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.
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.
Rachel Johnson was born and raised in Lafayette, IN. She was raised in a Christian household and grew up attending Purdue Christian Campus House as the daughter of the pastor’s kid. Rachel graduated from Purdue University School of Nursing. After graduating from nursing school, she moved to Columbus, OH, where she lived for two and a half years. Following her engagement, she returned to Lafayette. She and her husband, Steve, have known each other since middle school, started dating in high school, and will have been married 25 years in August of 2026. They have three sons, Isaac (21), Caleb (18), and Levi (11).
Rachel and Steve have attended Riverside Covenant Church for 24 years. Rachel has served in the nursery and children’s ministry, on the pastoral relations committee, as coordinator of the meal train ministry, as a Stephen Minister, and as a team member on the refugee resettlement team. She has also participated in pods, bible studies, and women’s ministry over the years. Rachel is active as a River Guide and maintains the AED equipment for the church.
Rachel has been a registered nurse for 28 years. Her nursing career has included work in surgical and medical intensive care units and managed care developing educational material for people with chronic conditions. For the last 17 years, Rachel has worked as a hospice and palliative care nurse for Franciscan Health. She also has certifications through the Functional Aging Institute as a functional aging specialist and caregiver exercise specialist.
Rachel opened her own business, Functional Care, LLC, five years ago to help older adults age well in place. When her schedule allows, she fills in as needed at Miracles Fitness as a trainer.
Joey grew up in Delphi, sitting next to his grandmother in the pew and eating candy from her purse. His faith became his own after a mission trip to South Africa between high school and college. Since then, he has been passionate about missions both locally and glob-ally, traveling to nine countries on mission trips. That passion led him to step away from his corporate career in 2011 to serve as a Missions Director in Crown Point for five years.
Joey has been married to his high school sweetheart, Julie, for 18 years, and they have two children, Isaiah (13) and Maddie (9). As a family, they enjoy birdwatching, playing and coaching softball, and riding bikes at Prophetstown.
Joey earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Pur-due University and a Master’s in Intercultural Studies from Moody Theological Seminary. He now serves as Vice President of Opera-tions at FBi Buildings in Remington, where he gets to practice his vision for faith at work.
Joey has attended Riverside for eight years, where he has served in RiverKids, occasionally preached on Sundays, and co-leads a Pod
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.
Jen Ritchie moved to West Lafayette with her husband Dan and two small boys to pursue her Masters degree in English Education in 2002. What they thought would be a short stay in West Lafayette to get their degrees turned into a couple small businesses, three more children, plus two lively Golden Retrievers. Dan and Jen came to Riverside Covenant in 2014 after serving in another local church for 12 years.
After many years of teaching part time, being the managing editor of two local publications, and working in marketing, Jen found her calling in photography. In 2017 she finally spent money on herself and bought her first DSLR camera, quickly upgrading over the next few years to professional bodies and lenses. She is now a portrait photographer locally and also photographs wildlife and nature in Colorado, Wyoming, Alaska, and Canada. Additionally, she is the host of the Wildlife Conversations podcast, interviewing wildlife photographers, guides, and conservationists from around the world.
Jen loves spending time with her family and extended family, long walks at the Celery Bog, hiking in Grand Teton National Park, tea with girlfriends, dark chocolate, and photographing Alaskan Brown Bear cubs in Katmai National Park.
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.
