Meet the Staff

Roger invested in the lives of children and families for 48 years at Wheaton Christian Grammar School as the assistant principal and school counselor. Through that experience, God prepared him to step into his role of encouraging people amid their life circumstances through God’s Word. Roger and his wife, Janet, have been married for 45 years and have been a part of College Church since 1996. They have a son and daughter-in-law who are missionaries in Zimbabwe and a daughter who teaches fourth grade in Grand Rapids (MI).

Erik is married to Kelsey and loves spending time as a family with her and their son, Henry.

Among other musical activities, Erik enjoys writing hymns in his free time (www.gloryandgladnessmusic.com). He joined the College Church staff in 2015.

In addition to pastoral ministry, Josh teaches at Wheaton College as an adjunct professor in Bible and Theology, where he also completed his PhD in New Testament & Biblical Theology. He earned his M.Div. from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.

Josh enjoys reading, writing, music, sports, and great coffee—all in the company of friends of family. He and his wife, Caitlin, have five children: Natalie, Celia, Annabelle, Tobin and Lina.

Mindy received her B.A. in Communications from Wheaton College ’95 and M.A. in Biblical Theology from Wheaton College Graduate School ’99.

Mindy grew up in southern Wisconsin as the eldest of a large family. Her favorite spot is sitting at the counter in her parents’ kitchen surrounded by her big family.

Mindy is married to Chad and they have four children – Sadie, Mia, Ella and Abe. They are avid readers, and enjoy cooking, hiking and traveling together. The Rynbrandt family began attending College Church in 2001.

James (Jim) Johanik and his family have been attending College Church since 2014 and began serving on the pastoral staff in 2023. Jim grew up in nearby Lombard, IL, and came to faith in Christ in high school through a relationship formed with a Wheaton College student and football player.

Jim spent over 16 years in the capital markets technology industry before entering into full-time ministry in 2010. Prior to joining the pastoral staff of College Church, Jim held leadership roles with Fellowship of Christians Athletes (FCA) and Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) and currently coaches high school football at nearby Wheaton Academy. Jim holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Wheaton College and an M.B.A from Northwestern University.

Jim is married to Heidi, who together have five children and two grandchildren.

Julie’s work with disabled people and their families reaches across oceans and the world. While in Bulgaria serving as a missionary, Julie trained staff at social homes in therapeutic best practices and worked with disabled orphans.

After five years of missionary work in Bulgaria, Julie returned to the United States in 2012 as her husband Lance pursued graduate work in international business. She earned degrees in occupational therapy from Colorado State University, in drafting technology from Central Missouri State University, and a certificate in autism spectrum disorders from University of Wisconsin in LaCrosse.

Julie lives in Winfield, Illinois, with her husband Lance. They have two adult children. Julie’s hobbies are traveling, quilting, woodworking, and working out.

Kids’ Harbor serves children birth through 5^th grade. This ministry equips and emboldens families to walk as children of light, believing that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. In addition to morning and evening ministries on Sundays and Wednesdays, special outreach and family-oriented events bring generations together to build community and nurture faith.

Cheryce Berg provides vision, direction and oversight for all Kids’ Harbor ministries to children birth through fifth grade. She has held the ministry position at College Church since January 2020. Cheryce seeks to focus her heart and mind on the ministries and people of Kids’ Harbor ministries so that the next generation would know, follow and share Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord for his glory, by his grace alone.

After attending Wheaton College, where she met her husband Mark, she has devoted much of her time to serving in a variety of roles at College Church. Wife to Mark, mom to Josh, Ryan (wife, Jacki) and Luke, daughter of Stann and Gloria Leff, Cheryce also enjoys writing, cooking, travel, running, taking walks with Mark, and hosting people in their home.

Dan grew up at College Church, participating in children’s, middle school, and high school ministries as a student.

Dan graduated from Wheaton College in 2013 before serving on staff with LeaderTreks Youth Ministry. He loves seeing middle school students come to know Jesus personally and is passionate about equipping these students to become the next generation of Christian leaders in our churches, homes, and communities.

Some of Dan’s hobbies include riding bikes, playing instruments, baking, and running. He is married to Amy, and together they enjoy rooting for the Cubs, eating tasty food, and spending time with friends and family.

Baxter grew up on the South Side of Chicago in the Hyde Park neighborhood. He is an avid Chicago sports fan, and his first job was with the Chicago White Sox as an usher.

He completed his B.A. in Business / Economics at Wheaton College and worked in the asset management industry for over five years before pursuing a full-time program through the Charles Simeon Trust called “The Chicago Course on Preaching.”  The summer of 2021, he joined College Church as High School Pastor.  Baxter loves to preach God’s word to himself and to others.

Baxter is married to his best friend, Kelsie. They enjoy live music, exploring restaurants, lawn games, and laughing together with family, friends, and students. They have a deep love for those in their high school years and were transformed during their own high school years as part of the local church.

Nancy Singer directs the fiscal, support and physical activities of the church. She joined the staff in October 2004 and has been a member of College Church since 1984.

She spent 37 years in the banking industry, including 18 years in president and CEO positions in multi-billion-dollar banking organizations. She is a Certified Financial Planner® who has provided financial counseling to families in the church on a volunteer basis, in addition to teaching economics and financial management courses at DePaul University in Chicago.

Nancy’s hobbies include sports, reading, traveling and anything involving numbers.

Wil Triggs has worked in marketing and communications with non-profit organizations before joining the staff of College Church. Some of these include Slavic Gospel Association, Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries (now Mission Eurasia), the World Evangelical Alliance and Media Associates International. He was one of the founding editors of East-West Church and Ministry Report and has traveled extensively in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

He and his wife, Lorraine, have one grown son. Wil enjoys reading, writing, book discussions, gardening, cooking, coffee and travel. He continues his involvement in missions through short-term trips and projects and support for the global persecuted church. He also makes time to teach Kindergarten Bible school.

Tim Hollinger has had his hands in College Church Technology since the summer of 1986 when he volunteered to help with sound. His career was focused on spoken-word audio production, and he’s been in charge of sound and AV here since 1988. In 2004, he was hired full-time when he took on the newly created technology manager position. In that role, Tim devotes the majority of his time to managing the servers, computers, software and related technology that is used in support of almost every aspect of our ministry. Tim also has created a team of staff and volunteers that serves the technological needs of the church.

A 1985 graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Tim and his wife, Debbie, have three adult children. His hobbies include home theater, movies, and discovering new ethnic restaurants to enjoy.

Howard Kern has been the Facilities Director at College Church for 28 years. His team oversees over 13,000 event setups each year and performs maintenance for the entire church campus with 28 gardens and 16 facilities. He has scores of volunteers who maintain the grounds in a variety of programs such as facility development, custodial mentorship, and a College Church gardening community.

Learn more about Facility Use.