Featured Alumna - December 2024

I graduated from Chicago Christian in 2000, but when I recently drove by the soccer stadium of CCHS, the memories rushed back. Tight soccer cleats, the sun dipping behind the gymnasium, and a group of friends ready to play. Many of my memories of high school are anchored on that field.  From homecoming court to running the mile for gym class, I loved the fresh air and the field. 

As a person who struggled with dyslexia and ADHD, academic life was tolerable only because of Mrs. Iannarone in Academic Support. My spell checker, Mrs. Iannaorne, needed to check and recheck each essay I wrote. She was patient and kind as I was easily distracted and flustered. She was calm and redirected my thoughts as they drifted from my work. I am forever grateful for her support through high school. 

Since graduating high school I have been in many different places. I graduated from Trinity Christian College with a B.A. in Psychology. As I neared the end of college, I followed God’s nudging and entered seminary at Calvin Theological Seminary. My husband, Nate, and I met there and fell in love discussing trinitarian theology and God’s work in the church. After graduating with a Master of Divinity, we moved to Albuquerque, NM to co-pastor a small church as interns. After our extended internship, we transitioned to Denver to plant a church. We spent three years in Denver, and, along the way, we became parents. We then transitioned to Chicago for a year and eventually landed in Grand Rapids, MI in 2013. I spent a few years at home with kids and then started work as a Vocational Consultant for pastors in the CRCNA working out the denominational offices. In 2020, I moved to a similar role at Calvin Theological Seminary and worked as the Associate Director of Vocational Formation, where I helped equip students for pastoral ministry. I was there until this past July when I transitioned back into local church ministry.  I now serve as the Pastor of Faith Formation and Connections at Fuller Ave. Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In this role, I have the joy of preaching, teaching, and leading the spiritual formation of the congregation. 

Sitting in chapel my sophomore year, I distinctly remember Rog Nelson hanging 3 large circles and a cross on the chapel curtains–one green, one black, one white–and the cross among them. The circles represented different movements of the Reformed framework found in the scriptures: Creation, Fall, Redemption, New Creation. This Reformed framework, first learned in a CCHS chapel service, still serves as a foundational component of my Reformed faith. I am grateful to CCHS for laying such a strong foundation to understand and engage God’s big world, and I trust that still today young women and men at CCHS continue to discover the beauty of God’s wide mercy.