On Sunday, January 18, Riverside will come together for our Semi-Annual All Church Gathering & Meeting. At that meeting we will vote to fill 3 vacant positions with the below nominees. To find out more about the meeting, click here.
Julie Griffin
Nominee for Leadership Team
Julie grew up in Greenwood, Indiana, before going to Ball State where she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Special Education. She has taught for the last 26 years as a Life Skills teacher for GLASS working with middle and high school students with severe disabilities. Julie is also an officer/board member with The Arc of Tippecanoe, a nonprofit agency serving children and adults with disabilities.
Since becoming a member of Riverside Julie has served in the infant nursery as well as participated in women’s Bible studies and women’s retreats. She is also active in outreach through the monthly meal served at Lafayette Transitional Housing. Julie was a part of the Riverside mission team that went to Ecuador this past summer. She continues to follow the daily path that is making her a stronger Christian each day.
Laurie Smoldt
Nominee for Nominating Committee
Laurie grew up in Peru, Indiana, where she learned about Jesus from her parents, family, and church family, and came to trust Him as her Savior at a young age. She later attended Judson College, where she met husband Eric, and graduated with degrees in English and Biblical Studies.
The Smoldt family moved to West Lafayette in the fall of 2005. Laurie and Eric have been married for 19 years and have three children, Zane (12), Carolyn (10), and Trevor (6). The Smoldts began attending Riverside in the spring of 2012 and became members a year and half later.
Laurie strives to love and serve the Lord and her family as best she can. Life these days finds her as a stay-at-home mom, part-time lunch lady, and looking for her next thrill-seeking stunt.
Rose Redington
Nominee for Pastoral Relations Committee
Rose was raised in a Christian home in Topeka, Kansas. She came to faith in Christ at the age of four and was baptized when she was seventeen. While in college, Rose was an active member of Christian Challenge, in which she received four years of discipleship and grew dramatically in her faith.
God has graciously given her the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree in English from Kansas State University and a master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from Dallas Baptist University.
While at college, she met Luke, the love of her life, and they married in 2002. In 2011, they moved to Indiana for Luke to pursue doctoral studies at Purdue. Currently, Rose serves as an academic advisor for engineering students at Purdue.
Rose and Luke have made Riverside their home since 2011. They co-lead a small group that is comprised primarily of graduate students and faculty from Purdue. Rose is also active in Riverside’s Women’s Ministry and has invested time loving on babies in the nursery.
In the future Rose hopes to work closely with under-served populations such as refugees, immigrants, abused and neglected women and children, and the elderly. Her desire is to help mitigate human suffering and give voice to the voiceless.