Our Staff

Suzanne was born and raised in Minnesota. She went to college in Iowa before transferring to WMU. Suzanne and husband Vinnie live in Delton. They have four daughters who live in Quebec, Florida, Mattawan, and Grand Rapids. They love to visit their 8 grandchildren every chance they get. Spring, 2006, was when Suzanne began serving as Pastor Larry’s Ministry Assistant. Her college degree is in Business Education, and she taught High School for many years. Suzanne feels totally blessed to be able to use her gifts at gracespring.

Linda joined the gracespring staff in December 2005 to support Pastor Bob. Linda retired from Pfizer Animal Health after 33 years of service. Her husband, Jim, is a self-employed consultant and is also an Upjohn/Pharmacia retiree. Linda has a daughter, Mozy, and son, Joe, and three perfect grandchildren. She has been attending gracespring since 1992 and has lived in this community her entire life. Born in Battle Creek, she attended Gull Lake High School. Her favorite hobby is gardening and she hopes to someday become a Master Gardener.

Nicki grew up in Charlotte, MI. In 1991, she earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from Ferris State University. After graduating from Ferris, she married her high school sweetheart, Stan McDonald. They are blessed with 2 wonderful kids – Becca (born 1995) and Ryan (born 1998). After leaving the corporate world soon after Ryan was born, she began her own in-home daycare and later worked for Gull Lake Community Schools. The McDonalds began attending gracespring in 2001 and are very thankful for the church family that they have found here. Her hobbies include scrapbooking, reading, off-road jeep trips and hanging out with friends and family.

Uta received a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Michigan State University in 1988. She met Steve while at MSU; they married in 1989. After working in pharmaceutical research for 5 years, Uta chose to stay at home with her children, Joshua, Natasha, and Michaela and homeschooled for 10 years. Uta has been involved in various ministries at the churches she has attended. She realized her passion for organization and planning while her family helped plant a church in Kalamazoo.

T. K. joined the staff in November 2001 as a part-time ministry assistant and moved to full-time in July 2002. She oversees the care ministries and is the gracespring database administrator. T. K. and her husband Dan have attended gracespring since January 1998. Dan is a senior staff designer at Bendix Corporation. T. K. plays the flute in the orchestra and praise band and Dan works on the tech team. Dan and T. K. enjoy golfing, bike riding and traveling. They have two children: Melissa, married to Joe, and their daughter Fiona in Chicago; and Andrew, married to Kate, in Kalamazoo.

Lauren started attending gracespring during her sophomore year of high school, and was blessed to find a great group of God-loving students and leaders who shared with her the love of Jesus Christ. She came to know Him that same year.

After graduating from Gull Lake High School in 2006 she went on to study Environmental Studies and Resource Management at Western Michigan University. During college she felt the Lord encouraging her towards student ministry, and she began teaching small groups in 2007.

Lauren currently serves as a small group leader for the junior girls in the Ignite student ministry, and she loves every minute of it!

Lauren recently married her best friend, Steve, on October 15, 2011! He is her constant source of laughter, her leader, and her inspiration to love the Lord more every day.

Ashley was born in Algonac, MI and moved to Grand Rapids to attend Kuyper College in 2005. This is where she met her husband Adam, whom she married in June, 2008. She graduated Kuyper in 2009 with a Bachelor’s in Youth Ministry. In the fall of 2009, Ashley and Adam moved to Plainwell and started attending gracespring. The couple had their first child, Rebekah Lynn in April 2011. Along with her job as the Student Ministry Administrative Assistant, Ashley volunteers with Impact!

Destry joined the gracespring staff in September 2010. He graduated from Taylor University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design. He grew up in Kalamazoo and has attended gracespring most of his life. Destry is engaged to Brittany Lee Wood. They are getting married on April 14, 2012. His design style is very clean and minimalist. In his spare time, Destry enjoys watching movies, playing sports, and playing card & board games with his family.

Scott and his family started attending gracespring in 1997. His wife Kim is a homemaker who is active in gracespring softball and Children’s Ministries. They have three children–Dustin, Dillon, and Abbigail. Scott has worked as a professional singer and musician, a residential carpenter, and in the manufacturing industry as a supervisor and plant superintendent. Scott feels the Lord has blessed him with a variety of work experiences that allow him to serve our wonderfully talented Technical Team.

