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Andy Butler
Andy Butler was born in Manhattan but grew up in our neighboring County of Rockland. He and his wife, Ellen, have two sons, Ryan and Connor. When Ryan was young, Andy asked him, “Who loves you best?” Ryan answered, “Jesus does, Daddy, and He loves you, too.” It wasn’t too much later that Andy prayed to receive Christ. Andy has served as the supervisor of the MPR setup crew since 2000 and is also on the Campus Operations Team. He is employed by United Water New York as a licensed water plant operator and is currently studying to obtain his license in wastewater operations. |
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Bob DelbridgeBob grew up in Virginia and attended a Baptist church regularly. At age 12, he made a decision to accept Jesus as Savior but did not really commit his life to Jesus until he was 22 years old. Bob moved to New York and then to New Jersey after he and his wife, Ivy, were married. Bob’s ministries at Grace have been Project Firewood, building the church’s amphitheater, and the Prayer Walk, and he currently leads the Ushering Team and the setup and cleanup for the annual Women’s Conference. He started “Habitat Helpers” to reach out and help others in need and would like to see this ministry grow. Bob and Ivy are active attendees of Grace’s “Generations” community class. |
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Ellen Gunser
Ellen grew up in Queens, where she was involved with her church at an early age playing guitar for the folk mass. Her family later moved to Long Island, where she met and married her husband of 24 years, Russell. In 1991, when they were searching for a place to buy a home and raise their two children, they were drawn to the beauty of the Hudson Valley and settled in Washingtonville. A neighbor invited Ellen to start attending Grace Community, and because of numerous and passionate requests of her daughter, the Gunsers started attending regularly and were led to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Ellen has served in children’s ministries, such as the VBS program, the Olympian program, the Baseball Camps, and as Grace’s bookkeeper. However, since 1995, most of her time has been dedicated to the Decorating Team and the Design and Décor Team. Ellen is currently employed by the Washingtonville Central School District as a secretary and is attending college part-time to complete a degree in accounting. |
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Mark Lingerman
Mark Lingerman was raised in the seaside community of Newburyport, Massachusetts. He met his wife, Kristin, while working in the whaling city of New Bedford, at one of the five newspapers he served during his 13-year career. They were married in April 1999. Mark and Kristin are not strangers to Grace. They attended here during 1999-2000 while Mark worked for the Times Herald Record. During his newspaper career, Mark held both operational and strategic positions in circulation including marketing, sales, customer service, finance, and management. Since 1998, Mark has held various lay leadership positions, including Men’s Ministry, Finance, Small Group Leader, and pulpit fill-in. He has a B.S. in Organizational Management from Nyack College. Kristin has a B.S. in Archeology from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois, and a B.S. in Nursing from Rush University, Chicago. She is a pediatric oncology nurse who has served at numerous hospitals, including the bone marrow transplant unit at Boston Children’s Hospital. Mark and Kristin reside in Goshen with their three children — Niel, Jacob, and Lauren. |
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Diane Kitson
Diane was born and raised on a poultry farm in Pillow, PA, a rural area 30 miles north of Harrisburg, and attended the United Church of Christ until age 22. She graduated from York College with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. Diane moved to Orange County in early ’80s, attended OCCC, and became a Registered Nurse in 1993, the same year she married her husband, Jimmy Kitson. They first attended Grace in 1995 after Jimmy’s sister, Trish Nelson, brought them as guests. Diane had always believed in the Lord but never had a personal relationship with Jesus until God led her to Grace. She was baptized in 1996 and first served in the church as a teacher in the children’s ministry for 4 years. Since 1997, she has served on Design & Décor, which she currently co-chairs, and on teams for Nature Camp, the Women’s Conference, and the Operations Team. |
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Jim Kitson
Jim was born in the Bronx in 1959 and moved to Chester in 1969. After graduating from John S. Burke Catholic H.S. in 1977, he worked as a building maintenance mechanic. In 1981 he became a New York City Firefighter and retired from the FDNY in 2007 with the rank of Captain. Jim is currently an Alderman in the city of Middletown, where he lives with his wife Diane. After high school, Jim would have best been described as a wandering Irish Catholic, attending church on holidays or when a bit of guilt presented itself. He met his wife on a blind date in 1989, and they married in 1993. Diane was far more spiritual, and little did he know that their meeting would start his journey to find Christ. They attended a few churches before and after their wedding and then arrived at Grace after an invitation from his sister, Trish Nelson, in 1995 and have been attending ever since. Jim has served in SummerQuest and at soccer and baseball camps, and he currently serves as an outside Greeter and on the Operations Team and provides some of the muscle for the Decorations Team. |
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