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Meet the Staff
Wendy Dahl
Pastoral Care Director
Anyone who meets Wendy will sense right away her genuine care and concern for others, so it is fitting that she is NEC’s Pastoral Care Director. Wendy received her diploma in nursing and worked in the field for 14 years before returning to graduate school for a M.Ed. degree in counseling psychology. A board-certified, licensed marriage and family therapist, Wendy throughout her career has worked in an adoption agency, a family services organization and, most recently, in private practice.
A native of Minnesota, Wendy has lived in Massachusetts for |
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21 years, but she has never lost her gentle Midwestern accent, or her love for the Minnesota Vikings. Wendy and her husband, Rey, a family physician, are the proud parents of three grown sons (Justin, Mark, and Eric) and a daughter, Corah, the youngest of the four, who will soon enter art school at Montserrat College.
In her spare time (which is shrinking daily!) Wendy loves to read and is also learning to knit. She recently completed her first scarf, a miracle in itself for someone so unskilled in the “domestic arts,” Wendy says!
Lynn Duquette
Kids Zone Director
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How do you serve up a heaping helping of fun, hospitality and Bible-based learning for 150-plus children every week and make them want to keep coming back? It takes leadership with a unique blend of skills, and that’s what Lynn Duquette brings to NEC’s Kids Zone.
Before joining the NEC staff as Kids Zone Director, Lynn owned a catering business, managed a large Wellesley gift store, and was a leader and administrator for 10 years in Bible Study Fellowship, a worldwide Christian organization. (Not all at the same time, but to see Lynn in action, you would think it was possible!) |
Lynn started attending NEC in 2000, volunteering in Kids Zone as a teacher in the three-year-olds’ class. As Kids Zone grew, so did her responsibilities. She became Preschool Captain, then Interim Kids Zone Director, and soon assumed the permanent position as Director in the summer of 2005.
Lynn credits the people around her with making Kids Zone hum. “I work with a great group of incredible volunteers—now close to 150,” Lynn explains, “and I love being a part of the NEC directors. I also have an incredibly passionate and dedicated team of part-time staff to work alongside me."
“I love working with kids and am privileged to impact their spiritual lives,” Lynn adds. “My dream for Kids Zone is that our enrollment would double, as would our number of volunteers. Our new, expanded space will provide plenty of room to make those dreams come true!"
A lifelong Massachusetts resident, Lynn enjoys cooking, entertaining friends, and reading. She lives in Holliston with her husband, Michael. They have a grown daughter and three grown sons, one of whom is serving in the U.S. Navy, as well two grandchildren. |
Jodi Koeman
Creative Arts Director
Jodi grew up in the beer and bratwurst capital of the United States, Sheboygan, Wisconsin. (Yes, people actually do come from Sheboygan, Jodi assures us.) There she was infused with the teachings of the Christian Reformed Church, believing that we, and our great big world, belong to God. Following a idyllic childhood of playing Dukes of Hazard on her bike, singing Happy Birthday in both Dutch and German, and learning to make “one mean brat (without sauerkraut),” Jodi ventured off to Calvin College in Michigan to major in music. She soon discovered her real love was Social Work—specifically, transforming communities for God.
One week after graduation, Jodi married Kent, the “cowboy” of her dreams. Together they moved to Washington State where she worked in a nursing home and soon became director of the social work department. After three years, she and Kent moved to Massachusetts where she earned her master’s in Social Work at Boston University. Soon after, Jodi worked at a community development corporation in Worcester, and then became the house director at Girls Inc. of Worcester. Following the birth of baby #1, she became a full-time, home-based mom, teaching music and piano to kids.
| Though Jodi took to Massachusetts quickly (Finally, people who “get” her sarcasm, she jokes), and attended church regularly, she and Kent were a bit homesick. So, they attended the second official gathering of New England Chapel with approximately 20 other people. Almost immediately, Kent and Jodi knew they were at home. The next years were a whirlwind of activity, with Jodi helping to plan and lead worship. As the church grew along with the pool of people’s talents, Jodi began incorporating a range of artistic elements to the services, including visual arts, creative readings, drama, and more and varied musicians. |
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Today, as Creative Arts Director, Jodi’s job and passion is to work with teams to create a fuller, deeper worship experience. She works with Sr. Pastor Chris Mitchell to develop a focus for the year and then works with the band, special musicians, MOSAIC (our arts group), readers, children, audio and visual techs, designers, etc. to design and implement the ideas for worship.