Cyndi joined our staff part-time in 2004 after volunteering for one year. She and her husband, Rob began attending gracespring in 1995 with their children Mandy (born 1988), Becky (born 1991), Robert (born 1998), and Hunter (born 2000). Cyndi graduated from WMU with an accounting degree and has worked as an office manager, controller, and bookkeeper. In her free time she loves to work in her flower garden, attend gracespring aerobics, read, and participate in Women’s Bible Studies at gracespring. She loves having gracespring as her church home and feels blessed to be on staff.

Martin joined the facility team in June of 2007. He grew up living on Gull Lake and has been attending gracespring since the early 90s. He worked on the maintenance team for 4 years at Gull Lake Bible Conference and also built houses for 3 years in the Kalamazoo area. Martin and his wife Crystal were married in August 2007 and have two daughters, Pyper (born 2009) and Fynn (born 2011). He is thrilled to be apart of the gracespring staff.

Jeremy moved to Richland in 1991, and began attending gracespring not long after. He graduated from Gull Lake High School in 1996, and received an Associates Degree in Secondary Education from KVCC. He was hired part-time in July 1998, and moved to full-time in November of 2003. Jeremy and his wife Sarrah have three children–daughter Cecelia (born 2004), son Galileo (born 2006), and son Linus (born 2008). Jeremy enjoys theatre, football, and most outdoor activities.

Jake joined the gracespring staff in January 2010. He and his wife, Cheryl, live in Portage with his daughter Haylie, who is 7 years old. When their previous church changed locations, they started ‘shopping’ for a new church home and we are very fortunate that they picked gracespring! Prior to working at gracespring, Jake assembled and installed granite counter tops.

Chuck started attending gracespring in March 2009. He has 4 grown children, Chris, Marci, Trent & Trevor, and one daughter, Amanda, now with the Lord.. Chuck was a police officer for the City of Battle Creek, retiring in 1993. He then worked for a small computer company in Battle Creek until 1998 when he went to work at the HDI Federal Center in Battle Creek in the IT department. He left there in July 2009 and joined the staff at gracespring in November 2009. Chuck has been blessed by the Lord in many ways and is very grateful for the skills he is able to use to serve the Lord and the staff and members of gracespring.

Margie started attending gracespring in the summer of 1997 after moving to Michigan from the Washington DC area. She began as a volunteer at the reception desk in 2000 and three years later joined the gracespring staff part-time. She has two married daughters, Corie and Erin, two grandsons, Connor & Derek, and two granddaughters, Alexandra & Kennedy. Margie and her husband, Mark were married in September 2008. She is the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday receptionist.

Lori's interest in singing began in high school and led her to earn a bachelor of science in Music Education from Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY. While in college, she traveled with college vocal groups and took a year off to tour with the Christian contemporary band "Free Spirit". After earning a master's in Vocal Performance from Western Michigan University, Lori began directing music and leading worship in Kalamazoo. She currently teaches voice at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and coaches private students in her home studio. God lead the Claussens to gracespring Bible Church in the fall of 2005 and Lori joined the gracespring staff two years later. As Pastor Howie's vocal assistant, she helps rehearse the choir and praise teams.

Bonnie was a bus driver for Climax-Scotts Community Schools for 17 years before working in the Children Ministry. She has been married to her high school sweetheart, Gene for 35 years. They reside in Scotts and have been attending gracespring since the fall of 2000. They have 4 wonderful daughters: Nicole and her husband Kurt and their 3 children (Nolan, Koby and Rylee) live in Richland; Brianne and her fiance live in Kalamazoo (they are getting married on November 11); Elizabeth and her husband, Jeff, live in Kalamazoo; and Ashley is still at home for the moment. In her free time, Bonnie enjoys spending time with her family and friends, scrapbooking and watching movies.

Cheryl was born in Hastings, graduated from Gull Lake and attended classes at KCC, KVCC, and Davenport College. She has two children, Kevin and Debra, and 10 grandchildren, seven of which she watches daily. While her children were in school Cheryl volunteered at Waylee Elementary. She worked at Upjohn Institute for Employment Research as an MIS specialist for 14 years before retiring as a full-time grandma. In 1999 Joe and Cheryl were married, moved to Comstock and began attending gracespring. Cheryl enjoys gardening and loves teaching children through play about the love of God.

Jamie came to gracespring in 1998 and joined the staff in June 2007. She is a Kalamazoo local, born and raised here in Southwest Michigan. She attended Cornerstone College (now, Cornerstone University) and she and her husband Ryan have been married since 1999. They have two children, Marlaina and Caleb, and Jamie is proud to be not just their mom but their teacher as well. When she’s not busy homeschooling, Jamie enjoys reading, crocheting and spending time with her family.