On behalf of the members of the Staff Parish Relations Committee, I am excited to tell you that Ryan Gibbs has been hired to fill the two vacant positions within the staff roster. Ryan will serve as Director of Worship Arts – handling the responsibilities involved with the “The Connection” Contemporary Worship Service. He will also lead our youth in their spiritual growth as Director of Youth Ministry. Ryan and his wife, Anne, come to us from Chicago. There, Ryan coordinates a program for 150 middle school youth, including working with their parents as well the adult volunteers. Ryan is a graduate of Luther College in Iowa. The search committees were determined to take the time needed to make sure we found the right person(s) for our needs. We believe we have found this in Ryan. Our feedback from Ryan is that he sees Webster Hills as the right fit for him also. Ryan will begin his responsibilities on July 1st. We will share more as time draws near.

I want to thank the members of the two search committees who gave of their time and energy so generously and approached the task with a strong sense of commitment to the well-being of our church and its mission. Specifically, I thank Sarah Adams, Whitney Pennington, Ed Odom, Brooke and Andy Linsenbardt, Dana Self, Jan Blue, Jennifer O’Connor, Duane McDowell, Maureen Graves, Rob Lamprecht, Sue Fitzpatrick, Joel Kichline and Pastor Scott Hall.