Staff Biographies (in Alphabetical Order)
- Carla Barker, Visitor Editor/Church Secretary
-
Carla Barker finds daily joy in her work as the Church Secretary and Editor of the Visitor. A former Kokomo resident and member of FPC, Carla and her husband Mark now reside near Peru; they are active members at Walton Christian Church where Carla leads an adult Sunday school class. Carla spends her free time reading, writing, sewing and quilting. She is also a Certified Funeral Celebrant and does bereavement work in her spare time. Carla and Mark are blessed with a loving family that includes daughter Angela, son-in-law Roger, their children Hayley, Ethan and Lucas; and daughter Jessica, son-in-law Rob, their children Bailey, Emme and Evan (deceased). Carla's favorite scripture is Philippians 2:4, "Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others."
- Debbie Carter, Director of Finance
-
Debbie Carter is the Director of Finance. She joined the staff December 28, 2004. She has a daughter and is a grandma of a sweet precious little girl born March 13, 2008. She loves cats and loves boating and enjoying God's creation. She is the volunteer coordinator for the One Church One Inmate Ministry for Howard County and enjoys leading her church's jail ministry.
- Karen Dikeman, Director of Little School
-
The Director of Little School is Karen Dikeman. She has been a member of First Presbyterian since 1985 and began teaching at Little School in 1986. Karen was hired as the preschool director in 1996. Karen grew up in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky and received her Masters Degree in Education from Morehead State University. While attending Morehead State, she met and married Mark. Together they share two wonderful children, Kate and Kurt. Karen enjoys watching football and basketball and cheers especially hard for the Kentucky Wildcats and the Indianapolis Colts. She also likes collecting antiques and looks forward each summer to spending time at Lake Cumberland with special friends and family. Her favorite Bible verse is Philippians 4:13.
- Joyce Harris, Associate Pastor
-
Pastor Joyce Harris started at our church as an Associate Pastor in February of 2006. She and her husband Brian enjoy college football and other sporting events, ballroom dancing and the beauty of the outdoors. They might even be found playing a Wii game against one another!
Pastor Joyce is an alumni of The Ohio State University, (yes, a true Buckeye!) and has a Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary. Before seminary and coming to the church, she served with Campus Crusade for Christ on the campuses of the Metro –Detroit area and then in a regional leadership role out of Indianapolis, IN. This experience has been of great value for her ministry here, which focuses on Evangelism and Discipleship. Pastor Joyce also oversees the ministry of our Deacon Board.
- Matt Hartke, Director of Youth
-
Matt came to First Presbyterian Church in 2007 and has been in Youth Ministry for over 10 years. His passion is to bring students to a place in their lives where they can know God personally. Matt comes from a family of church workers as his father is a Pastor (yes, he was a pastor’s kid) and one of his 8 siblings is a Pastor. Matt grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and came to us in 2007 from Victoria, Texas.
- Amy Miller, Co-Director of Children's Discipleship
-
Amy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education and Special Education from Ball State University. She taught at Northwestern Elementary School for five years. Amy and her husband, Todd, have two children, Kate and Wesley.
Amy began serving as a co-director of Children's Discipleship in August 2006. She and her co-director oversee the children's programs for infants through sixth grade. This includes the Sunday morning classes, Wednesday night program, Vacation Bible School, and other special events that include children. Amy is also an assistant in one of the 4 year old preschool classes at First Presbyterian's Little School. Amy enjoys finding new ways to teach children about the promises of God's love for everyone.
- Rita Stevens, Ministry Assistant
-
Rita Stevens has been the ministry assistant at First Presbyterian Church since October of 1996.
After living alone for 21 years, Rita married Windell Stevens in September of 2008 and proclaimed that "God is good!". Rita and Windell's first date was attending the Great Banquet candlelight service in March of 2007. They reside in Walton. Together they have five daughters, four sons-in-law, and 12 grandchildren. Their faith, family, and friends are very precious to them.
Rita likes to spend time working on decorating their home, doing counted cross stitch projects, watching movies, listening to music, and visiting friends and family.
- Laura Swartzendruber, Associate Director of Music
-
Laura Swartzendruber holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, Princeton, NJ where she studied organ and voice. She has served as organist and children's choir director at First Presbyterian for 29 years. She founded and directs a community children's choir, the Kokomo Children's Choir, which has toured widely. She teaches Suzuki piano, violin, and organ. She is the University Organist at Taylor University.
With the First Presbyterian Childrens' Choirs and their families, Mrs. Swartzendruber has spearheaded the support of a family in Kenya for the past fourteen years. She has helped by raising money for schooling costs, medical needs, and a multitude of other things by holding concerts, baking and selling sweet rolls and hosting dinners. Her involvement with this family has led our church family to support two sons from this family: David and his wife, Jacinta, who evangelize in high schools in Nakuru, Kenya with Campus Crusade for Christ and 2nd Peter, who has an internet café business in Nairobi.
- Lloyd Swartzendruber, Director of Music
-
Lloyd Swartzendruber grew up singing in the a cappella tradition of Mennonite Church fellowships in Michigan and Arkansas. In 1971 he earned a Bachelor of Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, and set off for a career as a high school music teacher, expecting to volunteer music skills to the local church.
While serving as an elementary school music teacher in Mennonite Central Committee's Teachers Abroad Program in Newfoundland, Canada, Lloyd first enjoyed the experience of developing a youth choir at St. Paul's Anglican Church and sensed God's call to devote his life to ministry in the church rather than school.
Following five years of music and community ministry at National Baptist Memorial Church in Washington D.C., the Swartzendrubers moved to First Presbyterian Church Kokomo in the fall of 1979 to serve as Ministers of Music and Youth, a position they shared until the summer of 2007 when Matt Hartke was brought on board to lead Youth Ministry.
Creating worship experiences of all kinds and involving the church family in them is at the heart of Lloyd's ministry. His work includes the encouragement and development of musical gifts and skills of all ages.
Spending time with grandchildren, making music and outdooring (camping, fishing, hiking, kayaking etc.) are among his favorite activities.
Lloyd and his wife Laura, also a Westminster grad, are parents of three grown children: Nathan (and Becca) in Cincinnati, Angela (and Mark) Guinn of Newcastle, Ireland, and Rachel, their Kokomo daughter and mother of two fabulous children, Amdon and Avery.
- Jerry Van Auken, Senior Pastor
-
Jerry Van Auken grew up in Buffalo, New York. At age 20 he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio where he came to know Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord, and worshiped at College Hill Presbyterian Church. He worked for Procter & Gamble for 10 years and met his wife, Robin, at CHPC.
Believing God called him into the pastorate, Jerry left P&G to complete a Masters of Divinity Degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts.
He was first called in 1993 to be the Associate Pastor at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church, where he served for over 11 years. His life scripture is Romans 8:13-39, which speaks of the truth that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ.
Jerry enjoys downhill skiing, the mountains, and being near the water. He wishes he had more time to learn about and do woodworking and photography. He would love to meet you, so introduce yourself when you come to visit FPC.
- Andrea Williams, Co-Director of Children's Discipleship
-
Andrea received her Bachelor's degree from Adrian College in Michigan. She majored in Education, English, and Family Life Studies. She taught in the Kokomo-Center School system, at North Central Juvenile Facility and in the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe School system in Wisconsin. She loves teaching and seeing children learn, no matter what setting that she is in.
Andrea and her husband, Ray, have two boys, Zeke and Zeb. She has attended First Presbyterian Church with her family since she was a baby and has been a member since she was a youth. She has a desire to influence and impact the children in the church the way she was, leading them to the Lord and helping them see his glory in their lives.
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]
[ top ]