MEET OUR STAFF
BRAD RUTHERFORD
Lead Pastor
Brad was born, raised, and schooled in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied thereafter in Dallas, TX at Christ for the Nations Institute where he met his lovely wife, Beth. They have enjoyed over 28 years of marriage together. After getting married they moved back to South Africa where they lived for 18 years. During that time Brad taught school & pastored in their local church, while Beth home-schooled their four sons, and they adopted their daughter.
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Brad and his family have lived in Fond du Lac for over eight years now. He has been privileged to pastor the people of Grace since 2018.
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If you stop by to visit Brad, his office is located upstairs near the fellowship hall (he has also been known to frequent numerous coffee shops around Fond du Lac and utilize them as offsite office space.)
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Brad enjoys golf (although he is his own handicap), spending time outdoors doing various activities and hobbies, especially in the summer, learning to speak “proper” English, and reading history when the chance presents itself.
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Favorite Bible Verses:
Acts 13:38-39 “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.”
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GRANT BAUMGART
Associate Pastor
Grant has been married to Rebekah for almost 30 years. They have eight children, three of whom are married, and they have four grandchildren. Grant is originally from South Africa where he graduated high school in 1986, and served two years in the military, but has made his permanent home in the United States since 1997.
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He and Rebekah met at Christ for the Nations Bible College when they were both students. After graduating in 1994, they moved to South Africa where Grant served as Associate Pastor at Grace Church International for almost two years. Seth was born while they were in South Africa. In 1996 they returned to the United States where Grant served as the Children's Ministry Director at Redeemed Community in Dallas, Texas. Micah and Titus were added to the family while in Dallas. In 1998 the family relocated to Tampa, Florida, where Grant served as the Youth & Worship Pastor at Lowry Park Church. Eliana, Josiah and Hosannah were added to the family while in Tampa. In 2007 the family moved to Fond du Lac to serve at Grace Church as the Youth & Family Pastor where he supervised the Youth, Family and Worship ministries. Aria and Malachi have been added to the family since they have resided in Fond du Lac.
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Grant moved to the Associate Pastor position in 2018 where he now oversees all aspects of the Sunday morning gatherings, including praise teams, technologies, Christian education and fellowship ministries (to name a few). He is also an avid musician who uses his gifts to lead the congregation to lift their hearts to the Lord. Grant is the techno-geek of the staff who uses his computer wizardry to help keep things functional, and enjoys conducting video interviews of Grace members as they share their gospel stories.
Favorite Bible Verses:
Colossians 4:2-6 "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."
CAROL BLAIN
Administrative Assistant
Carol and her husband Jeff have been married for over 35 years! Jeff is the Pastor of a neighboring Lutheran church. They have two grown children, Jacob and Erika. Jacob is married to Emily and they are the proud parents of Carol & Jeff's first grandchild, Rebekah. Erika is a Marriage & Family therapist in the Madison area, where she and her husband Sean reside. Carol loves dogs, and their energetic four-legged family member, a brittany named Jasper, keeps things hopping!.
Making music is high on Carol's list of interests – she is involved with leading a church praise band, is a member of an Irish band and a former member of FDL Symphonic Band; enjoys singing, playing guitar, French horn, recorder and Irish whistles. Carol also enjoys knitting, crafting and cheering for the Packers!
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Favorite Bible Verses:
Philippians (the whole book, but especially...) 4:4-9 "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."
RACHEL TITEL
Communications Coordinator
Rachel has lived in the Fond du Lac area her whole life. She first started attending Grace Church with her family when she was three years old. You could almost say that Grace is her "home away from home." She's the oldest of four kids and enjoys the many adventures they are able to have together as a family.
Rachel has a wide variety of hobbies including baking, singing, listening to music, reading, watching movies & spending time with family and friends. She’s a coffee enthusiast (which goes well with the baking she often dabbles in). One of her other major interests is photography, so much so that she also runs her own photography business.
She is involved in various church ministries including the worship ministry at Grace. Over the years she's also been involved with Grace's Worship Arts ministry, choir, children's ministry, and youth ministry. She has a passion for missions and served as summer staff in Ontario, Canada at Camp of the Woods Ministries (COTW) for three summers from 2017-2019. Funny enough that is also the place she met her now fiancé, Nathan. They are recently engaged and plan to serve together at Camp of the Woods after they are married.
One of Rachel's favorite parts of her job at Grace is coming alongside various leaders & ministries. She helps them to utilize different types of publicity by designing and creating graphics, videos, and other media. She loves to help their vision come to life! Rachel also assists Pastor Grant with some of the tech-related things like upkeeping the website, and creating & editing videos and podcasts. Other parts of her job include helping out at the office, sending out informational emails, and keeping Grace's social media up-to-date. Life is certainly never dull!
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Favorite Bible verses:
Isaiah 40:28-31 ESV "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."
Other favorite verses: Jeremiah 29:11-13 ESV
JEN KOENIGS
Custodian ("Jen-of-all-Trades")
It all began on a balmy summer day deep in the heart of Kansas. There Jen grew up and lived with her family for almost a decade before her father decided that he had had enough of civilization. It was at this time that he packed up his small family of six (soon to be seven) and headed for the hills of Wyoming.
Throughout the years, Jen grew up and eventually moved to the opposite corner of the state to pursue her education (and more trees). A couple of years after she finished college, she met a young man named Mike, who she fell in love with and decided to follow back to his homeland of Wisconsin. They got married and had two wonderful kids of which she homeschools. The kids are getting up there in age (preteen and teen) and Mike and Jen decided that life wasn't exciting enough, so they decided to add a rambunctious young puppy to the mix.
When she is not walking thousands of miles a week to keep her newest child happy and tired, Jen is enjoying her time with her non-furry kids, watching them learn and grow. She also loves to work outside in her yard and garden, travel and see the world God has made, and read (never enough books). Her time at Grace Church has been about four years, but she has enjoyed becoming a part of the family, helping with AWANA, teaching Sunday School, and just meeting all of the people God has put in her life. It has become home in such a short time.
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Favorite Bible passage:
Psalm 1 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."