Staff & Leaders

Staff & Leaders

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 also teaches at Aurora University and serves on the steering committee for the Chicago Chapter of The Gospel…

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…

Matt Mull

Matt has a passion to see the Bible come alive in people’s lives through teaching and application. Matt grew up on the west side of Aurora, and aside from living in Israel for two years and going to seminary, has lived here his whole life. Matt met his wife Tori at Aurora…

Josh Anderson

Josh believes deeply in one another ministry, and he loves to walk alongside people as they grow in knowing and cherishing King Jesus. Josh grew up in Arizona and southern California and came to Illinois to attend Wheaton College. He met his wife Kimberly there, and they were…

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 over 15 years! The Redeemer family has made life here an unexpected delight. Jill came to Redeemer two names and two buildings before it was Redeemer. It is Jill’s…

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…