OUR LEADERSHIP
TIM MILLER
LEAD ELDER AND PASTOR
Tim, Emily, and their five children—Faith, Haven, Neely, Mercy, and Asaph—joined the Grace Gospel family in June 2024. In their over two decades of ministry the Lord has taken them to many places both in the United States and internationally, where they have served him through parenting, homeschooling, Bible teaching, missions training, mentoring, networking, and resource development. Tim has a Ph.D. from Columbia International University in Columbia, SC. He and Emily have a heart to see people equipped to make disciples of Jesus, anchored in the way of the cross, and made ready for Jesus’ return. They count it a joy to serve the flock at Grace Gospel. Tim’s hobbies include reading, basketball, songwriting, and enjoying the outdoors, and Emily’s, reading, opera, hiking, kayaking, and crafting.
PAUL MAURER
ELDER
Paul and his wife Rachel are longstanding and dearly loved members the Grace Gospel family. They have four children: Jacob, Isaac, Levi, and Samuel. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to the Lord as parents, Paul and Rachel have poured decades of smiles, prayer, and acts of love into our area as representatives of Jesus in the workplace—Paul as a public-school teacher, and Rachel as a nurse. Rachel has never met a stranger and loves to create a warm, happy, and hospitable home environment. She always stands ready to love people through a listening ear and is quick to fill a room with laughter. As for Paul, in him one is quick to find a rare and invaluable combination of compassion, gentleness, hunger for truth, and meaningful reflection. He is a man who genuinely cares for people and whose wisdom and thoughtfulness are source of great blessing to so many in our community. Among other things, Paul, Rachel, and their boys enjoy spending time together as a family, drinking good coffee, pickleball, sports activities, fishing, camping, and travel.
PETER TEMPLIN
ELDER
Peter and his wife Rachel are longstanding and dearly loved members of the Grace Gospel family. They have five children: Jackie, Grace, Ethan, Charlie, and Shiloh. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to the Lord as parents, Peter and Rachel have also been loyal servants of Jesus in our area for many years. One thing that quickly becomes apparent to those who know the Templins is that in all the areas of ministry to which God has called them – whether parenting, their marriage, homeschooling, the workplace, farming, cultivating trees, setting up stands at a local farmers market, and others – they pour themselves out “wholeheartedly, as if [they] were serving the Lord, not people” (Eph. 6:7 NIV). Rachel has a heart for children (she served as the leader of children’s ministry at Grace Gospel for many years), and through her kindness, warmth, love, organizational skills, initiative, and many other gifts and virtues, is a constant blessing to those around her. Many similar things can also be said of Peter, who is a model husband and father, who is a rich well of wisdom and experience in many areas of life, and who serves Jesus diligently in the workplace week after week. Peter’s hobbies include hunting, and Rachel’s, crocheting and growing herbs.
PHIL PORTA
ELDER
Phil and his wife Karley are longstanding and dearly loved members of the Grace Gospel family. They have five children: Evie, Scarlet, Vivian, Henry, and Walter. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to the Lord as parents, Phil and Karley have also been shining lights in our area for many years. Of Karley’s many gifts and passions, her love for children shines forth particularly brightly and radiates in her ministry as a mom, her advocacy for the unborn, and her role in Grace Gospel’s children’s ministry (see below). As for Phil, although he is remembered by many in the area for his former feats on the football field, the contest that matters most to him – whether in his ministry as a husband and father, as a kids’ football or basketball coach, or as an employee seeking to honor Jesus in the marketplace – is the good race of the faith. Among other hobbies and interests, Phil enjoys sports and woodworking, and Karley, walking and hiking.
SHANNON & KRISTIE BOETTCHER
DEACONS
Shannon and Kristie Boettcher have been dearly loved members of Grace Gospel family for several years now. They have six children – Ben, Lydia, Lizzy, Nate, Caleb, and Chloe – and are also proud grandparents. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to the Lord as parents and grandparents, Shannon and Kristie have also been beacons of Jesus’ light, love, and truth in our area for many years. They are models of true Christian love and hospitality, always going out of their way to serve people and make them feel loved, heard, and welcomed in the Lord. Kristie’s heart of compassion makes itself felt in our community in so many ways, such as in the leadership she provides for our women’s Trauma Reboot course. Shannon has worked diligently for the Lord as a local business owner for many years, and his service as a leader of the men’s Trauma Reboot course is just one evidence of his own heart of love and compassion for the hurting. Among other interests and hobbies, Shannon likes to hunt and fish, while Kristie enjoys sewing, boutique, and thrift shopping.
