Riverside’s Leadership Team (LT) is the group of members that have been chosen by the congregation to lead Riverside. The LT is responsible for building, maintaining and overseeing the spiritual welfare of Riverside and for directing and overseeing all Riverside ministries and organizational duties. The LT includes our Senior Pastor and Riverside members of appropriate character, giftedness, and call. (1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9, Acts 6:1-4) Each LT member has particular ministries that they advocate for.
If you have questions for the LT, you can contact them collectively at lt@rcovenant.org or individually via the email link in their names.
Lauren grew up in Sheridan, IN and studied Athletic Training (Sports Medicine) both in undergrad at Purdue University and graduate school at Indiana University (although she doesn’t broadcast this while living in Lafayette 😉 While in grad school, she worked as an athletic trainer at Bloomington North High School, then moved to Crawfordsville in 2014 and worked at Wabash College for eight years. She now works for Franciscan Health Sports Medicine in Lafayette, and gets to serve the Greater Lafayette community in various outreach programs. Helping people to navigate orthopedic injuries and teaching them how to take care of their bodies has always been a passion of hers.
Lauren met her husband Bobby Dorn in the fall of 2019 and married in April 2021. Getting engaged and wedding planning in the middle of a pandemic was an interesting experience and has always been a great conversation starter. They currently live in Lafayette with their mischievous cat.
Lauren grew up in the church and at the age of 13, she accepted the Lord as her Savior and then learned what it meant to follow Him as a freshman in college. Getting plugged into a church was never an issue for this extrovert and being involved in the community wherever she lived helped her to feel more grounded. After serving in a church in Crawfordsville for several years, she came to Riverside as she started dating Bobby.
When she’s not at work or church, you can find Lauren hiking through nature with her husband, spending time with family, grabbing coffee while catching up with friends, and trying to finish her crochet blanket.
Brad Fischer grew up in Peoria, IL where he was raised in a church that counted extended families on both sides as members. Sermons were spent playing tic tac toe with his grandfather on the church bulletin. Family moves in high school took Brad from Peoria to Shanghai, China and finally West Lafayette. As a Purdue University student, Brad found himself in classes with a girl who had moved away from his street in 5th grade. Six months later Ashley finally caved and agreed to their first date.
Brad has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from Indiana University. Professionally he works for Caterpillar where he is currently Director of Manufacturing Engineering. Career stops have taken Brad and Ashley from Peoria, IL to Corinth, MS to Greenville, SC and finally West Lafayette, IN. They have attended Riverside since 2014. In Brad’s free time you can find him reading, cheering for Purdue or Newcastle United, building legos, or enjoying a strategy board game. Brad and Ashley have two sons, Luke and Isaac.
Karen and her husband Stan came to Riverside in the early years, when Riverside met at the former Sheraton Hotel, and joined as members in 2008. She grew up as a member of the Christan Church (Disciples of Christ) in Hartord City, Indiana. In her college years, she was actve in the Campus House ministry, both at Purdue University and the University of Tennessee. Through high school, college and adulthood, she feels grateful to have been a part of many organizatons that have encouraged her growth in faith in Christ. Karen and Stan have four grown children and three grandchildren. She has been involved as a Stephen Minister at Riverside, as well as in the Women’s Bible studies, small group ministry and Clothes Closet. She is retired, and welcomes the opportunity to serve Riverside as a member of the Leadership team.
Ben has been part of Riverside for the last three years, after relocating from the Chicago area to West Lafayette with his family. Originally from the Midwest, Ben spent his childhood living throughout Latin America, thanks to his parents’ development work with USAID. This cross-cultural upbringing shaped his worldview early on. Ben grew up in a Christian home, gave his life to Christ as a teenager and has been following Jesus ever since. He has served in various ministry roles including as a Young Life leader, small group leader, and was involved at his church in Evanston for over 20 years. At Riverside, he serves on the A/V team and is part of a Pod where he’s thankful for the encouragement and accountability of Christian community.
He’s been married to his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, for nearly 20 years (yes, they’re celebrating the big two-zero this year!). Together they have three daughters—Morgan (17), Maya (14), and Mercy (12)—who keep life joyful and interesting.
By day, Ben is the CEO of Lafayette Instrument Company. He studied Materials Science at Northwestern and earned an MBA from Kellogg. Ben enjoys building things, cooking, running, and is always up for good conversation about faith, culture, and family life.
Andrea Patrie grew up in a Christian family in Lafayette. She met her handy husband, Philip, in 2008 at Anderson University where she majored in Business Management and minored in Spanish. After a few years in Seattle, Andrea decided to try joining her family’s pest control business in Lafayette and persuaded Philip to join a few years later. They have two elementary aged children named Mac and James.
Andrea has attended Riverside since 2012. She has participated in pods, nursery, women’s bible study, the 2018 assistant pastoral search team, City Outreach Team, and most recently the refugee resettlement team.
Rob grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in a family that enjoyed sports, travel, family gatherings, and church. Rob studied biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Illinois at Chicago, which prompted him to join the Chemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During his time in graduate school, Rob met his wife Roberta (they were married in 2004) and in 2006 they moved to South Bend, IN.
From 2006-2017 Rob worked at the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend and the University of Notre Dame. In August of 2017 Rob moved to a job at Purdue University where he teaches and does research on how viruses replicate. Rob and Roberta have four daughters ranging in age from 7 to 14 and they reside in West Lafayette.
Rob has served as an AWANA’s leader (2014-2016), part-time Sunday School teacher since 2013, and has served as Bible Study Fellowship Children’s leader since 2019. Rob also served on several church committees during his time in South Bend, IN and Addison, IL. Rob, Roberta, and their children started attending Riverside after moving to West Lafayette, IN in 2017. After trying several churches in the area they were very happy to call Riverside home and become members. Rob and Roberta have volunteered as Sunday School Teachers at Riverside the last few years.
Meet Becky Wellner-she has been attending Riverside since 2008 when she came on board as the Youth Director for eight years! She’s been married to Ryan for 22 years and they have two teenage sons, River and Moki-best sons you could ask for. Becky lives and works at Cary Camp as the camp Ranger and loves working with scouts and community volunteers. She has loved Jesus for as long as she can remember and officially asked him to be her Savior when she was seven. She grew up at Covenant Church around the corner, participated in Young Life in high school and was a leader while she attended Purdue. Becky loves coffee, singing, hiking with her dogs, cooking for her family, designing with Canva, and most of all, helping people see and encourage them in their God-given gifts.
