UNITE_logo

Leadership

Tim-Ciccone

Tim Ciccone

Unite council executive team member

Tim Ciccone is the Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Evangelical Covenant Church and has a deep passion to serve and encourage the youth and young adult movement across the denomination. He and his wife Maria have been married for 23 years and together parent Caleb, Josiah, Samantha, Ethan, and various foster children the last nine years. Tim earned his MDiv from North Park Theological Seminary and has been serving in the church for over 25 years. Tim first attended CHIC in 1991 at the University of Indiana where his life was changed forever for Jesus.

Marti-Burger

Marti Burger

Unite Council Executive Team Member

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).

This is Marti’s life verse. God has a great adventure for those who are willing to trust him, and she is thankful for the direction and care the Lord has provided in her life. Marti and her husband, Steve, serve together in the Evangelical Covenant denominational offices. Previously, Marti served as the director of youth and family ministries, focusing on helping youth workers be known, connected, and resourced for 15 years. She now works with Covenant Events, where she has the great privilege of working with incredible teams to plan Covenant gatherings.

Michelle-Sanchez

MICHELLE SANCHEZ

Unite council executive team member

Rev. Michelle Sanchez is executive minister of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination. Her dream is to foster a multiethnic movement of disciples who make disciples across all ages. Prior to this role, Michelle served as Pastor of Christian Formation and Mission at Highrock Covenant Church in the Boston area. She has previously served in leadership for the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, launched ministries to international students with a multiethnic Cru team (Campus Crusade for Christ), and worked as an investment banker for Goldman, Sachs & Co. Michelle has earned an M.Div. and Th.M. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, an international business degree from New York University (NYU), and certification in spiritual direction from Boston College. Michelle is married to Mickey, a staff worker at Northwestern University with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries.

Kevin-Famer

Kevin Farmer

Unite Council Executive Team Member

Kevin lives with his wife Lynn and their two children, Noah and Maya in Minneapolis, MN. He serves co-vocationally in South Minneapolis as the Head of Family Ministry at Hope Academy, an inner-city, Christian, K-12 school, as well as Senior Pastor of Epiphany Covenant Church; a new, multi-ethnic, church plant that meets at Hope Academy. Kevin is a believer in the lifelong journey of biblical spiritual formation. He affirms that each of us has a story; a story that comes into greater clarity and is made more complete as we honor each other, humbly learn from each other and live harmoniously with each other - especially across lines of ethnicity and so-called race. Kevin holds a B.A. in Africana Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and a M.A. in Christian Education from Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul, MN. He has coordinated initiatives for North Park University, lead cohorts for the Covenant, served on the UNITE team since 2007, and has been a speaker for camps, retreats, Denominational and Regional Conference gatherings in the Covenant for close to 20 years.

Rebecca-Gonzalez

Rebecca Gonzalez

Unite council executive team member

As executive director of Operations, Rebecca has direct responsibility for the ECC’s human resource functions and governance administration, as well as oversight of IT, Events, and Building Services. Before coming to the ECC, she served as vice president for operations and programming at Casa Central, the largest non-governmental provider of social services in Chicago. She also has leadership experience with World Vision and other church-based and retail contexts. She holds a master’s degree in management from North Park University. Rebecca and her husband, Jeorge, have two sons.

Angie-Wysoki

Angie Wysocki

mainstage

Angie lives in Roseville, California, where she serves as the programming director at Bayside Church. In addition to producing the weekend services and events at Bayside, Angie has produced events for Reach Records, the Evangelical Covenant Church, and Chick-Fil-A. What drives her is creating moments where people get to experience Jesus in a deeper way.

Erik-Anderson

Erik Anderson

mainstage

Erik serves on the pastoral staff of Crossroads Church, a multi-site ECC congregation in Minnesota. He is married to his incredible wife, Jessa, and together they are parents to their incomparable daughter, Nosipho. As a family, they love adventures, overly competitive game nights, and each week, they try to discover who makes the best tacos in the Twin Cities. Erik loves everything about Unite—especially seeing students and leaders fall in love with Jesus for the first time (or the first time in a long time).

Ruby-Varghese

Ruby Varghese

leader experiences

Ruby serves as assistant pastor of youth and college-aged ministry at Quest Church in Seattle. She has been leading in youth ministry for more than 20 years and is honored to serve on the council for Unite 2022. She is passionate about enhancing the ministry of youth leaders through building a supportive community, creating caring environments, and providing resources to help leaders thrive.

Melvin-Cole

Melvin Cole

access team

Melvin is a co-pastor of Freedom Covenant Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is in his 34th year of serving in the urban core. Freedom Fire Urban Ministry is their day-to-day ministry, touching the lives of many families who are under-resourced in Kansas City. He is married to his wife, Eddie Marie, and is the proud papa of four granddaughters. He is excited to be on the council for Unite 2022, with great expectancy!

