Christian leadership is about serving others for the glory of God. Here are some of the leading servants here in our church.
Josh Fenska
Josh Fenska serves as lead pastor at Redeemer Community Church in Aurora. Josh and Katie are raising 5 kids, the younger 2 joining their family via adoption. Josh serves on the steering committee for the Chicago Chapter of The Gospel Coalition, and also serves in this area with…
Macey Merlak
Macey is on staff as the Student Ministries director alongside her husband, Ian. She also heads up the graphic design for the church! She started attending Redeemer in 2017 after she graduated from Boyce College in Louisville, KY. Macey is originally from the Detroit area of…
PeterJohn Hunt
PeterJohn is a self-taught techie with a servant’s heart. He grew up at Redeemer and loves the people and the gospel-centered culture so much that he and his wife, Elizabeth, are now raising their three young kids here. PeterJohn is a website developer by day, and though he loves…
Jason Mead
Jason came to Redeemer in 2016 and decided to make it his church home because he loved the biblically sound teaching, the outstanding and friendly people, and the heart of service he saw in many of the people. Jason is married to Brooke and has two young daughters. He is a high…
Michael VanHuis
Michael grew up in southern Michigan and attended Hope College (Holland, MI), where he met his wife Laura. Since then, they have lived in Naperville, Ghana West Africa, Orlando, and now in Aurora, IL since October of 2010. Along they…
Ken Wahrman
Ken and his wife, Sue, have been at Redeemer since its inception in 1998. Ken grew up in Oklahoma, came to Illinois to attend Western Illinois University, and then met Sue at a discipleship training school (YWAM) in Tacoma Washington that did missions work in the Philippines. Ken…
Ian Merlak
Ian is on staff as the Student Ministries Director alongside his wife, Macey, and has been a member of Redeemer since October, 2016. Ian graduated from Aurora University and started attending Redeemer as a college student; he instantly fell in love with Redeemer’s commitment…
Paul Wood
Paul is from Sugar Grove but took a five-year, family and vocation-acquiring detour in Spokane, Washington after high school. He and his wife, Kate, now live in Big Rock with their four sons and one daughter. After returning from Washington in 2015, they visited Redeemer once at…
Josh Anderson
Josh is the kind of guy who can’t seem to get enough of relational investment, pushing for people to know and cherish King Jesus. Born in Arizona, but hailing from Southern California, Josh attended Wheaton College (Grad ’03) where he met and soon married Kimberly (the…
Tom Bonenberger
Tom doesn’t play games – literally; he would rather talk with people, finding out what makes them unique. This others-focused trait has come by grace and through difficulty, but it makes him a good candidate for his position as…
Greg Uhlenhopp
Someone with a unique resistance to dozing at the sight of spreadsheets is needed for the oversight of church finances; and that man is Greg. He has built up his immunity by getting a BA in accounting and by working as a Manager of Financial Analysis for a wind energy company.…
Andrew Barber
Originally from West Michigan, Andrew and his wife, Amy (married ‘15), now live in an old house in the old part of Oswego. He began attending Redeemer after completing his Cedarville University degree in Mechanical Engineering and getting a job with Caterpillar in 2008. Although…
Jill Poel
Jill has lived in many places in this big beautiful world and never imagined Aurora, Illinois would be home for 15 years! The Redeemer family has made life here an unexpected delight. Jill is married to Rick, and they have three daughters and two grandchildren. Rick and Jill came…
Linnea Bonenberger
Linnea is originally from Colorado with stops in Oklahoma, Alaska, Texas, and Maryland on her way to settling down in Illinois in 1998. As founding members, Linnea and her husband, Tom, have been at Redeemer since 1998. She enjoys…