Staff Bios

Don't worry. As much as I wanted to write a bio of Jesus it always came off small. Our heart is just to say in a practical way that Jesus runs this place. We serve and follow Him.

Paul writes to Ephesus, "and God placed all things under His feet and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way.

Standing in the Jordan I knew something had changed. In that one exhilarating moment so much of my life's journey made sense.

Growing up in Austin was beautiful. My family was and always has been close and whenever the doors of the church were open we were there. My younger sister and all our friends explored every corner of the old downtown church and eventually found much more than great places to hide. We found faith and a deep desire to change the world around us.

College was a time in the desert. Like many, I naively imagined myself to be far from God. Outside of the gift of struggle during those years, one of God's most profound gifts came into my life. Her name is Cathi. She is my wife and the mother to our four beautiful children.

Attending Concordia Lutheran University, in Austin, I had a profound experience with Jesus and felt called into the last job I ever wanted. Moving to Garland to become a Youth Pastor, I attended Perkins School of Theology and received a Masters in Divinity. From Garland we moved to England for a year to serve the British Methodist Church, then back to San Antonio to serve Alamo Heights UMC. They sent me to the river.

Standing in the rushing water I knew a new adventure had begun. While I am still discovering what it means the most profound moment of it all was coming up out of the water and into The Riverside Community.

For years and years I attended church and knew so much about God and yet it wasn't until I was 36 years old that I really knew Him. The scriptures tell us when we seek Him, we will find Him, but I didn't understand what that meant until the day I finally got on my knees and said, "I give up," "I surrender," help me find the life you want me to have and give me the grace to be obedient to do the things you ask me to do. Wow, did my life change! It was as if I had come out of the desert and entered an oasis - I had no idea what I had been missing.

Since that day, I have been actively engaged in mission, discipleship, prayer, and pastoral oversight. Serving the Lord and His Kingdom is the passion of my life outside of my husband and children. My husband's name is Randy and I have four children - Madison who is married to Elizabeth (my 4th child!), Travis, a student at Texas A&M (Whoop!) and Meredith, an incoming Freshman at the University of Texas (Hook 'Em!). Life is good and I look forward to our journey together!

I studied accounting in college. I love math and numbers, but I didn't always love church. I judged women who claimed they were Christians and I never wanted to be a part of their studies, retreats, or prayers. My assumptions were rocked as soon as I received an invitation to church by one.

The church has become a part of my family. Loving my neighbor has become a reality as I eat dinner at my neighbor's home and water their plants when they leave town. I am also able to use what I learned in accounting and administration to "number crunch" for the Kingdom of Heaven.

My days are a mixture of washing Power Ranger t-shirts and driving to Little League, while answering the church phone and watching over ministry finances. What a gift to be able to use both my mom skills and my accounting skills as a way of investing in the Kingdom.

From the early age of six, I knew God had a call on my life. I was bold and I spoke to anyone who would listen to how much Jesus loves them. As I entered my teen years, I ran from the call on my life in every wrong direction, but I knew that God would catch me and say, "It's time to come back, my child." Oh boy, did he ever grab a hold of me, throwing me into ministry right from the start.

When I married my husband, Lance, I instantly became a mom to a 7 year old boy. It was not your picture perfect family model! I had a hard time with the fact that he didn't like me. Every child loved me up to this point. It was hard that I had students who admired me, but my own step-son didn't want to be around me. I struggled with the fact that I went to college to learn how to deal with children in difficult situations, but I couldn't "fix" this issue. I gave up and gave it to the only one who can fix all things. As time passed, God would show me different ways to love this child. When I got pregnant with my son, Zane, three years later, God filled me with a love unimaginable and a heart of grace. I knew then He had been preparing me for something. He allowed me to know the struggles that some families face. He taught me how to love and learn from a child that didn't want my love.

When people ask, "Why children's ministry?" I simply smile and say, "I have no idea, but I know God called me and He brought me through a journey to get here."

Story. I love to hear the stories that make up peoples lives. My story has lots ups and downs, fear and freedom, things that are hard to talk about and things that are fun to share. I hope my story looks like someone who hates to play it safe, who likes to be filled with wonder rather than certainty, and someone who is willing to risk much.

My wife, Christi, and I started our story together almost 6 years ago. She has made my story anything but boring! She is wild, hilarious and most of all she loves Jesus. We have a little girl named Rhyan that we deeply love and who has certainly spiced up our story.

I love what I do. I love working with youth because I get to help them wrestle with their own story. I believe that the stories of youth are some of the most colorful and life giving that you will ever hear. They dream big stories: stories that are hard, stories that are real, and stories that need to be told.

When all is said and done...I hope that all of our stories look like the heart of God."

