Congregational Church of Batavia

PASTOR AND STAFF

"For we are God’s fellow workers..."
— 1 Corinthians 3:9

Pastor Paige Wolfanger

Pastor Paige is a graduate of Chicago Theological Seminary, and has been ordained for something like two decades...not that she's counting. She shares her life with her wife, Michelle, their son, Liam, and three Great Danes of varying sizes. Paige is a Bible Geek, a lover of justice, and mystery lover.


Pastor Paige has a podcast!

Each week Pastor Paige and her colleague Rev. Aaron James sit down together to chat about the scripture for the coming Sunday. It’s casual, it’s fun, it’s a little bit nerdy, but mostly it’s an opportunity to learn a bit more about the Bible. Starting soon, we will also have special guests that will tell us about ministries they have that are new and interesting. You can find this podcast on any of your podcasting platforms. It’s called Pod Be With You, and we hope you will tune in.

A link to the Apple Podcast site: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pod-be-with-you/id1525573703 and one to Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/pod-be-with-you

Staff

Laura Bernabei

Director of Children's Ministries

Laura began working in Children's Ministry as a teen. After finishing her Bachelor of Social Work degree at Valparaiso University, she worked with parents and children in hospitals as a Medical Social Worker. She reconnected with volunteering in children’s ministry after becoming a parent. Guiding children on their faith journey and finding new ways to share our faith stories is Laura's favorite part of her position. Laura and her husband Chuck have raised three children in Batavia, all confirmed at the CCoB.





Suzy Daly

Director of Youth Ministries


Suzy grew up in Wheaton, attending St. Matthew UCC where she was introduced to UCC SportsCamp at Pilgrim Park and work tours, her favorite parts of ministry. Suzy attended DePauw University and played soccer. Following graduation, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala for 2 years. She attended Chicago Theological Seminary, graduating and ordained in 2001. She served as the Associate Minister at the St. Charles Congregational Church for 16 years. In 2016 she began working as an instructional assistant in Geneva and joined the team at CCoB in 2020 as the youth director. Suzy lives in Geneva with her husband Mike (another UCC minister), and daughters Chloe and Phoebe. Sons Brendan and Connor live in Elmhurst and Chicago.



Office Manager

Bernadine Matthews

Office Manager


Bernadine began working for the Congregational Church of Batavia in the fall of 2023. Previously she worked for the same school district her children and many of her grandchildren attend for almost 27 years. A native of the Fox Valley, Bernadine grew up in Geneva and now lives in St. Charles with her husband, Kurt. They are the parents to three biological and two adopted children, who all live in the area. Bernadine and Kurt are blessed with twelve beautiful grandchildren. 




Vicki Linich

Director of Music


Vicki leads our staff and Worship Team in planning the themes of our worship services, as well as directing the Chancel Choir and scheduling instrumental and vocal music for our services. A gifted singer, Vicki has a master’s degree in music from NIU and offers voice and piano lessons to numerous adults and youth in the area.


Yajing Li (Lily)

Organist and Pianist


Lily Li is an active professional pianist and organist. She plays music for Sunday worship and accompanies the choir. Lily has two master degrees in music from Northern Illinois University. She is also a piano teacher who loves sharing music with everyone.

Lisa Youngdahl

Communications Manager


Lisa is responsible about letting the world know about everything happening at the Congregational Church of Batavia, and all the great things we do. She creates the CCOB social media and print marketing, designed the church logo, and this website.

Lisa graduated from Southern Illinois University with a degree in graphic design. Her experience includes working for Fortune 200 companies and her own business, Resolution Creative. Lisa has taught graphic design at local community colleges and Elmhurst University. She has lived in Batavia since 1986 with her husband Greg, and where they raised their son, Ben.

Judy and Fred Neitzel

Custodians


Fred & Judy have been cleaning our facilities for almost 20 years. During those years, all of their four children have worked with them and “grown up” on the job. Now Fred and Judy can boast of having seven grandchildren.

Megan Behary

Nursery Attendant


Megan lives in North Aurora with her family. She's lived in Batavia for most of her life. She worked in childcare for over 20 years, but now works at Athletico Physical Therapy as a Revenue Cycle Specialist. In her free time she loves to read and work on art projects.


Christy Roberts

Nursery Attendant

Share by: