First Congregational United Church of Lowell, UCC
865 Lincoln Lake Ave SE
Lowell MI 49331
phone: 616.897.5906
Staff
The Rev. Terry Tessari, Interim Pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ, has 35 years of pastoral experience – the last 19 years choosing to serve as Interim Pastor at churches throughout Southwestern Michigan and Indiana . He has a Masters of Divinity degree in Counseling Psychology. He also has received training in drug and alcohol abuse. He began his interim ministry with First Congregational in May of 2008 and will remain with the church until a permanent pastor has been called.
email: PastorTerry@ourbigchurch.org
Shannon Hanley, Director of Christian Education, began as a youth ministry volunteer at First Congregational in 1994 and has been on staff since 2001. She has a degree in Public Relations from Northern Michigan University and has pursued some religious studies at Aquinas College . She is a Michigan Partner in Education through the United Church of Christ Michigan Conference and a member of the Association of United Church Educators. She loves to travel, either for vacation or mission. In the last year, she traveled to Chiapas , Mexico as part of a Fair Trade Delegation sponsored by Witness for Peace, to Houston , Texas as part of Hurricane Ike recovery, to Chicago, Illinois as part of the DOOR program with the youth group and went with the Youth Justice Squad to the National Youth Event in Knoxville , Tennessee . Since she began in youth ministry she has been on more than 20 church trips, including trips to South Dakota , West Virginia , Arkansas and twice to the National Youth Event. She enjoys photography, being outdoors and working with young people and she looks for every opportunity to do these activities all at once. Shannon was both baptized and confirmed at First Congregational United Church of Christ.
email: Shannon@ourbigchurch.org
"We do not teach faith to young people, we help them access what they already know."
-Unknown
Joel Gary joined our staff in 2008 as Director of Music. He brings with him 25 years of experience as a church musician. Joel studied organ with several teachers in the Grand Rapids area including Beverly Howerton, Joe Sullivan and George Shirley. His vocal and choral conducting studies were with Larry Biser.
Joel works for Westfield Organ Company in Grand Rapids as the area representative for Allen Organs. In addition to teaching organ, he regularly performs throughout the mid-west. Joel is currently President of the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society and is Director of Education for the Grand Rapids Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
Joel makes his home in an historic neighborhood in Grand Rapids, MI where he enjoys architecture, classic movies, classic automobiles, art deco antiques and spending time with his dog, Scooter.
email: Joel@ourbigchurch.org
Jan Buhler has 21 years of practical church experience dealing with bookkeeping and office management. Jan graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics and English. She used her love of working with numbers in the banking world for more than 12 years; while there she continued her education in accounting. Jan worked for St Mary Church before she came to the First Congregational Church. There she learned about tax and liability issues in a non-profit system. First Congregational Church has been lucky to have Jan in their employ since 1998. Jan is often the voice and face of the church, as she is the one who welcomes everyone on the phone and who warmly greets you when you visit during the week. She enjoys square dancing, card playing and working in her garden, she loves her work and the contact she has with the people from the church.
email: Jan@ourbigchurch.org