“I think we are all created to worship; I just happen to use all different creative ways to help people experience and respond to God at NEC,” Jodi explains.
“Through worship, we can connect with the way God is working, not only in us, but in the person next to us, in all of NEC, in our communities and in our neighbors all over the world,” she continues. “I would love for us to be able to be consistently reminded how we are part of God’s grand scheme and respond by being transformers of our world. I would also hope that people connect what happens on Sunday to their week. Worship happens more often outside the walls of a church building. What we experience on Sunday can shape our week and what happens during the week can shape our experience on Sunday – it’s both a time to reflect and a time to be sent out.”
In her limited spare time, Jodi enjoys gardening, running, watching “dark” movies that make her think, and raising three tow-headed kids in Whitinsville with Kent.
Chris Mitchell
Senior Pastor
Chris Mitchell, our teaching and preaching pastor, is a gifted speaker and leader with a true heart for people looking to make sense of life and all its struggles in today's culture. Chris was brought up in the western suburbs of Boston, and if you come to hear him speak, it won't take but a few minutes to discover that he has a deep connection to the unique-ness of life here in Eastern Massachusetts.
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While growing up, Chris had little spiritual interest, but he is learning over the years that putting God at the Center of life is not only important, but essential. Without a connection to Christ, Chris realized that he was losing touch with all the things most important to him-love and relationships. Since becoming a Christian, Chris has been on a journey to share the life-changing grace of God to people outside the influence of traditional churches. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island, Chris soon realized that God was directing him to the ministry, so he pursued a degree in theology from Gordon-Conwell Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. |
Chris and his wife, Cindi, wanted to establish a different kind of church that reached people who had given up on "religion" but were still seeking God. He found support for his vision and dream in the Christian Reformed Church while attending Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In August 1997, the Mitchells-Chris, Cindi, daughters Kaylee and Jessica, and son Mickey-moved to Franklin to start this new kind of church, New England Chapel. NEC first began meeting in a home with a core group of people, then in a rented office space, and soon grew large enough to overfill the auditorium at Franklin High School. In 2001, NEC moved into its current home at 40 Kenwood Circle in Franklin Industrial Park-an unlikely place for an unlikely kind of church, one that continues to grow and help more people experience, embrace, and express God’s love in Christ, through real people who care.
Marc Pitts
Director of Student Ministries
After graduating from Calvin College with a communications degree, Marc became a sports reporter and photographer with the FOX affiliate in Grand Rapids, MI. It was the perfect job for someone who’s a big sports maniac! During that time, Marc also married Marielle Zylstra, who he had “chased” for years, once even changing schools to be closer to her.
So, all was going according to plan, when one day in February 2005 Chris Mitchell called. He urged Marc to apply for the Student Ministries position. A home-grown NEC guy who grew up in Millis, Marc had started attending NEC when he was just beginning college, when the church met in the Franklin Middle School. Many will remember Marc from the band, where he regularly sang and played guitar. (You remember—he’s the guy with the four-season sandals!) He and Chris had gotten to know each other very well, meeting one-on-one during the intervening years.
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After months of saying yes, then no, again and again, wondering what God was up to, Marc finally interviewed and accepted the position. It’s a decision he has not regretted. Now Marc directs the junior high group, Survivor, and the high school group, EPIC, and the kids make it all worthwhile, he says.
Bryan Wiegers
Executive Pastor
There has rarely been a truer "people person" than Pastor Bryan. He has the uncanny ability to draw people together with shared interests and make them feel at home within the New England Chapel community. He has a deep passion for hiking in the mountains of northern New England where he feels close to God and has spirited many an NEC newcomer along with him.
An engineering major in college, Bryan worked in consulting and sales for nearly
a decade before joining the NEC staff in 2002. Since that time he
has been instrumental in nurturing the network of NEC HOME groups
so key to building authentic community. He has also committed his
efforts to developing a strong core of |
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| ministry leaders essential to a growing church. He has accomplished all these important tasks while studying for the pastorate and raising a young family with his wife, Sue. Bryan, Sue, and daughters Julie and Nicole, live in Northbridge. |
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