Keith Chanley – Pastor
Background – Pastor Keith Chanley joined Kokomo Zion Church in August of 2023. He and his wife Dana moved from Southern Indiana where he had served with the United Methodist Church. Pastor Keith has a Master of Divinity from Oakland City University and is an ordained Elder in the Global Methodist Church.
Keith and Dana have been married since June 1990 and have two sons. David (29), who is married to Liz and has three children, works as an ER Nurse. And Joseph (20) works in the IT service industry.
In addition to pastoring Keith also serves on the Greentown Volunteer Fire Company and serves in the Great Lakes Conference of the Global Methodist Church.
Keith and Dana are excited to be at Kokomo Zion and are looking forward to discovering what God is doing in and through the church.
Email – [email protected]
Melissa Fipps – Director of Youth & Children’s Ministries
Life Verse: “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 NLT
Background: Melissa and her husband Ernie are natives of Howard County. Melissa grew up in Greentown and attended Eastern where she spent a lot of time in the band and choir hallway. Youth group and summer camp were her favorite activities. When Melissa joined the Zion team, she and Ernie had been married almost 29 years.
- Ernie and Melissa have 2 married children: Kiersten and Clayton with son Benjamin live in Lafayette; Joseph and Lindsay live in Bloomington. Melissa’s mother still lives in in Sycamore. Her brother lives in Kokomo.
- Melissa earned her M.A. in youth ministry from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University in 2012.
- She has served in both children’s and youth ministry for over 30 years. She has also taught private music lessons and worked as a paraprofessional at Eastern and Oak Hill. She spent 11 years as an administrative assistant and Kern Ministry Program coordinator in the School of Theology & Ministry at IWU.
- In her spare time, she enjoys sewing, crocheting, helping Eastern and Taylor’s marching bands as a woodwind tech, and playing with her grandson, Benjamin.
- Melissa is a kid at heart. One of her favorite things as a child was swinging while very loudly singing songs from the Gaither kids albums. She still loves to go to the park and swing.
email – [email protected]
Matt Gerhard – Director of Music
Matt Gerhard has been Director of Music at Zion since August of 2010. Matt earned a Bachelors of Church Music from Olivet Nazarene University and a Masters in Choral Conducting from California Baptist University.
Matt directs our Worship Choir, Handbell Choir, and leads our praise band. Matt enjoys leading the congregation in worship through the great hymns of faith, gospel songs, and contemporary praise songs.
In addition to his duties at Zion, Matt serves as Instructional Assistant for the Choral Program at Northwestern High School, teaches private piano and organ lessons, works with the marching band at Northwestern High School, and is on the boards of the Central Indiana Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society, Indianapolis Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Long Center Theatre Organ Society, and Kokomo Symphony Orchestra.
Outside of music, Matt’s other passions include Disney and Cadillacs.
Email – [email protected]
Leanne Donson – Administrator
Coming soon
email – [email protected]
Teri Lavengood – Custodian
Teri has many family connections to Zion and also attends Parr United Methodist Church. We appreciate her keeping the whole church clean and in shape. She has many talents as well as being a hard worker.
Sheila Lamb – Treasurer
Life Verse: “My grace is all you need, for my power is the greatest when you are weak.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
Background: Sheila, as well as her husband Kevin, are birth members of Kokomo Zion Church. They are parents to 4 adult children, have 5 grandchildren, and care for Kevin’s 95-year old mother in their home. Sheila retired from Northwestern School Corporation in July 2022 after serving 46 years in the corporation. She has been Treasurer at Kokomo Zion since January 2023.
Interests/Passions: Sheila and Kevin are passionate about serving the needs of others and enjoy participating in workcamp experiences together, as well as serving weekly at the Hillsdale/Kokomo Zion Food Pantry. They are the current coordinators for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Shoebox Christmas at Zion. They also enjoy supporting Midwest Missions with sewn items that are distributed worldwide, including cloth diapers, quilts, feminine products, clothing, and cloth bags filled with school supplies.
Hobbies: Her kitchen and her garden are Sheila’s “happy places”. She also loves to read, knit, and support her grandkids at ballgames and concerts.
email – [email protected]