Meet the staff
Our staff team at St. Mark's is gifted in many ways. Each person brings their own God-given talent to the ministries of St. Mark's. This church believes in the power of prayer and that God has called each person here for a reason , to Glorify God, in all we do!
Meet Our Ministry Team
The friendly faces behind the ministry... and the occasional organized chaos.
Bonnie Koeppen: Senior Pastor
Pastor Bonnie is an Ordained Elder in the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist church. She began serving at St. Mark’s as the Senior Pastor in 2014. She has been in ministry for over 20 years and is passionate about sharing Jesus with others through prayer, worship, preaching, teaching, mission work and giving. She is one of 11 children from a blended family and grew up in a small town in Iowa. She has been married to her husband Steve for over 45 years and has 3 grown children all married and 6 grandchildren. She loves spending time with her husband, children, and grand-children and extended family as well as walking, reading, hiking, and biking,
Connect with Bonnie:
Nick Ehlts: Worship Team Leader
Nick's journey of faith began during his freshman year of high school after he started attending a local youth group. As he learned about God, he found himself wondering if everything he was hearing could really be true. One evening, he prayed that God would reveal Himself in a way he could understand. The very next day, Nick was surprised to learn about Jesus in his high school history class, an experience he saw as a clear answer to prayer. From that moment on, he committed his life to growing in his faith and deepening his relationship with Christ.
Not long after, Nick picked up a guitar and decided to give it another try after previously struggling to learn. This time, it came naturally, and within a month he was serving on his church's worship team. During his senior year of high school, Nick felt called to pursue worship ministry and attended Central Christian College of the Bible, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 2011. He has been leading worship ever since and loves helping others experience God's presence through music.
Nick and his wife, Nikita, met at church camp while they were in high school and began dating during college. They've been together ever since, and were married in 2010. They are the proud parents of two daughters, Josalyn and Kora.
When he's not leading worship, Nick enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, listening to music, watching sports, and playing video games. Mention golf though, and you'll quickly discover it's one of his favorite topics- he'll gladly keep the conversation going for a while!
Iris Liu: Choir Director
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Helen Armstong: Director of African Ministries
Helen is a retired teacher who has found a new love of working with African immigrants and refugees. She does lots of government paperwork to help get citizenship and green cards for refugees. She founded African Women Empowered, a non-profit business employing African refugees several years ago. Helen loves being a mom, grandma, and great grandma; and she spends as much time as possible with her family. She also has a passion for travel and has been to all 7 continents and many countries. She is looking forward to adding more countries to that list! Looking to help out with African Ministries? Chat with Helen!
Connect with Helen:
Deidra benser: Family Education & Outreach Director
Deidra started working with children and youth in high school as a before/after school teacher at childcare centers in Cedar Rapids. At her home church, she volunteered as a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher (always with preschool!), and nursery staff. She also served on the education committee, where she discovered her passion for Christian education.
She attended Trinity Lutheran School before graduating from Kennedy High School. She went on to earn her Associate of Arts in Education from Kirkwood Community College and later received her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from Ashford University.
Deidra has worked in the early childhood education field for more than 20 years and currently serves as the Center Director for two HACAP Head Start sites. She also loves serving St. Mark's United Methodist Church as the Family Education Director and Outreach Director, where she enjoys helping children and families grow in their faith, build relationships, and feel connected to the church community.
Outside of work, Deidra enjoys spending time with her fiancé, Tim. The two met five years ago and are excited to be getting married in October 2026. She also loves traveling, music, theatre, and Broadway musicals, and she could happily spend hours talking about her favorite shows! A few other fun facts about Deidra: she has a soft spot for Disney's Stitch, loves the Fast & Furious movies, could happily eat Chinese food every day, and believes fall is the best season of the year because of the colorful leaves, crisp air, and cozy sweater weather. And if there's a bowl of mint ice cream nearby, that's just an added bonus!
Cari-Ann: Administrative assistant
Our very own Southern transplant, Cari-Ann is often the first friendly face or voice you'll encounter. As our Administrative Assistant, she wears many hats! She keeps a lot of moving pieces running smoothly by managing communications and schedules, maintaining the website and social media, creating newsletters and graphics, answering questions, helping with events, and bringing creative ideas to life. Whether it's welcoming someone, helping a community partner, or jumping in wherever an extra set of hands is needed, she's always happy to help.
Raised in the church, Cari-Ann comes from a family with a rich legacy of pastoral ministry. Growing up surrounded by generations of pastors instilled in her a deep love for faith, service, and caring for others. She is passionate about building meaningful relationships, strengthening community partnerships, and helping create a church where everyone feels they belong. She believes ministry doesn't only happen on Sunday mornings; it happens in the conversations, connections, and small acts of kindness that remind people they are seen, valued, and loved.
Outside of St. Mark's, Cari-Ann's greatest joy is being mom to her two children, Kavin and Lauren-Elizabeth, and caring for her mother, Darlene. She enjoys volunteer work, getting lost in a good book, spending time with her two giant-breed dogs, and never turns down a good board game. She's also almost never without a cup of coffee nearby. There's always candy on her desk to share, usually several projects in progress, and never a shortage of creative ideas.
