St. Mark's Ministry Team
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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 15 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 44 years and has 3 grown children all married and 5 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:
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Hayley Carroll - Administrative/Social Media assistant
Hayley was born and raised in Cedar Rapids; she began attending St. Marks in 2015. She and her fiancé, Tahoun, have one daughter, Evyanna, as well as another one on the way. Outside of church she loves to spend time with her family and cuddle with her four cats; Piérre, Mike, Runtz, and Sirius. She is excited to begin this new journey with St. Marks and see where this path with God takes her.
Connect with Hayley
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Nicole Williams - Worship Team Leader
Nicole Williams is a third-year student at the University of Iowa pursuing two degrees: Pipe Organ Performance and Education Studies and Human Relations. She is also the founder of a startup company: BSharp, an app that digitizes music education. If not in church, you can find her snuggled up with her two cats, Mildred and Chester, reading a book. Nicole is excited to share her faith through music, prayer, and teaching with St. Mark's. Want to be involved in the church's music or tech ministries? Connect with Nicole!
Connect with Nicole:
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Jennifer Petersen - Youth Leader
Jennifer is a native of Cedar Rapids, she attended Squaw Creek Elementary, McKinley Middle School, and graduated from Washington Senior High School. She then attended and graduated from William Woods College in Fulton Missouri, majoring in Legal Studies and Computer Information Systems. She is married and has three children. Jennifer has taught many years of Sunday school classes, many summers of VBS, and co-led Confirmation classes. She graduated from the UMC School of Lay Ministry and enjoys preaching and teaching. Questions about our Youth Programming? Check with Jennifer!Connect with Jennifer: -
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:
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Klyde Ledamo - Pianist
Concert-pianist Klyde Ledamo has appeared throughout Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America as a recitalist and orchestral soloist. His many top prizes from competitions include the Lynn Concerto Competition (1 st Prize), Tampa Bay Symphony Concerto Competition (1 st Prize), Music Teachers National Association-FL State Competition (1 st Prize), 1st Henrietta S. Tayengco-Limjoco Piano Competition (Best Performance of Contest piece and “Rene T. Limjoco” Special Prize), Philippines’ National Music Competitions for Young Artists (Top-Prize), and the National Society of Arts and Letters (Florida Chapter-1 st Prize, Missouri-Chapter-1 st Prize, and a prizewinner at the National Finals). Klyde graduated with honors from the Philippine High School for the arts receiving the Outstanding Student-Artist Award and the Makiling Academe and Research Institute for the Arts scholarship. He then earned his Bachelor of Music degree cum laude from the University of the Philippines and completed his Master of Music degree from Lynn Conservatory-Florida in 2019, winning the “The Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Education”. In 2017, he attended the academy of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. Currently, Klyde holds a teaching assistant position and is pursuing a Doctoral of Music degree at the University of Iowa under the mentorship of Uriel Tsachor. An avid chamber musician, Klyde has concertized in Austria, Italy, Germany, and around the US collaborating with numerous notable artists, orchestras, choral groups, dance and theater companies, and chamber ensembles. He served as pianist of the world-renowned U.P. Concert Chorus (winner of the Grand Prix at the 6th Int’l Krakow Choir Festival in Poland) from 2015-2018 and the Ballet Philippines from 2018-2019. Klyde has presented masterclasses and lectures in his home country and the US and has been invited to perform and serve as a staff at summer festivals including the Rebecca Penneys Piano Festival 2021 and 2022 at the University of South Florida. His former teachers include Carolyn Cheng and Roberta Rust. Some notable pedagogues he’s had masterclasses with are Boris Berman, Jerome Lowenthal, Arthur Greene, and Lilya Zilberstein, among others.
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Michele Gibson - pianist
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Jeff Stobb - PIanist
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