Our Leadership
Pastors
Steve Markle- Lead Pastor
Steve grew up in Hampstead , Maryland . He came to know Jesus as his personal Savior at the age of 10. Upon graduation from high school, he enrolled at Liberty University to study accounting and business. During his freshman year, Steve surrendered to God’s call on his life to full time ministry. At this time, he felt a special calling toward youth ministry. Upon graduation from Liberty , Steve immediately accepted his first full time position as a Youth & Associate Pastor at a church in Forest , Virginia where he served for 4 years.
In 1996, Steve moved his family to Northern Virginia near Washington , DC to serve a larger church as the full time Youth Pastor. After serving for 6 years at this church, Steve followed God’s leading to plant a brand new church. Steve, along with his family and a group of about 20 people, launched Life Community Church where he served as the lead pastor from 2002 until 2011. In August of 2011, Steve accepted the call to come to Pickerington to become the Lead Pastor of Sycamore Creek Church.
Steve married Sherri, his high school sweetheart, in August of 1990. They are blessed with 4 children: Zac (18), Tori (15), Lexi (11) and Nic (3). Steve enjoys sports – both watching, playing and coaching. He also loves just hanging out at home with his family…playing a game or watching a favorite show together.
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Scott Stem- Director of Students and Family Life
As a full time employee of SCC, Scott is our youth pastor working with junior high and high school students, and oversees the various family ministries – children, young adult, singles, men, women, and Celebrate Recovery. Scott really relates to the students – he’s always coming up with something new and fun to do and constantly cracking jokes, all the while, leading them in the right directions and helping them to reach out to the community.
Scott was born and raised in Westminster, MD. He was 5 years old when he started his spiritual walk with Christ. After high school, he attended Tennessee Temple University, where he met his future wife, Andrea. They married in June of 2002, and have three beautiful children, Addison, Brayden and Weston. The Stem family moved from Northern Virginia to Pickerington in August of 2007 as Scott took on the role of Director of Student Ministries.
In his free time, Scott enjoys sports – basketball, softball, golf, football, and shuffleboard, playing the air guitar, and hanging out with the youth group and his friends.
Email Scott
Elders
What’s an elder? Elders ensure the church is Biblically sound and that Christ remains the head of the church. They help to see that the church is well managed and fiscally sound by approving major decisions, offering advice to the pastors and directors as needed, interpreting the church’s constitution if necessary, and over viewing the church in general.
Ron Marshall – Elder
Ron grew up on a farm in rural Ashtabula County in the 1950’s. He was the eldest of five children and did most of the farm chores until he was 17 when his father sold the farm and moved to a smaller home. He graduated from Kent State with a BA in Mathematics, and it was during those college years that he met his wife, Barbara. She had gotten saved in 1971 and shortly after he graduated from college in 1971, he also gave his life to Christ. They were married in 1972 and have since lived in both Ohio and Pennsylvania. They have three children, Sarah (SCC’s missionary to Spain), Andy, and Emily. In 1986, Ron’s job brought them to the Pickerington area. In 1991, Don came into their life as a foster child, and in 1994 they adopted him.
They started attending SCC in 1995 when there were only about 20 people in attendance. Ron’s main ministry has always been prayer and teaching. On Sunday mornings he leads the Prayer Partners at 8:30 am and helps lead the 11:00am adult Bible study. He is one of our three elders in the church that meet with Josh and help oversee the spiritual aspects of the church. His hobbies and interests include hiking and backpacking, reading, sports, gardening and family activities.
Email Ron
John Gray– Elder
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Directors
What do directors do? They coordinate the various ministries, facilities, and administrative areas of the church. Directors are team builders who manage, recruit, and develop team leaders and team members to promote SCC’s vision and purpose.
Kristi Johnson – Director of Administration and Connections
Kristi is employed by SCC part time and manages the SCC office and administration team. She also plans special events, helps people get connected and involved, leads the women’s ministry team, and fills any other hole that needs filled. You will rarely find Kristi without a plan or a smile! She is both incredibly organized and fun to be around.
Kristi and her husband, Terry, are high school sweethearts from Zanesville, Ohio. They have been married since 1993 and have 2 boys, Tucker and Brock. Their home is in Canal Winchester. Kristi accepted Christ in 1993, and started coming to SCC in 1998. She started working at SCC shortly afterward, in 1999, leaving her job as an insurance referral coordinator. In her free time she loves to cook, hang out with her boys (all 3 of them), scrapbook, and play on the co-ed softball and volleyball teams for the church.
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Mark Phillips – Director of Small Groups
Mark is originally from Akron, Ohio. He married his wife, Jan, in 1984 and they have 2 children, A.J. and Jennie. He currently lives in Baltimore, Ohio.
Mark accepted Christ in 1973 and has served at SCC faithfully since 1996. While he currently oversees the small group ministry at SCC, he has formerly served as both the Director of Student Ministries and the Director of Leadership. He is also often seen leading the messages during the weekend services. You will often find Mark where you hear laughter. He is consistently found teaching Biblical principles in humorous, memorable ways.
Besides his work at SCC, he is owner and managing partner of FPL Financial Strategies LLC – a financial advisor firm. Mark enjoys golf, volleyball, reading, watching movies (preferably action/adventure, old westerns, and old war movies) and spending time with his family.
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Gerrad Raper – Director of Worship
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Gerrad serves at SCC in the role of Director of Worship. Managing the amazing volunteer group of talented musicians we have at SCC, Gerrad not only leads our weekend worship often, but also manages the schedules and introduces new music to the church. He also is employed full-time at a local residential property management company in the service division (so he is pretty handy too!)
