A  Team  Candidates

Nate Blowers

Occupation:  HVAC Service Division Manager

How long have you attended Northgate?
16 years
What present ministry or future prospect of ministry at Northgate excites you the most?
Missions and our Connected Community in Rwanda, Africa 

Assuming the ministry at Northgate has touched your life; share with us what is most meaningful to you about Northgate?
The willingness of the Church body to join together and commit to local and foreign missions to make a difference.

Jeremy McClellan

Occupation:   Deputy Sheriff

How long have you attended Northgate?
Since 2011

What present ministry or future prospect of ministry at Northgate excites you the most?
The events and plans that we have been bringing into the Men's Ministry with the annual Men’s Campout. Last year was our first run at it, and it was an absolute success. We are gathering men together with their sons, nephews, friends, co-workers or other young men and boys that men from our church know. Guys brought tents, hammocks, campers, or just laid out under the stars to witness God’s amazing creation. (Someone may have brought a high tech telescope.) It’s a weekend that we get to focus on great fellowship and share the truth about Jesus and have an amazing time doing it. This is just one aspect of our Bring, Build, Send mission statement that I love investing in.

Assuming the ministry at Northgate has touched your life; share with us what is most meaningful to you about Northgate?
I love the fact that people come here and feel comfortable, especially men. Historically, when I was growing up, whenever I was dragged to church, I usually saw the mother bringing the kids to church. That was the truth in my case as well. Fathers were usually “too busy” to go or it was; in one way or another, put on the mother to get the kids to church. We’re different here. I love the fact that when men show up to our church, they feel welcomed, comfortable and included. I feel that we need more men in the church to lead as Jesus has directed us to. I believe that we need to equip men and build them up to raise their families in a good Bible believing and Bible teaching church. Northgate has been doing that for me through my successes and failures. Centering everything on Christ’s love, grace and mercies. That’s what Northgate has been doing for me.

Charley Canon

Occupation:   Librarian (Retired), Roberts Wesleyan University

How long have you attended Northgate?
53 years / since 1970

What present ministry or future prospect of ministry at Northgate excites you the most?
Many ministries of Northgate excite me, especially our connected community with Gahanda, Rwanda. We have become a global church caring for others around the world. However, as we have grown globally, we have also increased our service locally by supporting many local ministries (Salvation Army food pantry,  Angel Tree,  Apple Tree;  All Babies Cherished, Crossroads House, YWCA Program for Abused Women, and list goes on). I get excited when I think of the possibilities that we have to serve more both around the world and locally in the name of Jesus. Also, it excites me that with have ministries to reach all ages with Biblical instruction, fellowship and small groups to meet many needs and interests.

Assuming the ministry at Northgate has touched your life; share with us what is most meaningful to you about Northgate?
Having been a part of Northgate for my entire adult life, it is hard to single out a single most meaningful touch on my life.  I have been privileged to serve and I am served.  At times of need my church family has been a support, at times of joy my church family has been there to celebrate, at times of want my church family has met need and at times of plenty my church family has allowed me to share and to serve.   Having seen Northgate FMC grow from a small church of less than 100, to now ministering to over 1000 is exciting.  It is not for the sake of numbers or pride, but for the sake of people who share the joy of knowing sins forgiven and the joy of living in fellowship with other Christians reaching out to our community and beyond.

Jenn Dunn

Occupation:   I am Wife to Rick, Mother to Nicholas, Lauren, Eryn, and Colin, Mother-in-Law to Paige and Timothy, Nona to Beckett, and the 5/6th Teacher at St. Paul Lutheran School.

How long have you attended Northgate?
We began attending when the church was still at the south campus around 2001.

What present ministry or future prospect of ministry at Northgate excites you the most?
While I spent 12 years serving in the children’s wing as the preschool teacher and previously, when MOPS was new, as a team member and coordinator, and various other volunteer opportunities, I am ready for a new focus. I do currently serve as the church wedding coordinator which is a joy! After traveling to our connected community in Gahanda, Rwanda, I have a new passion for missions, yet see myself working more closely to home with our amazing Northgate team. There are so many places to volunteer and serve and I have been fervently asking the Lord where He will have me.

Assuming the ministry at Northgate has touched your life; share with us what is most meaningful to you about Northgate?
Northgate is the people’s church. When you come through the doors of Northgate there is a feeling of connection and care. I didn’t even get to the door our first visit before Mike McGrath was offering to carry in the baby carrier! I knew immediately this would be our church family which is exactly how I look at Northgate, a family, a BIG family, but a family that is always ready to reach out, find a way to care for you, and grow you. This is why we have remained at Northgate so long even as the church has changed and expanded; our leadership teams have always operated with the goals of bringing people to the Lord, growing them, and even sending them out. Northgate has been there to bless and grow myself, and my family and I pray that I will have the opportunity to serve and bless in return.


Bill Hayes

Occupation:  Retired

How long have you attended Northgate?
Since 2000. My daughter, Christina, invited us after she was invited by Lindsey Pierce (daughter to then-pastor Mitch Pierce)


What present ministry or future prospect of ministry at Northgate excites you the most?
Anything that has to do with the children’s wing and their growth in Jesus. JoAnn & I were senior teen leaders for five or six years while our own children were in their teens. Truly the best experience in our church years, so far, is bringing our kids (and now Grandsons) to Jesus, both in church and at home. This has helped our kids, but even more importantly brought us, JoAnn & me, much closer to Jesus through devotionals, reading the Bible, and teaching our family about Jesus.


Assuming the ministry at Northgate has touched your life; share with us what is most meaningful to you about Northgate?
“See above” and also now working with the church families of all ages to make Northgate a better place to learn, follow and be more like Jesus everyday.  We fall short many times in our lives, but Jesus and my faith in him has brought me through hardships and gives me joy that I know only he could give me.  To gain what I experienced at Northgate over the last 20 years, I now know all I needed to do was accept an invite to Northgate FMC.  In my personal case, it was my daughter.  My future is in the hands of my Savior. “Praise Him for Whom all Blessings Flow”

Rick Kent

Occupation:   Social Worker and Educator at Rochester Psychiatric Center

How long have you attended Northgate?
About 10 years 

What present ministry or future prospect of ministry at Northgate excites you the most?
I’ve talked with Pastor John about the Financial Peace University ministry at Northgate, and I’m excited about the prospect of developing a program where people take Financial Peace University and then take Dave Ramsey’s Legacy Journey class. As more and more people take these classes, we then grow a group of Northgaters who can help one another get out of debt and grow our wealth in order to care for our families and our futures, and to be crazy generous with the resources God entrusts to us. I love to see people be excellent stewards of God’s resources.

Assuming the ministry at Northgate has touched your life; share with us what is most meaningful to you about Northgate?
Other than the Financial Peace University program, the other program that has been very meaningful for me is actually the small group that my wife, Sara, and I teach are facilitating on Sunday mornings. This is the study where we learn Hebrew words and see how their original meanings bring the Scriptures to life. We’ve been really blessed by the new friendships we’ve made in that class and by the perspectives that group of people bring to the Scriptures. It has been a fascinating journey so far, and I’m looking forward to what God’s word teaches us next. (By the way, everyone is still welcome to join us! Don’t worry if you have missed the first few weeks, there are still plenty of lessons to go in the book we’re studying. Come try us out and see what you learn.)