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Grace Chapel's Board of Elders
Our elder board is composed of staff and lay leaders who provide leadership and guidance to the ministry efforts of Grace Chapel.
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Tom Colatosti, Chairman
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Tom is the CEO and founder of American Security Ventures, a company that provides strategic management services and capital resources to emerging and developing companies in the biometrics, homeland security and cyber-security industries. Tom also represents private equity funds, and as a result serves on the board of directors of several companies. Prior to starting American Security Ventures, Tom was CEO of Viisage Technology. And before that he held a number of executive management positions with large public high tech companies. Tom earned a B.S. and MBA from Suffolk University, and is a decorated Vietnam combat veteran.
Tom has been attending Grace Chapel with his wife Nancy since the 1970’s. They live in Lexington and have two adult sons – Thomas is an IT consultant and Timothy is a law enforcement officer. Nancy has served as a Women’s JOY Bible Study leader and in Vacation Bible School for more than 20 years. She has also served on the Nominating Committee and Ordination Committee at Grace Chapel.
Over the years Tom has taught Adult Sunday School, MAPS, and at prayer meetings. He has served on the Audit Committee as Treasurer, Capital Campaign Committee, Pastoral Search Committee and the Board of Elders. Tom is also on the Boards of Gordon Conwell, Vision New England and Africa Inland Mission.
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Brad Gardner, Vice Chairman |
Brad Gardner served on the Board of Elders at Grace Chapel for two terms (1995 – 2003) and after a two year break, returned for an additional two terms (2005 – 2013). Brad is the liaison to the Assisting Elders in the Communion and Partnership ministry. He has served on the Nominating Committee multiple times and enjoys facilitating groups. He does as much ministry as he can partnering with his wife Denise.
The Gardner family came to Grace Chapel in 1985 and raised their four children (Andy, Stephen, James, and Megan) with the support of Grace Chapel Children's and Youth Ministries. Now grown, all four children remain local. Brad and Denise are the proud grandparents of six grandchildren.
Brad is a Project Executive for F.H. Perry Builder in Hopkinton, MA, who remodel and maintain some of the finest homes in the Boston area. |
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Paul Bodet, Treasurer
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Paul Bodet is a founding partner of BIG Capital LLC, a private equity firm focused in the software sector, and he serves as president of Resource One, Inc., a leading provider of business intelligence solutions for incentive compensation in the financial services industry. Prior to founding BIG, Paul worked as an investment banker advising technology companies on mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance transactions.
Paul and his wife, Duschia, have a teenage son and twin teenage daughters. They serve in various ministries at Grace Chapel and are currently leading a Life Community Group in their home town of North Andover. The Bodet family has been attending Grace Chapel since 2003.
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Rev. Dr. Bobby Bose, Elder
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Bobby is married to Margie; they have a daughter, Abigail, and live in Woburn. They have been part of Grace Chapel for 6 years. They host a vibrant LIFE Community, and coach several other leaders of LIFE Communities. Bobby felt God’s call on his life at the age of 16, and has been following Christ sincerely since. He received his PhD. in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2006. Bobby has more than 30 years of experience in evangelism, cross-cultural ministry, and teaching, including extended residence of three continents. He is currently a Professor of Theology and World Mission at Gordon-Conwell (Boston), and Global Ministries Coordinator at Emmanuel Gospel Center in Boston. Bobby was also a co-presenter at Lausanne III in Capetown, SA in October 2010. |
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Mark Cannister, Elder
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Mark and Nancy Cannister both grew up in Pittsburgh, PA where Nancy was a high school teacher and Mark was a youth pastor before moving to New England in 1992. They have been active members of Grace Chapel for nearly a decade and have been involved in children’s ministry, women’s ministry, youth ministries, and adult discipleship ministries. Mark serves as Professor of Christian Ministries at Gordon College in Wenham and is Co-chair of the Department of Biblical Studies and Christian Ministries as well as Chair of the Division of the Humanities. He also serves as an adjunct professor for Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and the Huntington University Graduate School.
Mark has been involved in student ministries for over 30 years serving in both church and parachurch organizations prior to joining the faculty of Gordon College. He has served as President of the North American Professors of Christian Education, Chair of the Association of Youth Ministry Educators, founding Chair of The Boston Project Ministries, and is the Editor of the Journal of Youth Ministry. Committed to reaching the next generation with the gospel, each year Mark leads a mission trip for college students to Swansea, Wales where they teach the basics of the Christian faith in several British high schools and middle schools.
The Cannister home is very busy these days with two teenagers in the mix. Ryan and Kasey are in high school, both are very active in the student ministries of Grace Chapel as well as a variety of school and community activities.
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Kurt Drescher, Elder
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Kurt and his wife Sharon have been at Grace Chapel for over 20 years. As a volunteer, he has served on the LIFE Community Ministry Team, has coordinated communications for two capital campaigns, and has served on the Marriage Getaway Team. In addition, he serves in other leadership capacities at the church, including co-chair of a WinterBlast, a church-wide evangelical/outreach event and presently serves on the ministry team for the new Grace Chapel satellite campus in Wilmington, MA.
Kurt W. Drescher is the Vice President of Advancement at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. A graduate of Gordon College, Kurt spent more than 20 years of as an account representative and marketing executive in the graphic arts industry. Much of his work was with clients in the higher education and other non-profits.
Kurt, his wife, Sharon, and their two teenage daughters live in Reading, Massachusetts.
