Jeff Ellis has served at Walloon Lake Community Church for thirty years.
His great joy is to dig into God’s Word and teaching the story of Jesus in a clear and understandable way. Jeff enjoys golfing, reading, & hanging with his family. He and his wife Denise have 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren. - Contact Pastor Jeff -
CHAD OVERBEEK // aDMINISTRATIVE PASTOR
A Michigan native and father of four, Chad and his family really enjoy the outdoors and the activities of the seasons. Chad left the commercial work place and started in full time ministry in 2016.
His heart is to see the church stay fresh and relevant. Known as the "Marshmallow Guy", Chad strives to keep an idea of flexibility blended with the structure and organization of the church.
Born and raised in Michigan, Andy was brought up in church from a young age and is a pastor's son. At the age of thirteen, he began playing music in worship services. In his early twenties he spent time writing and producing his own songs in a recording studio in Nashville TN. Andy formed a band and started leading worship at youth events, festivals and churches around Michigan and the mid-west.
Andy is married to his wife Rachelle, has four children, and currently lives in Ellsworth with their youngest son, Kyle. Andy is very passionate about seeing people connect with God through music and worship.
BRANT COLE // WLCC YOUTH & YOUNG ADULTS Pastor online campus pastor
Brant loves life up here in Northern Michigan! Gifted in relational connections and transformational preaching, he considers it to be one of his highest privileges to do ministry with Millennials, Generation Z, and the culture of the internet.
With an M.A. in Pastoral Studies and Congregational Leadership from Moody Theological Seminary and a B.A. in Pastoral Studies from Moody Bible Institute, Brant currently serves as our Youth & Young Adults Pastor, and recently, as our Online Campus pastor, too (we know, it’s a mouthful…). He also speaks each summer at Lake Ann Camp.
Rachel oversees our Midweek program on Wednesday nights. Married to Keith and mom to Emma, Levi and Luke. Rachel enjoys serving families with young kids and connecting them to our church body and to each other.
She is privileged to show kids Jesus in the church setting and be His example out in the community. Her prayer is that Community Kids is where kids feel safe and know they matter. She is thankful for the opportunity to share Jesus with the kids and families at Walloon.
Leslie Licht // WLCC Infants and Nursery
Leslie Licht (pronounced "lite") currently serves as our Walloon Lake campus infant and nursery director. Married to her wonderful husband Jamie, they have 3 children, and moved to Northern Michigan in 2018.
She enjoys running and spending quality time with her family. Leslie says, "I feel privileged to be able to create safe and loving spaces for young children to learn about Jesus!"
Jodee hissong // administrative assistant
JoDee Hissong has been part of the WLCC family for many years. In addition to bookkeeping, scheduling, and a million other essentials, she keeps everything running smoothly - including the pastoral staff! She is married to Dave Hissong and has three growing boys.
Pastor Jason, his wife Kelly, and their two children joined the WLCC family in 2005. After graduating from Moody Bible Institute in Youth Ministry, he served as a Youth Pastor for more than 15 years, including six years at our Walloon Lake campus.
Jason was surprised to see how God used all those past experiences to uniquely prepare him to go to East Jordan as the campus pastor in 2011. He's also very grateful that he's not alone.
Josh and Kristy, his wife of 23 years, along with their two teenagers, live in Central Lake. He grew up in a large family that was very involved with their local church in Lansing, MI. Josh began serving the in music ministry in middle school and continues today, almost 25 years later.
Josh has been working with young adults and youth ministry for years and loves to teach people of God’s love. Before arriving at EJCC, he worked for the State of Michigan for almost 18 years, in management for 16 years.
Papa Joe is the heart of Alanson Community Church. Ever since joining the family in 2015, he has been loving and serving nonstop. He’s been preaching since 1999 and still loves to proclaim God's Word. He loves to talk with people and share God’s love wherever he goes. On Sundays, he’s up in the pulpit sharing the love of Jesus.
Joe is blessed to be married to his beautiful wife Kathy. Together, they have numerous children and grandchildren, as well as a church family they call their own.
John felt God calling him into full-time ministry in 2008 at a Bible internship in Texas where he worked to mobilize leaders for short-term youth missions trips. After leaving the internship and marrying his wife Brittany in 2010, he began working for Liberty University while pursuing his B.S. of Religion in Biblical Studies and Master of Divinity in Homiletics.
In 2019, John moved to Northern Michigan to start with Walloon Lake Community Church and currently serves as the Associate Campus Pastor at the Alanson Campus. His greatest passion in life is to see Jesus transform lives through the truth of God’s Word lived out with authenticity and grace! He enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, and can’t say no to a hot sauce!
Karen has been a member of our church family since 2013. She is honored to be a part of the children’s ministry up in Alanson. She’s been working with kids for most of her adult life, and loves that she can continue to love kids and love God.
Karen is married to Jim, and they are blessed with a one amazing daughter. She considers all of her students to be her kids in the family of God. Her goal at ACC is to make sure kids have a fun and spiritual place to go on both Sunday and Wednesday nights.
Brittany was born and raised here in northern Michigan as an active member of Walloon Lake Community Church. Music, and specifically worship, has been a passion of Brittany’s since childhood, and she has always felt it would be a large part of her calling and ministry.
Brittany and her husband John prayerfully and excitedly moved back to northern Michigan last year, feeling God strongly call them to serve alongside WLCC with their new church plant endeavor in Alanson.
Brittany's prayer is that ACC’s worship will be a catalyst for every individual to meet with, hear from, and ultimately look more like Jesus through spending time in His presence, in His word, and doing it together with His people.
Greg has been a part of the WLCC family since 2015. He has since joined the worship team, enjoyed two mission trips to Haiti and took a part time job as the Technical Director for the Alanson Campus. He loves to bring people to God through worship Sunday mornings.
Greg enjoys music, fishing, hunting, golfing and clowning around. He spent his adolescent years in southern Michigan, a true country boy at heart joining the Army to see the world and learn a trade. Greg gave his life to the Lord at Promise Keepers years ago and still works at deepening his relationship with Jesus daily. He cut his teeth in the church by joining the choir, then graduating to teaching children’s messages soon morphed into youth ministry coming to rest in Worship Arts.
KEITH BRADLEY // CUSTODIAN, chief investigation and security advisor
Keeping order and cleanliness, and organizing and facilitating building usage, Keith Bradley has served since September, 2020. He and his wife, Rachel have three children. Keith is thankful that WLCC is a welcoming, friendly church that teaches God's Word.
Keith also holds the current world title for most handsome man alive (...or at least that's what Rachel tells us.)
