Our Staff & Board

Senior Pastors | Garner & Mary Tullis

Garner & Mary are the Senior Pastors at Bethel Valparaiso and have 5 amazing daughters, an incredible son-in-law and three phenomenal grandchildren. They have been in leadership at the church for over 16 years serving as Youth Pastors, Associate Pastors and for the past 3 years as Senior Pastors. Their passion is to “equip the saints to do the work of the ministry,” to empower others to fulfill their destinies, and to raise up other leaders who will thrive in a culture of honor and freedom. They are stuck on loving and healthy relationships—free people, who in turn feel security and passion to take risks to re-present Jesus Christ authentically. Their life mission is "to know Christ" in order to make Him known, until "The kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever." Email Garner at Garner@bethelvalpo.com.

Senior Associate Pastors | Cliff & Carol DeMick

Cliff and Carol have been married for over 42 years. They are the proud parents of 3 daughters, 2 amazing son-in-laws and three gorgeous grandchildren. However, aside from their own natural children, they have faithfully served as spiritual parents for countless others who have experienced their love, nurture and wisdom. Whether it's in business or the church, Cliff and Carol develop leaders—finding gold and calling to the surface the greatness of the destinies of the next generation. They are the leaders of both the Watch of the Lord and Prayer Storm along with Prophetic Intercession.

Associate Pastors | Benjamin & Carolea Burdick

Benjamin & Carolea met at a Youth With A Mission school and were married 4 years later on June 10, 1989. After 8 years of hoping and praying for children, God performed a miracle and they now have 5 beautiful children (4 boys and 1 girl) ages 2 to 11. After graduating college, Ben served 8 years as a Communications Officer in the Air Force and during that time also youth-pastored for nearly 3 years. Upon separating from the Air Force, Ben taught history and Old Testament for 6 years with an on-line Christian school and served as a part-time Associate Pastor with a Vineyard Church in Montana. In 2005, the Lord called Ben and Carolea to go to Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, California where they spent 2 years. After a brief return to aviation (as a crop-duster) Ben & Carolea came on staff as Associate Pastors in the Fall of 2007. They have a passion for personal transformation and regional revival. They currently lead the Young Adult ministry, Alpha, Mission Possible outreaches and the Cell Group ministry. Email Ben at Ben@bethelvalpo.com.

Worship Pastor | Debbi VanderMolen

Debbi has been leading worship at the church for the last 6 years and she and her husband Scott have attended for the last 8 years. She and Scott have been married for 25 years and they have 4 children, Andrew (22), Tasia (21), AJ (15) and Zachariah (12). When asked about her vision and passion, she responded, "I enjoy others who are enjoying God! So, it is my passion to create an atmosphere through worship where the Presence of God comes and His people can worship Him freely and creatively as we were designed to." Her favorite Bible passage is Psalms 66. You can contact Debbi by emailing her at debbi@bethelvalpo.com.

KinderChurch Pastor | Chelsey Dunleavy

Chelsey Dunleavy is one of the Children’s Pastors at Bethel Valparaiso. She has attended Bethel since she was one year old and has volunteered as a teacher for eight years. She has been working at the church for two years. Chelsey is currently a student at Valparaiso University and is studying to become a teacher for students with special needs. She enjoys serving others and has the compassion to teach children about God’s Love. Every Sunday Chelsey energetically teaches the KinderChurch children. She loves to interact with each child on his or her own level and watching the kids worship and learn about their Papa God. Chelsey can be contacted by email at chelsey@bethelvalpo.com.

SuperChurch Pastor | Paula Kraker

Paula and her husband John have been attending the church since 1990 and they have 4 children, Jacob (22), Kandyce (21), John (19) and Levi (7). She has worked with children more or less the whole time that she has attended. She vision is for the church to raise up generations of children who are extravagantly in love with Papa God. She fully believes what the church has been saying for years, "that even our littlest saints have the same Holy Spirit that the adults do." She feels that now is the time for the church to be purposeful about teaching, training, equipping and releasing our children to fully participate in the kingdom of God, including: salvation, water baptism, baptism in the Holy Spirit, operating in the gifts of the Spirit, etc.

Office Manager | Gail Moran

Gail is Bethel's "chief cook and bottle washer". She has managed a variety of different companies over the past 20 years mainly in the home improvement sector. She has attended the church for the past 6 years and has been working here for 2 years. 25 years ago she married her husband Patrick and they have a 17 year old son Ryan. Her goals here are to better facilitate the practical needs of the church by utilizing the gifts God has given her. Gail is in charge of all of the scheduling for the church and for the church property. Gail works Monday to Thursday. Her email address is gail@bethelvalpo.com

Secretary | Cheryl DeVries

Cheryl and her husband of 31 years, Tim have attended the church for the last 5 years and she has working at Bethel for the last 3 years. They have 3 children, Elizabeth (28), Erin (26) and Ashley (21). Cheryl has a heart for mercy for both the local community and areas that are in need. Her passion is ministering to those in need and to see the Holy Spirit have total control. She is hopefully anticipating healing's, salvations, Baptism of the Holy Spirit and standing room only in the pre-church service prayer time. Cheryl works Monday to Wednesday. You can email Cheryl at cheryl@bethelvalpo.com.

Facility Coordinator | Jodi LaFoone

Jodi takes care of the needs of the church. She manages all the cleaning, shopping, lawn work and she fills in wherever she is needed. Jodi also coordinates commmunity service. Jodi and her husband Phillip have attended the church for the last 11 years and she has worked as facility coordinator for the past 8 years. They have 3 wonderful boys; Anthony, Dominick and Nathan. Her passion is to serve God will all her heart and to serve others as Jesus would.

Technical Administrator | Joshua Marvel

Josh is in charge of all things technical from the website to the stage. He and his wife Emma have been attending the church for the last 3 years, although Josh as attended the church since it's very first Sunday. He has been working at the church for the last 6 months. His passions are to see the lost reached through the use of new media forms and to provide infastructure to the church. You can reach Josh via email at Josh@bethelvalpo.com.

Our Board

The Board, top row from left: Scott VanderMolen, Cliff DeMick, Debbi VanderMolen, Leslie Van Hook, Carol DeMick, Will Van Hook, Sarah Kotys, Wes Kotys, Donna Westforth, Dave Westforth. Bottom row from left: Ben Burdick, Carolea Burdick, Garner Tullis, Mary Tullis.