Gerrad and his wife of 12 years, Stephanie, first came to SCC in December of 2005. Growing up in a family where his grandfather was a pastor ,one grandma played the piano, the other taught Sunday School and his father drove the church bus and lead worship, Gerrad was surrounded with examples of God's love. When he was old enough to understand what being a follower of Christ meant, Gerrad started down the spiritual path that has led him to where he is today. He is so thankful for those influences in his life, from childhood and now through his adult life.
Gerrad is also active in a small group at SCC and loves serving in various mission opportunities around the community.
Gerrad and Stephanie also have 3 young boys that keep them young!
Email Gerrad
Amy Shaw – Director of Children's Ministry
Born in Wheeling, West Virginia and raised in Belmont, Ohio, Amy is our Director of Children's Ministry. In her part-time role at SCC, Amy brings an amazing combination of creativity, fun and biblical relevance to the children's ministy at SCC. It's obvious her passion is seeing children discover God's love for the very first time.
Of course that makes sense, since Amy fell in love with God right here at SCC. After moving to Pickerington in 1999, she was searching for “something”. Thinking it was new friends in her new hometown, she came to SCC after she was invited to a Fall Party to carve pumpkins. What she discovered was Jesus. And she has been falling into a deeper relationship with Christ ever since.
Amy and her husband of 17 years, Bob, lead a very busy home life. They have 3 awesome children, daughters Rylie (15), Dylanie (13) and son Janzen (11), and 4 dogs (Bogie, Beef, Bella & Beckham) and 2 cats (Romeo & Juliet).
In her free time, Amy loves spending time with her family doing pretty much anything! She also enjoys decorating, organizing, reading and playing sports!
Email Amy
Jeff Fee – Director of Finances
As Director of Finances at SCC, Jeff guides the financial decision making of the church. Jeff began attending SCC in 2003. He grew up in Ohio, then later moved to Wisconsin, New Mexico, and Indiana before settling back to Ohio in 2003. Jeff married his wife, Robin, in 1991 and has two children, Jonathan and Elizabeth.
Jeff grew up in a pastor’s family, and became a believer at a young age. Jeff’s interests include coaching his kids’ soccer teams, golfing, and any other type of recreational sport.
Email Jeff
Stan Smith – Director of Facilities
Stan grew up on a small farm outside of Frankfort, Ohio, with his twin brother and sisters. His Mom and Dad moved to the farm when he and his brother turned 1. Stan gave his life to Christ in 1963 and was baptized in 1992. He married his wife, Diane, in 1974 and was blessed with a son, Jason, in 1981 and with a daughter, Kristin, in 1990. Kristen is a sophomore at Ball State University. Jason is a member of Pickerington’s Fire Department and is married to wife Jennifer. They blessed Stan with a grandson, Brayden, in 2007 and a granddaughter, Renee, in 2009.
Stan started attending SCC after Football Sunday in 1998. He was attending different churches prior to that, but never felt really comfortable or challenged, as he does now at SCC. As Director of Facilities, Stan’s vision is to provide a clean, safe, and visually pleasing environment for the church to meet. He oversees the maintenance of the buildings, and the cleaning and grounds teams. He enjoys serving others, mostly behind the scenes. Outside of his church responsibilities, he enjoys golf and spending time with his children and grandchildren.
Email Stan
Stephanie Raper – Director of Outreach
Stephanie grew up in Reynoldsburg and Pickerington. She gave her life to Christ when she was around five years old. She recommitted herself when she was around 10 years old, when she fully understood what it meant to have a relationship with Christ. During a mission trip to Spain, when she was 13, she finally understood what it meant to serve God. She knew she wanted to spend her life serving others and showing them God’s love.
Stephanie married Gerrad (who helps lead worship) in 1998 and four years later had son Benjamin. Samuel came along in 2006, and Jacob in 2008. They started attending SCC the end of 2005. As Director of Outreach, Stephanie plans and organizes our community outreach events and provides missions information and opportunities. Outside of SCC, Stephanie loves reading novels and taking naps when she can!
Email Stephanie
Dale Joiner – Director of Guest Relations
As Director of Guest Relations, Dale oversees the SCC guest experience including organizing the greeters, ushers, hospitality groups, and set up for services and events.
Dale was born in Columbus, Ohio and has lived in Canal Winchester with his wife Delona since 1999. He has two daughters, April and Ashley. He was confirmed in a Lutheran Church in the 70’s, which became his foundation for believing. Dale’s beliefs were then re-affirmed after following his wife to SCC in 2004.
He has always had an active life filled with sports and boating. He coached high school basketball for 18 years and loves to spend his weekends on his boat on Lake Erie.
Email Dale
Marla Hurst – Director of Spiritual Growth
In her role at SCC, Marla helps equip others for spiritual growth through Sycamore Creek University, various classes that are offered at the church, Bible studies, and Resources for Living, our place for information, books, and various resources available.
Marla grew up on the west side of Columbus. She lived in the Washington D.C. area in her teens and early 20’s. Although she grew up in a traditional church setting as the daughter of a preacher, it wasn’t until she was in high school that she accepted Christ as her savior. She has been searching to learn new things about God ever since.
Marla loves to read, crochet, and garden in her free time. She has been married to Chuck since 1981, and has two children, Sarah and Jon. Chuck and Marla live in Pickerington and they own and operate Kidventure Child Care, which runs out of the church.
Email Marla