GARY & PAM HANNAN
DEACONS
Gary and Pam Hannan are longstanding and dearly loved members of the Grace Gospel family. They have eight children – Allison, Lonnie, Heather, Joanna, Mathew, Mark, Sarah, and Luke – and are also proud grandparents. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to the Lord as parents and grandparents, over the years Gary and Pam have spread the fragrance of Christ’s love, self-sacrifice, generosity, and mercy to so many in our area. Their work ethic and diligence on the Lord’s behalf, in matters both big and small, is a true example to us all. If she is not at the church making coffee, praying, setting up tables, or working hard to keep it clean, Pam is almost certainly to be found out serving someone in the community who is in need. As for Gary, if he is not at the church playing on the worship team, praying, or investing one of his many skills and crafts into maintaining the church building and property, he, like Pam, is almost certainly to be found out in the community showing practical love and care to someone. Among other interests and hobbies, Gary plays the accordion and is a southern gospel quartet enthusiast, and Pam likes to clean and serve others.
LINDA TEMPLIN
SECRETARY
Linda and her husband LeRoy have been dearly loved members of Grace Gospel Church since its founding in 2007. They have two children – Peter and Michael – and are also proud grandparents. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to Lord as parents and grandparents, LeRoy and Linda have been salt and light in our area on Jesus’ behalf for many years. Year after year, week-in and week-out, Linda has faithfully, carefully, transparently, and diligently overseen the church’s finances as well as a host of other administrative tasks which are vital to the church’s operations, such as writing cards, printing bulletins, putting in orders, paying bills, and making phone calls. As for LeRoy, he, like Linda, is a constant source of strength, joy, blessing, and encouragement to our church family, with arms ever ready to be lifted high to Jesus in praise and a smile ever ready to be lavished on those whom he greets. Among other things, LeRoy and Linda enjoy Indian food, playing games and cards, and traveling to Florida when they can.
KARLEY PORTA & DUSTINE BRADY
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY
As noted above, Karley has a big heart for children. She oversees the approval process of new children’s ministry volunteers and is also part of the children’s teaching rotation on Sunday mornings. Like Karley, Dustine Brady, another beloved member of the Grace Gospel family (she usually goes by “Dusti”), also loves children and is eager to see them equipped in the knowledge and ways of the Lord. She and her husband Kyle are the proud parents of Giana and Meara, who love to pour out their hearts to the Lord in dance on Sunday mornings. Dustine serves as our children’s ministry volunteer coordinator. Whether through communicating with volunteers, organizing teaching curriculum, serving on the teaching rotation, or making photocopies, Dusti’s ministry as a mother and as a servant of the children of Grace Gospel Church is, like Karley’s, a pleasing aroma to the Lord and a gift for which we are all deeply thankful. Dusti's hobbies include camping, fishing, and boating.
JOE SAMSA
WORSHIP
Joe and his wife Esther are longstanding and dearly loved members of the Grace Gospel family. They have two children: Arthur and Harvey. In addition to their faithful service and ministry to the Lord as parents, Joe and Esther have sown countless seeds of love, prayer, worship, and service into our area for many years. Their sincere love for their children and family, their readiness to serve and invest in others, and their faithfulness to Jesus through every season are an example and a source of a great blessing to so many in our community. Esther’s ministry of homeschooling, the use of her gifts in art, and her faithful presence at our church welcome table are but a few examples of the sacrificial love and service that she is constantly pouring into others. As for Joe, as much of a blessing as his gift in worship-leading is to our church family, perhaps even more of a blessing is the integrity, reliability, and humility with which he faithfully stewards not only this gift but also the many others entrusted to him by God. Among other interests and hobbies, Joe enjoys music, walking, and travel, and Esther, traveling and drinking a good cup of coffee.
“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.”
Acts 20:28 (CSB)
The Solemn Charge
“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”
1 Peter 5:1–4 (NIV)