I used to think it would be awful to pray to a God who was always pictured half-naked, bloody, and nailed to piece of timber. I called him "Cross Guy" and I was never interested in Him, but thankfully He was always, and still is, really interested in me. I experienced church for the first time when I was a high school kid and in need of a little saving. The first worship service I attended, I stood and mouthed the words to worship songs I didn't believe in but somewhere in the back of my brain I really wanted to be true. It did not take "Cross Guy" long before He totally rocked, shook, and rattled all of my insides. He grabbed a hold of me, I let Him in just enough, and He has never let go ever since. I really have nothing good to say to kids who are "in need of a little saving," but I know and deeply love the One who does. His name is simply, Jesus, and I believe that He is restoring all the broken pieces.

Isn't it funny how God works? Like many at Riverside the story of how I came to be here begins at the Loft. Having released my first album in 2004 I was encouraged to talk with the folks at the Loft about playing there. Coming in I met with several faces I already knew and within a couple of weeks was playing music on the back porch. In walks Scott... not only had we met at a Starbucks a year earlier but we hit it off, and I began leading worship on Wednesdays. This went on for a year when I was called away to Riverside's parent church. During that time I played for many local churches but my heart always felt drawn back to Riverside.

My favorite part of this story is that another year later Sharon, Tyler and I made the commitment to join Riverside simply to come and worship. As God often does, within months He surprised us as the leadership welcomed me as Worship Pastor.

Today I am blessed to continue my songwriting and recording in addition to the ministry of Riverside. I am enjoying the best of my 25 years in ministry and it is proving time and again to be an answer to prayer for my family. Here we have discovered our roots in a Spirit-led Kingdom community, made lasting friendships, been challenged to dig deeper, and walked closer with our God. This is home... this is Riverside!

It's amazing what one invitation from a faithful friend can do. I remember quietly and unexpectedly walking into a worship service at Alamo Heights United Methodist church. Although I had been here before, I usually arrived when worship started and left as soon as it was over. But on this particular day that would all change, as I simply replied "okay" when one of my now closest friends asked me if I'd like to join in serving. Well, lets just say that was the beginning of my story here at Riverside. We started off as a small but faithful crowd of people who loved God and each other and who had a desire to share this love with the surrounding community. The following year, I began volunteering as the programming director for Riverside, which really meant I gave the announcements at our Wednesday evening services so Scott didn't have to. But almost five years later, I can say that my job has expanded just a little bit. Planning worship services, special events, and organizing a creative team are just a few of the joys of my role here at Riverside. The greatest joy however, is the amazing seat I have to see lives change as the Kingdom of Heaven breaks forth in our community. All of this started with a simple invitation to serve, and I believe that this same invitation will change your life just as it has transformed mine.

After 28 years of making some hilariously (now) awful decisions, and reading every self help book under the sun, I thought, "why not give this Jesus thing a shot." In 2002, post a painful divorce, I surrendered fully to the Lord doing my best to give Him my everything. I remember reading a quote, "Your greatest life messages and your most effective ministry will come out of your deepest hurts." Seriously?

Not two years later, through journaling, the Lord revealed His path for my first adventure...opening a coffee house to create community and be a front door for the church. I laughed out loud. Me? The queen of making a million bad decisions everyday who has attended church for maybe only 4 months now? YEAH RIGHT! A good friend said to me, "Remember Gideon." Thinking of Gideon's story was enough for me to step out in faith and sure enough, the Lord walked beside me every step of the way... although still very hard at times...but I know it is all possible with Him.

I believe that God plants something inside of people. My "something" is a constant awareness of people in my own backyard that don't have shoes to wear or food to eat.

When I was young, I lived in Brazil with my dad who was in the military, stationed there. I learned that there are people who lack basic needs, who usually live uncomfortably close to people who have much more than the bare necessities. Now, living in Comal County, I cannot go out to eat or to the store without God highlighting people in need. It was out of this need that the HOPE Center was birthed. The Kingdom of Heaven doesn't have boundaries or a zip code. I am continually blown away when God shifts my thinking and expands my heart. The HOPE center is now being prepared to reach struggling people as far as Mexico and Africa. In fact, He has even prompted me to complete an application for a Passport. I am excited about the possibility of reaching across oceans, but my heart will be always be drawn to those in our own backyard.

One of my mentors when I was a teenager, Jay, said, "If you ever want to make G-d laugh, tell Him your plans."

I grew up in Garland. I have two great parents and a little sister who is too cool for school. We grew up in a great community of believers, and I started volunteering in that community when I was in the third grade.

When I was thirteen or fourteen, our youth intern told me to read the Sermon on the Mount. I did, and it wrecked my life. Since then, I have been trying to follow G-d as closely as I can. I want to be covered in the dust my Rabbi kicks up behind Him. Following my Rabbi has led me to make decisions that don't seem to make sense, like leaving a community I love in Austin to move to San Antonio, where I knew nearly no one, but that's what has made my story so exciting and fun to live out.

So, I moved from Austin to San Antonio, and this incredible woman I have been dating for some time introduced me to Riverside. In the ten months my girlfriend and I have spent in this community, we have had so much fun being apart of the Kingdom building that is going on. I am honored and humbled to be working along side these men and women who are so committed to what the Lord is doing.