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Victor Gerdes, Elder
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Victor is married to Lisa; they have 3 daughters, Rebecca, Clarie, and Abigail, and live in Natick. They have been attending Grace for 15 years. They hosted a LIFE Community in their home for years, and Victor often taught in Kidstown or a Men’s small group. Recently, they helped found Veritas Academy in Wayland, where Victor serves on the Board and Lisa teaches. Victor works in the technology industry. |
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Donald Jin, Elder
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Prior to joining Grace Chapel in 2004, Donald has been an active member of a Korean-speaking church in Brookline, MA for over 23 years. Donald has organized and lead several mission trips to the Amazon and other regions of Peru and Nicaragua. At Grace, he has served as a leader in the Children's ministry and on the Multicultural Ministry Team for three years.
Donald is married to Kathleen, who serves on the Grace Translation Team and they are blessed with two children, Alex and Dani. They live in North Easton, MA.
Outside of Grace, Donald is a Director of Global Consulting for IDC, an international IT market analyst firm based in Framingham, MA. Donald is an avid photographer and also enjoys golf and kayak fishing during his free time.
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Kevin Johnson, Elder
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Kevin is married to Mimi (Kincaid). They have 3 children, Isak, Jesse, and Ermiyas. They have been part of Grace Chapel for 17 years. They serve as Assisting Elders, Mimi is involved in women’s ministry, and Kevin serves in youth and worship ministry and currently leads Middle School Worship. They served for 18 months in northwest Africa at an Academy, before returning to continue his career as a Technical Trainer for Oracle. |
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Dan Post, Elder
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Dan grew up in a Christian family in NJ and after moving up to MA started attending Grace Chapel in 1997. Dan met and was married to his wife Tracy at Grace Chapel. Early in their marriage they both served in Senior High School ministry and led a summer missions trip to Hungary. Dan and Tracy have three children – Hope, Faith and Grace – who are active in Kidstown, where Dan and Tracy have served. They live, host and lead a LIFE Community in Westford. Dan also serves in Mens Ministry on the leadership team and Tracy in Womens Ministry.
Dan is a Sr. Project Manager for Structure Tone (a construction management company) in Boston, MA.
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Ravi Ravichandran, Elder
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Ravi is a Director, Strategic Development at BAE Systems. He earned a BEE at Georgia Tech and a PhD at Rensselaer, all in Electrical Engineering.
At Grace Chapel, Ravi has taught adult development classes, served on pastoral search committees, ordination committees, various task forces, and lead LIFE Communities.
Ravi and Barbara live in Winchester with their children Zachary, Zoe, and Matthew. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Boston Trinity Academy.
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Al Reuther, Elder
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Al Reuther is a research engineer and project leader at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in embedded and high performance computing. He is focused on system architecture and design for parallel and distributed computing applications.
Al has been attending Grace Chapel for almost 10 years, and has been a member of Grace Chapel for 7 years. For the first five years at Grace, Al and his wife Kate were volunteers in the high school ministry, including hosting a weekly Bible study at their home. Al regularly plays electric bass in the worship bands, and he has also played saxophone in the orchestra. Kate worked as the administrator for the high school and junior high school ministries, and she has worked with women's ministry events. She has also been involved in Mom-to-Mom and the Morning Joy Bible Study.
Al married Kate 10 years ago. He and Kate have three daughters: Ellie, Maria and Charlotte. Their family is part of the Westford LIFE Community led by Dan and Tracy Post. |
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Rich Swanson, Elder
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Bryan Wilkerson, Senior Pastor
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Bryan Wilkerson has served as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel since September of 2000, having previously served for 16 years as Senior Pastor at Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset, New York. Bryan is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary. Additionally, he holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan is a frequent contributor to Preaching Today and The Leadership Journal and enjoys speaking at Camp of the Woods and other conferences.
Bryan’s life mission statement is “to lead as many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” He is passionate about communicating God’s truth with clarity, warmth, and relevance to our daily lives. He enjoys the challenges of leading a large, vibrant church, and of working with a gifted, dedicated staff.
When he isn’t in meetings or preparing messages, Bryan can be found running or biking the back roads and trails of New England. He and his wife, Karen, live in Bedford and have enjoyed 29 years of marriage. They have four children, Kelly (26), Brendan (23), Mark (20), and Daniel (17).
Bryan also keeps a blog, "Thoughts On The Run."
You can reach Bryan at (781)862-6499 x136 or bryan@grace.org. |
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Bill Burke, Executive Pastor
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Bill Burke is the Executive Pastor at Grace Chapel and has been on staff since October of 2004. In his role, he functions as the leader of the pastoral and ministry staff organization. He reports to Senior Pastor Bryan Wilkerson and works closely with Bryan and the Board of Elders to implement and execute the agreed-upon vision, strategies and activities of the overall Grace Chapel ministry. He especially loves the opportunity to work closely with staff and volunteers to align their passions, gifts and approaches with the vision and mission of Grace – increasing the effectiveness of the ministry and allowing them to sense the true joy that comes with being used powerfully by God to achieve His goals through us.
Prior to joining the staff, Bill had a 29 year business career focused on human resource consulting for major business organizations. For the last 11 of those years, Bill was a partner with Ernst & Young in their Human Capital practice and was based in the Indianapolis office. Through this time, he was very active and involved in his local church serving in numerous volunteer capacities including treasurer, mission trip leader and chairman of the elder board. In recent years, Bill and his wife, Terri, sensed God leading them into full-time ministry – to use their gifts, skills and passions to advance the ministry of the local church.
Bill and Terri have been married for 34 years and live in Lexington. Their son, Patrick, and his wife, Leslie, live and work in Indianapolis. Their daughter, Meghan and her husband, Adam, live and work on Long Island in NY.
Bill and Terri love to run (he more slowly and less frequently than she!), travel and restore older homes (like their current 1840 model!).
Bill can be reached at (781)862-6499 x102 or bburke@grace.org.
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