Brian-Zahasky

Brian Zahasky

Amp Team

Brian is the lead pastor of Hope Covenant in St. Cloud, Minnesota. His area of focus at Unite 2022 is the Next Steps team, whose goal is to find ways to empower students to take the next steps in their journey of faith and amplify the message of Unite beyond the event itself. Brian is a Minnesota kid, born and raised in Rochester. He and his wife, Maria, have been married for 15 years and have four amazing kids. They love the outdoors, being active as a family, and traveling whenever and wherever they can. He considers it a privilege to be on this team—Unite 2022 is going to be a can’t-miss experience!

Katherine-Lam

Katherine Lam

Love Mercy Do Justice Basecamp

Katherine serves as regional administrator for Young Life Chicagoland. She has served as a youth group leader in a Hayward, California, and currently volunteers with YoungLives, a teen moms ministry. As a recent student of North Park Seminary in their School of Restorative Arts program at Stateville Correctional Center, she has a passion for justice and walking alongside others as they discover who God created them to be. She loves the outdoors and finds peace in summiting mountains like Mt. Kilimanjaro...next stop Mt. Fuji!

Dominique-Gilliard

Dominique Gilliard

Love Mercy Do Justice Basecamp

Dominique DuBois Gilliard is the director of racial righteousness and reconciliation for the Love Mercy Do Justice initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). He is the author of Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores, which won the 2018 Book of the Year Award for InterVarsity Press. Dominique also serves on the boards of directors for the Christian Community Development Association and Evangelicals for Justice. In 2015, he was selected as one of the ECC’s “40 Under 40” leaders to watch, and the Huffington Post named him one of the “Black Christian Leaders Changing the World.” An ordained minister in the ECC, Dominique has served in pastoral ministry in Atlanta, Chicago, and Oakland, California.

Chrissy-Kaetzel

Chrissy Kaetzel

Serve Globally Basecamp

Chrissy is originally from Oakland, California, but now lives in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband, Jeff, who is the pastor of student ministries at Community Covenant Church there. Chrissy serves in a variety of capacities, including dedicated youth volunteer, social media intern, and worship team member. She has a BA in global studies from Azusa Pacific University with a minor in sociology and is currently working toward a MA in Christian formation through North Park Seminary and the Pacific Southwest Conference Ignite program. Chrissy is passionate about reconciliation and peacemaking and learning how to integrate these into a life of discipleship.

Luke-Korthuis

Luke Korthuis

Start and Strengthen Churches Basecamp

Luke serves as the youth and young adult pastor at Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton, Minnesota. He is leading the Start and Strengthen Basecamp experience at Unite 2022, with the goal to help students connect what they learn in all four basecamp experiences with their own lives and churches—because students have important roles to play in strengthening churches and starting churches! He excited to see how God will use this experience at Unite 2022.

Michelle-Bielby

Michelle Beilby

Human and Spiritual Services

Michelle works as a marriage and family therapist in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. She also works as a consultant for churches, individuals, and organizations that want to engage and grow in intercultural competency. She served as a Covenant youth pastor for more than 15 years before transitioning into her work as a therapist. She has been married to Jim for 25 years, and they have two young adults and two teenagers. She enjoys playing golf, tennis, downhill skiing, reading, and travel.

Justin

Justin Tomscak

Develop Leaders Basecamp

Justin works for the Pacific Southwest Conference as a staff member of the Youth Initiative. He has served in youth ministry for more than 10 years as a youth pastor and workshop director. Justin loves working with youth pastors, helping them to live into their calling of serving and loving all students.

Mike-Nunan

Mike Nunan

Student Enrichment / Recreation (Onsite and Offsite)

Mike is the youth pastor at Arvada Covenant Church in Arvada, Colorado. At Unite, he is leading the Enrichment area, which includes all of the afternoon activities. Mike loves Unite and how it empowers students to follow God. He was born and raised in Northern California, has been married for 11 years to his kindergarten sweetheart, Sommer, and they have a four-year-old, Tegan. He considers it an honor to serve the Covenant through Unite 2022.

Amanda-Kingry

Amanda Kingry

Off-site Unite Experience

Amanda and her husband, Joe, run their own marketing and management company, as well as building an unconventional church to reach and disciple people in new and unique ways. Amanda served as a Covenant youth pastor for more than 12 years, and she has seen how Unite changes lives and shapes Covenant youth ministry. She is beyond thankful to serve on the leadership council. Amanda and Joe live in Colorado with their three little girls.

Edgar-Torres

Edgar Torres

Liaison Coordinator

Edgar currently works as video production coordinator at Covenant Living Communities and Services and also serves as the youth pastor at Iglesia del Pacto Evangelico Peniel, a Hispanic congregation located on the Southeast Side of Chicago. Edgar is passionate about helping young people find a place where they can belong, feel loved, and encounter God. His vision is to see young people not just surviving their teenage years but thriving through living out their full potential in God.