Matt Joiner became the Planting Pastor at Redemption City Church in April of 2023. Originally from Channahon, IL, he grew up in church but did not become a Christian until he was 20 years old. Shortly after Matt began following Christ, he felt God calling him to full-time ministry. In 2007 Matt moved to Louisville, KY, where he attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, receiving his Master of Divinity in Christian Ministries. While at Southern, Matt became the Student Pastor at a local church and served in that role for 9 ½ years. During his second year at Southern, he married the love of his life, Erin. Matt and Erin have two daughters, Ezra Mae and Ivy Louise, who are an absolute joy and blessing. Matt became the Associate Pastor at Redeemer Church Rockford in 2017. He developed several ministries at Redeemer Rockford, including the Children and Family Ministry, Life Group Ministry, Overseas Missions, and Biblical Soul Care Ministry. Matt is working on getting his Doctor of Educational Ministry (D.Ed.Min.) at Southern Seminary in Biblical Counseling.

Matt is passionate about the church of Jesus Christ. He desires to see every Christian do their part for the Great Commission by sharing their faith and making disciples of Jesus Christ for the glory of God.

Tim was born and raised in Rockford, IL. From a young age, he enjoyed serving in ministry with kids and youth, which grew into a passion for pastoring and preaching. In 2009, he married Kristi, and the two of them have enjoyed learning how to follow Jesus together. After saying “yes” to a move to Colorado in 2011, the couple started an adventure that ranged from managing a Jimmy Johns to pastoring a campus for a large Denver church.  
 

In 2022, they made the decision to move closer to their families in Rockford. It was in April of that year that they were drawn to the encouragement and refreshment of Redeemer Church.   

Tim has been leading worship and tech for Redemption City Church since its soft launch in April 2023. Few things bring him more joy than leading a group of people to serve the church and helping others love Jesus with all their hearts. He is excited to use his God given gifts to help this new congregation thrive. 

Darin and his wife, Sarah, were married in May of 2000 and moved to Belvidere in August that same year.  Coming to Redeemer in 2011, both serve in Redeemer Kids and as Life Group leaders. The Lord has blessed them with 4 children: Alexandria, Gabriella, Eliana, and Dane.  Darin is employed by the Belvidere School District as a middle school behavior interventionist, and Sarah is an amazing home-school mom. They love to spend time with each other (even after remodeling their home for the past 18-and still counting-years!) and their kids.  Darin also enjoys running, especially with his children.

June and her husband Chris started attending Redeemer Church in 2008. In 2017, she joined Redeemer’s staff as the children’s ministry coordinator. Since then, she also has served as ministry assistant, and is currently Director of Church Operations for Redemption City Church. She utilizes her gifts to keep the church functioning well, knowing it is the Lord who will cultivate growth.  

June holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, where she met Chris. They have two children, Calvin and Isabel, who are growing in their understanding and wisdom in the Lord. June loves spending time in museums, visiting new cities, dreaming of travel in Europe, and having deep conversations with friends and family.  

The Lord saved Mackenzie in 2019, and then placed in her a love for Him and deep desire to glorify Him through her life. She stepped into the Kids Coordinator position in April 2023, at the start of Redemption City Church. Through preparing lessons, managing volunteers, and overseeing Kid’s Service, her prayer is that Redemption’s children will find their delight and hope in Christ alone. She is passionate about cultivating environments where children are taught Truth both through teaching at church and parent discipleship at home.  

In her free time, you can find her outside enjoying the sun, studying as she pursues her degree in education, or planning her October 2023 wedding to her middle school sweetheart, Simeon. 

Steph was originally born and raised in Ontario, Canada and moved to the United States when she married Scott in 1996. Along with their three wonderful sons, she and Scott were part of Morningstar Church before worshiping at Redemption City Church. In addition to her part time job working remotely for the Bank of New York (BNY), she is also thankful to serve as Office Manager. In this role she combines her love for people, her faith, and creativity when planning events or providing administrative support to Pastor Matt. Scott serves on the counting team, but is also Steph’s right hand for so many church related things. 

In her free time she enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, gardening and being outdoors as well as projects and anything creative.

Callie was born and raised in Iowa, where her family regularly attended church throughout her childhood. However, it was not until late in high school that she came to truly know Christ as her Savior, and her life was forever changed. 

While attending Iowa State University, she was blessed to become part of a faithful community of believers through a local church’s college ministry. It was within that ministry that she met her husband, Josh. They were married in 2013 and soon after 

relocated to Rockford, where Josh began his career as a mechanical engineer. Upon moving, they desired to find a Bible-believing, gospel-centered church home. The Lord graciously led them to Redeemer Church, where they worshiped and served for ten years. In His providence, God later called them to join the church planting of Redemption City Church, a work that has been an immense joy and blessing. Josh and Callie are deeply grateful to be part of what the Lord is doing through His people for His glory at Redemption City. They count it a privilege to serve in various ministries, and she is thankful for the opportunity to serve on staff as the Communications Assistant, helping to support and share the mission of our church.

AJ and his wife Lani have both known and loved the Lord since childhood. They met at Judson University where he majored in Accounting and Management Information Systems and she majored in Secondary Education and Math. They have been married for 17 years and have four children that they homeschool. 

The Bogotts are relatively new to the area, having moved when the church plant began to meet. They intentionally chose to live closer to his parent’s farm and his office in Schaumburg. Serving as an Assurance Partner at Plante Moran for the past 18 years has given AJ unique knowledge in administration and financial stewardship that he is excited to use to build up Redemption City 

Church. His prayer is to be a blessing to the Elders and his brothers and sisters in Christ while he serves as the Deacon of Finance, the Deacon of Benevolence, and as a life group leader. 

Cristina has been married to Luke for 17 years and has five sons, ages 7 to 14. They have lived in Rockford for 9 years and have attended Redemption City for 2 years. She has served in children’s ministry in various capacities for almost three decades. Cristina remembers eagerly anticipating her 13th birthday so that she could officially serve as a junior assistant in children’s church. 

She is humbled and excited by the opportunity to serve as Deacon of Kids. Her prayer is that the children of Redemption City would know that they are deeply loved by God and their church family and that everything we do “downstairs” would clearly proclaim the gospel. In addition, she hopes to come alongside families to support and encourage discipleship at home. When not homeschooling her boys, she enjoys running, playing volleyball or trying out a new recipe. 

Ethan oversees the social media team for Redemption City Church and assists with website updates, photography/videography, graphic design and communications. He’s been attending Redemption City since the launch and previously attended Redeemer for ten years. He is passionate about communicating the mission and vision of the church in a way that is visually compelling, clear and concise.

Tim and Debbie have been married for 45 years. God has blessed them with 2 beautiful daughters, a wonderful son-in-law, 3 amazing grandchildren and 2 absolutely adorable great-grandchildren. While they were members at Redeemer Church, they hosted a 20s Life Group and were actively involved in the 20s ministry. They were all in from the beginning when they heard Pastor Matt was going to plant a church in the Rockford area. Both Tim and Debbie have worked with teens and young adults all of their lives. Debbie has also counseled/mentored young ladies and is currently working towards ACBC certification. Tim has worked in Facilities/Maintenance Departments while they were support missionaries in Schroon Lake, NY and at BJU in Greenville. God has blessed Tim with abilities that he loves to give back to the Lord in any way possible, most recently as the Deacon of Facilities. They both are honored to serve and be involved in the work at Redemption City Church and look forward to all God has for them here.