Scott Heare ~ Pastor

If you walk in and see the guy with bare feet talking, chances are likely you’ve met Scott. Ask him why he takes his shoes off. He’s tall, so you can’t miss him. He tells a great story, very animated. He speaks with a wisdom that some day will show in a head full of grey hair, I’m sure. Rebel? No. Rabbi follower? Yes – with all of his heart and grit in his teeth spurring the rest of us on. He says a life of following the greatest rabbi that ever lived is a wild adventure.

Jen Taylor ~ Office Manager

I’ve never met a professional juggler. Fascinating! Things of all shapes and sizes thrown into the air one at a time. Each seeming to take on a life of its own as it flies through the air destined to plummet to certain death when the masterful hand of the juggler grabs it, knowing it was there all the time, setting it on a certain path of success once again. Schedules, newsletters, phone calls, finances, mail. These are not for the faint-hearted juggler. Jen Taylor seems undaunted by the task.

Jamie King ~ Pastor to Children

For more than two years Jamie King faithfully volunteered for Kingz Kidz, the children’s ministry at Riverside. Her children attended, so it made sense that she offered her time there. She had no idea at the time that God was calling her to shepherd the children in this ministry as if they were her own.

John Hinkebein ~ Pastor to Students

It happened at an Outward Bound survival course. He spent a month in the wilderness of Montana with a bunch of strangers. Some believed in God and some didn’t. What could God do with a kid from Indiana? Surrounded by the divine creation God spoke clearly to John – he was made for youth ministry. Born to eat cold pizza, camp in the wild, make friends with the friendless, hang out with the hormonally crazy – “Disciple them, John,”came the voice he could not ignore. 

Glenn Green ~ Worship Pastor

Did you know God speaks in colors? I mean, He created them, so why not? While a team of people prayed for God to raise up a worship pastor, someone said, “I don’t get it…but I keep getting the color green.” Glenn was leading Wednesday night worship in the tabernacle (a.k.a. tent) behind The Loft coffee house. It was a season - a season of preparing the soil.

Brooke Blevins ~ Programming and Production Director

She ticks off the week’s announcements, no cue sheet in her hand. She is poised and confident. It’s time to pray. She bows her head, “Would you pray for me?” A pause. A smile. “Would you pray with me is what I meant to say.”

Trained in the dramatic arts, Brooke Blevins remembers how to laugh with the joy of the Lord.

Jenny Rudd ~ Ministry Manager to the Loft

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Jenny. God gave her a dream that she would run a coffee shop. This wasn’t just any coffee shop. It was a special place where “seekers and nonbelievers could come, where we could love them and build relationships with them, and where someday they would become Christians.” She had no idea what it meant, considering she was living paycheck to paycheck. So she resigned it to a dream for retirement.

Pamela Barquest ~ Hope Center Director

Hands and feet…have you ever noticed how much we need them? They feed us. They clothe us. They work to meet a need. They get us from here to there. We can survive without them, but only if we have someone or something to act in their place.

In December 2003, jobless and in trouble, Pamela could not find any help available to her in Comal County. Eventually she landed on her feet instilled with a burning desire to help others in the same position. “Why take everything I learned and put it in the bottom drawer? I want to take it and share it with the community.”

Ben Toalson ~ Assistant Worship Pastor

“Hey, baby, will you put out the trash?” she says.

He stares, eyes wide.

“Did you do it already?” she attempts again, but he just continues to stare, eyes clouding.

“I think I have an idea for a new song,” he says, as if he hasn’t heard a word. She can’t help but smile.

“Let’s hear it.” The trash conversation will have to wait.

Times like these remind Rachel why her college friends “diagnosed” her husband, Ben Toalson, with MADD—musical attention deficit disorder. But her heart bends. They share a heart for worship and leading others to do the same.