Ara Koliantz
Senior Pastor
Ara has been the senior pastor at Riverside since August 2021. He grew up going to a Covenant church and was ordained in the ECC in 2014. Ara has been married to Maria since 2006, and they have two children, Zak and Kaia.
Ara completed his undergraduate degree from Purdue University majoring in English Education, his Masters Degree from Gordon-Conwell in New Testament and Old Testament Studies, and his Doctorate from Boston University focusing on developing practices of lament for the local church.
In his free time, Ara enjoys traveling, reading, riding his bike, eating new and exciting foods, and spending time with his family.
Babby Porter
Office Manager
Babby has been the Office Manager at Riverside since February of 2005. She and her husband, Tim were married in 1985. They have 3 grown children and 8 grandchildren. Babby enjoys spending time with her family and friends, watching movies, reading, cooking, gardening and taking walks.
Becky Wellner
Worship Director
Becky Wellner 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.
Melissa Polk
RiverKids Director
Melissa has been part of Riverside since 2009 or so. She joined the Riverside staff in 2022 to head up RiverKids. She and her husband Jon have four children. Before these endeavors, she was a dog trainer and a seamstress. Melissa still enjoys dog training and sewing, but most of her time is spent homeschooling, reading, cooking, and gardening.