Chad loves hiking, fishing, skiing, racquetball and sitting around a fire while enjoying a good ale with friends. He and his bride Shauna have been married for over 32 years and have four adult sons who live coast-to-coast. Chad has been in ministry for over 27 years and has always been deeply passionate about helping connect with people who might be “done” with church, but not “done” with God (which represents more than half of the city of Wichita). He led the launch of New Life in January 2017 with the vision of creating a church in Wichita that unchurched and dechurched people love to attend and engage…a church where you can belong before you believe. If that sounds like the kind of community you might be looking for, you're welcomed and encouraged to reach out to him to connect for coffee, lunch or a good beer…his treat!
On any given weekend, you can find Desiree spending time with her friends at game nights, going on some adventure, or playing with her pups, Max and Cindy. Desiree grew up in Colorado and moved to Kansas for law school in 2018. Desiree found New Life Wichita in November of 2021, and loves the community New Life provides. New Life also provides a safe space to decompress from the work week and spend time connecting to the love and peace of Jesus. Being a tried and true extrovert, Desiree loves connecting with, and meeting new people. She also loves serving in Kids Life, engaging the next generation. When you see her on Sunday morning, feel free to say hi - she’d love to meet you!
Katie enjoys shopping and traveling...but what she really loves is being a mom to her three young boys. She's been married to Dylan for ten years and thinks he's slightly awesome, too. They jumped in at New Life Wichita as soon after it first started because they were tired of a church that exists only for believers. They wanted their boys to grow up seeing mom and dad be an active part in sharing Jesus with their community. If the church isn't sharing Jesus with people who don’t know about Him...what's the point? They also enjoy watching their boys thrive in the Kids Life ministry and being connected to a vibrant church family that includes people from all walks and backgrounds.
Jerry grew up on a farm near a small town in Missouri. He attended the University of Central Missouri and studied Broadcast Engineering but after working in that field for a while he made a career change to software development. He is currently a Software Engineer for Tyler Technologies and has been there for over 20 years. Jerry loves to travel and has had the opportunity to visit 15 countries along with most of the United States. Jerry and his wife, Itati, were part of the original launch team for New Life Wichita. Jerry has served in several roles, most of them behind the scenes, including all things technical, Website, Podcast and A/V on Sunday mornings. Jerry is also the church’s financial offer.
Elizabeth’s favorite roles in life are being the wife of her wonderful husband Graham for the past 5 years and the mother to two incredible children, Grey – age 2, and newest addition Isla, born January 2022. Outside of the home, Elizabeth works as an HR Manger for a National Flour Milling Company and loves using her role to help others and reach as many people as possible in a positive way. With any free time Elizabeth has, you can find her reading a book or spending time with friends and family. Elizabeth and her family joined New Life Wichita in late 2020. After many years of searching for the right “church home” the Ratzlaffs attended New Life’s first return service after the initial COVID breakout and have never looked back. They are so happy and excited to have found such an incredible church family and Elizabeth specifically is always happy to have a chat, grab a bite to eat, or spend time with anyone interested in having a further conversation about the church, Christianity, or just life itself.
Rebekah is known most often as Mother of twins, and if you ask her about them she will tell you that she has prayed for them since she was 16. She has extensive experience in childcare ranging from daycare teacher to personal nanny. Rebekah plans on teaching and engaging with her twins via arts, crafts, and sensory experiences. She and her husband plan to homeschool their children and travel the country whilst educating their young minds on our country, its history, and its future. Exploring is one of her favorite pastimes which include a number of bucket list places and adventures to go on. Rebekah joined New Life Wichita in 2020 and has been both excited and blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community as New Life.
Alyssa is a born and raised Wichita native and loves exploring and celebrating her city. Whether it be through First Friday, Music Theatre of Wichita, Riverfest, or random popup events, she's always up for an adventure. She met her husband, Brandon, on the dance floor in 2016, and together they love spending time with their many nieces and nephews. Alyssa loves to travel around the globe and jump into any and ALL adrenaline-inducing activities. To fund her escapades, Alyssa works at Friends University as the designer, advertiser, and event planner for the Fine Arts department. At New Life Wichita, Alyssa seeks to create an inviting atmosphere for anyone who walks through the door.
Xan has been singing and playing keyboard for as long as he can remember and is passionate about bringing glory to God through music. Originally hailing from Cleveland, OH, he moved to Wichita in 2015 in pursuit of the other of his two passions: aviation! He is an aerospace engineering manager, private pilot, and aviation and travel blogger. He has been a part of the New Life story since the beginning and met he beautiful wife Ashley at New Life in 2018. They got married in 2019 and are now a family of three! Xan and Ashley also love to travel and have visited 8 states and 4 countries together. He spends as much free time as he can with his wife and baby and is proud to be part of a community where everyone belongs and can know how much they are loved by God and others.
Donna is a Wichita native and has taught locally at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School for 9 years. She is recently returning from a year in Chicago where she taught music and drama at the British International School. At the end of her year there, she was feeling called to raise worship leaders and help her students find a heart for worship. She could not do that at her current school and had been offered the position back at SFA here in Wichita. Through prayer it seemed clear that she was supposed to come back and continue her ministry in worship at her school. She is grateful to have been connected with Chad and to get plugged into a church so quickly after returning. God is in our midst and it’s her joy and honor to get to praise Him with the New Life family.
