North Ridge Community Church is made up of people that serve each other
well. When you are part of the community at North Ridge you are part of
a team that desires to serve the greater community of North Scott.
Members of North Ridge Community Church serve Jesus and serve their
neighbor using the gifts that have been given to them. North Ridge
provides support for you as you connect into the community by employing a
staff dedicated to helping you grow spiritually.
Staff
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Pastor Doug Evenhouse
Lead Pastor and pastor of discipleship
Pastor Doug grew up in a Christian home in Lansing, IL., a south suburb of Chicago. After graduating high school, he went to work for Waste Management as a driver and supervisor for 13 years. In 1995, he hung up his work boots to follow God's call into ministry. He served 4 years at Faith Reformed Church in South Holland, IL. (now located in Dyer, IN) as the youth and college ministry coordinator. He left his position there to study at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL., where he graduated with a Masters of Divinty in 2003. After graduating from seminary he served as Associate Pastor at Munster Christian Reformed Church and left there to plant North Ridge Community Church in January of 2006.
Pastor Doug and Nancy have been married for over 30 years. We are blessed with two boys and now have two wonderful daughter-in-laws and 5 grandchildren.
Pastor Doug is also a huge fan of the Chicago White Sox, loves fishing in his kayak, enjoys cycling (gotta burn calories somehow!), and working out (occasionally), and reading books on leadership and church multiplication.Contact Doug
Email:
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Joel Rohde
DIRECTOR OF WORSHIP MINISTRIES and Director of Communications
Joel made a commitment to full time ministry while he was still in Jr. High. At that time, however, he had no idea what God had in store for him. While attending Central College in Pella, he met Pamela Lang who would become his wife. It was during his time at Central that he felt called to use his musical talent and love for worship in a ministry setting. After serving in youth ministry for two years in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Joel and Pam were called away from Oskaloosa to move closer to Dubuque where Pam was attending seminary. By God's grace Joel was connected with Pastor Doug Evenhouse and asked to take on worship ministry at North Ridge. Joel and Pam now have 4 children, Gabriel, Micah, Zaley, and Eva.
Contact Joel
Email:
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Christen Blissett
Children's Ministry Director
Christen Blissett grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Colorado State University. She met her husband Caleb in high school and they have four children together, Cody, Chase, Caitlyn, and Colton. Christen has primarily been a homemaker while also working part time with children in daycare, church and school settings. Before moving to Parkview in 2017, she was a Children's Ministry Director in Plainfield, IL. She has a passion for kids and loves teaching them about God's love for them.
Christen enjoys reading and spending time outdoors hiking and fishing. She loves spending time with her family and watching her children in all their activities.
Contact Christen
Email:
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Liz Runte
Office AdministratorLiz Runte grew up in Forreston, Illinois. After graduating Liz moved to Madison,WI and St.Paul, MN working in retail training managers for 8 years. She decided on a career change and starting working as an administrative assistant for an Engineering Consulting Company in Minnesota. Liz had a daughter, named Caroline, and then moved to Iowa to be closer to family. She attended North Ridge and decided to use her experience by working for the church.
She loves to spend time playing with her daughter, and exploring her new state of Iowa. Spending time with family and friends and helping out on the farm back home. Liz leads the stage design team at North Ridge and has a passion for volunteering.
Contact Liz
Email:
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Mark Bowers
Executive Pastor
Mark grew up in Brookville, Ohio which is just northwest of Dayton. He was the middle child between two loving sisters that were raised to know Jesus by their mother who played the church organ and taught Sunday School and their father taught Sunday school and was a Lay Leader. He studied at Purdue University to pursue his dream of being an Agricultural Engineer. Upon graduation, he west to the Quad Cities in 2003 to begin a career at John Deere. It was in 2007 at the Mississippi Valley Fair (after a Poison Concert) that he met his wife Abby. They wed in 2009 and moved to the North Scott area (just north of Park View).
Mark began serving at North Ridge in the worship band, as a small group leader and then as an Elder. In 2017, God began prompting him to think about using his gifts in vocational ministry. With God taking all his excuses away and in the middle of a pandemic, Mark left a 20-year career and his dream job to begin pursuing his calling as an Executive Pastor. He is currently studying in the Commissioned Pastor Program from the Coram Deo Association of Churches and Volunteering at NRCC as the Executive Pastor.
God has blessed Mark and Abby with 4 daughters: Amelia, Cleo, Miriam, and Hannah. He loves spending time with family. Mark has a passion for community as well as a love to travel, play trivia, cheer on the Cincinnati Reds and visit a Major or Minor League baseball stadium for a ball game.
Contact Mark
Email:
