” projects.

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? Anything chocolate! Chili’s is a fav.

What would you do if you had spare time? Spare time . . . . What’s that?

Education: I have a B.A. in Psychology & Sociology, with teacher certification. In my pre-kid life, I was an admissions counselor for a teacher’s college in Boston, MA

What do you do around First Baptist? As the Director of Children’s Ministries, I . . .

• Get to work side-by-side with 165 amazing men & women who volunteer in the nursery, preschool, elementary, FBC Kids on the Edge, and Awana ministries!
• Plan lots of fun activities for kids & families!
• Spend lots & lots of time researching, planning, organizing & training!
• Hang out with big people & little people!
• Encourage kids to come to know, love, and follow Jesus!

Meet Jonathan Der  - "That New Youth Pastor Guy"

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Family: Terry (dad) & Telly (mom) Der, older brother Alvin in St.Louis, little sister Vicki in Vermont or travelling the world somewhere

Where you were born: St. Louis, MO

Hobbies/Interests: I’m very fond of performance art, so I’m often at the theatre to take in a dance company, a musical, a play or the like. I read copious amounts of science fiction and whatever’s bestselling on the youth / teen / tween booklists. I’m desperately looking for a weekly volleyball group. I’d very much like to renew playing a cello as well as learning a new martial art. And I don’t think there’s a book or conference on the emergent church movement that I’m not interested in. Mostly though, I’ll hang with the kids – whatever they’re doing or wherever they’re hanging – that’s where and who I want to be with.

What is you favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? All food is my friend. But of the Asian foods, Japanese and Korean are my favorites, with Italian and seafood in general all making me very happy.

What you would do if you had spare time? I’ve always wanted to be an avid parachute jumper. Or I wonder if they offer adult gymnastics classes?

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? I just reread Brian McLaren’s A New Kind of Christian, and it’s still got me wrestling.

Education/Other vocations? I guess I should go for my doctorate someday if I want to teach youth ministry to the next generation. Or someone could teach me how to cook. That’d be good to know.

Job title and brief description: My job title is Youth Pastor, and it’s the highest honor I can think of in God’s Kingdom. (Although eventual titles of “Husband / Dad” might be nice.) The job description is to love on kids and their families and their friends in such a way that we all wrestle with how much God loves us.

Meet Tony Payne – Minister of Worship, Music and the Arts

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Family: My lovely wife, Marian and three great kids (two of which are married) and four active grandkids

Where were you born? Parkview Hospital in Toledo, OH

Hobbies & Interests: Abraham Lincoln and Baptist History

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? Vietnamese Noodles on Main Street, Wheaton

What would you do if you had spare time? I can’t even imagine!

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? Anything about Martyred Russian Orthodox priest Alexander Meu.

Education/Vocations: Dr. of Music from Northwestern University

What do you do around First Baptist? I am the Minister of Worship, Music and the Arts. For the 9 am service, organist and pianist; for the 9 am service, worship coordinator; For the 9 am service . . . . you get the picture.

Meet Joe Weinzettel – Minister of Music, Worship, & Arts; Communication Manager

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Where are you from? I was born and raised in Hastings, MN, twenty-five miles south-east of St. Paul on the Mississippi River.

Hobbies/Interests: Hanging out with friends, watching Heroes, listening to jazz on 90.9 FM and at The Green Mill Jazz Club downtown, learning to seek God in corporate prayer and encouraging the Church to do so as well.

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? If you come and visit me, there’s a good chance I’ll take you to Muldoon’s in downtown Wheaton.

What do you do in your spare time? Play Halo, read a book, take a nap…

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? A is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church by Leonard Sweet, Brian D. McLaren, Jerry Haselmayer

Education/Other Vocations: Wheaton College: B.A. Music with Piano Concentration; Teaching saxophone lessons to students

What do you do around First Baptist? I have the fun and challenging task of directing/developing the contemporary worship service alongside Pastor Mike with the help of the Planning Team, Music Team, Media Team, and the other volunteers who contribute each week to make it possible. I also help manage the communication side of things around the church with our newsletter and website. Like most jobs, there’s always a mix of miracles and messiness around here, and I love it!

Meet Leonard Tuggy – Visitation Pastor

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Family: Jeannette (wife of 54 years) Children: Stephen, Michael and Lynette. I have six grandchildren

Where were you born? Port of Spain Trinidad, my parents were missionaries in Venezuela

Hobbies & Interests:

1. Missions in the Philippines
2. Astronomy (B.A. from UCLA) current member of the Naperville Astronomical Association.
3. Inductive Bible Study

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? Indian Palace Restaurant

What would you do if you had spare time? I would spend more time with my telescopes.

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? My Several Worlds by Pearl S. Buck

Education:

• B.A. – UCLA
• M. Div. – Fuller Theological Seminary
• D. Mission – Fuller Theological Seminary

What do you do around First Baptist?

1. Visitation Pastor – If you want to be sure to be visited, go to the hospital for several days . . . or become a shut-in.
2. Liaison from FBC to ESL (First Baptist Church to English as a Second Language) program under World Relief of DuPage.
3. Work with the Associate Pastor in Senior Ministries.

Meet Gloria Hofmann - Receptionist

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Family: Husband George, three children Gayle, Gregory(Rachel), Garrett

Where were you born? Toledo, OH

Hobbies & Interests: I love working with color and fabrics in interior design, floral arranging and traveling.

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? I have too many favorites to mention just one.

What would you do if you had spare time? I would spend time with home projects. I would take classes at a community college.

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? Heaven by Randy Alcorn

Education/Vocations:

• I went to Moody Bible Institute and studied Christian Education.
• I had a daycare center in my home for 25 years. I also was a teaching assistant in District 200.

What do you do around First Baptist? As the receptionist, I answer the phone, welcome visitors, respond to urgent requests for financial assistance, sort the mail, make copies, take care of CD orders, order supplies for the building, just to name a few. So I am “Jack of all trades”.

Meet Carol Novak - Administrator

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Family: I am married to Larry, I am Hannah’s Mom and I am the food source for our dog, Keillor

Where were you born? St. Cloud, MN

Hobbies & Interests: Quilting, reading, sudoku, jig saw puzzles, gardening and baking.

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? Any place where I don’t have to do the dishes

What would you do if you had spare time? Quilting, reading, sudoku, jig saw puzzles, gardening and baking.

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Education/Vocation:

• Graphics Arts/St. Cloud Technical College
• I worked for 20 years at World Venture in the communications department

What do you do around First Baptist?

1. Make quilts for needy kids with the Quilt Group
2. Encourage people to make good choices
3. Make really good tea
4. Listen
5. Liaison for the staff to the boards

Meet Sandy Dede – Finance Manager

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Family: Husband, Chris and our daughters, Heather and Sarah

Where were you born? Chicago

What is your favorite food or Chicagoland restaurant? Subway- veggie sub with sweet onion sauce

Most interesting book you have read in the last 12 months? Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

Education: Northern Illinois University – Accounting Degree/CPA

What do you do around First Baptist? I keep the money in order, keep the trustees informed, keep the paychecks going to staff, which in turn keeps everyone happy!