New Members

LEVI & ELLIANA ANDERSON

Levi was born in Temple, Texas, but has lived all over the country. Elliana is from North Carolina where her parents worked with the military ministry branch of The Navigators. Her father’s work took them to Germany and then to Colorado Springs. Elliana later worked on the Africa Mercy with Mercy Ships in the Canary Islands and Cameroon. Levi is working on a master’s of arts degree in disability and ministry, with a goal to work in disability ministries. The Andersons moved from Chicago to Wheaton to begin working for STARS Family Services. Levi connected with former pastoral resident Mike Solis, who helped Elliana and him get involved in a small group. Elliana now works at College Church as the ministry associate for Inclusion.

Birjan Crispin

Birjan grew up in Wheaton and attending College Church. His parents are College Church members Jim and Kim Crispin. Though the years Birjan has been involved with Upward Basketball (his dad ran the league for 20 years), as well as many other ministries at church. Birjan plays violin with the DuPage Symphony of Chicago, and volunteers with Caring Network. He enjoys running, listening to classical music and learning about politics and theology.

JOSEPH & NATALIE DICICCO

Joseph and Natalie have been married almost 10 years and have two little boys and a little girl. They come from our daughter church, New Covenant Church in Naperville. Joseph is the nephew of Tony and Diane DiLeonardi and John and Deb Lorentsen, who are all members at College Church. Joseph enjoys being outdoors in all seasons. Natalie attends Women’s Bible Study, and enjoys hiking, reading and cooking, while soaking up time with their children.

PAUL & LIITA FORSYTH

Paul and Liita have been married over 30 years and have two children. Paul works as a permanent substitute teacher at Bower Elementary School in District 200. He enjoys repairing and restoring cars, camping, cycling and running. He is learning about welding and milling his own lumber! Liita is an art teacher and owns a business called The Little Bits Workshop in River Forest. She enjoys all creative things from painting to fiber to pottery, gardening and more! The Forsyths are in a small group, and Liita is involved with ArtSpace.

JIM & DENISE GRITSONIS

Jim and Denise have been married for more than 40 years and have four adult children and four grandchildren. They are part of the Logos Adult Community and Jim attends Men’s Bible Study. Denise attends Women’s Bible Study and has been a Grace Group facilitator when it first started. The Gritsonis family is very involved in the STARS ministry where they have served and been served. Denise works as a social worker at Loyola Hospital.

Maria Gritsonis

Maria is very involved in the STARS ministry and enjoys Praise and Action and the STARS choir.

Kelsie Helm

Kelsie has been married to Pastor Baxter Helm since the end of 2019. She serves as an adult ministry leader in HYACKs. She is a licensed clinical professional counselor and works at Meier Clinics in Wheaton. She appreciates the opportunities God has given her to use her training to support others within the church, and as she serves high schoolers. Kelsie grew up in Scottsburg, Indiana, and is the oldest of three girls (her younger sisters are identical twins and a year younger than Kelsie).

Joel Jamison

Joel was born in Berkeley, California, and was raised in Arizona. He is a student at Wheaton College pursuing degrees in piano performance and music composition. He enjoys serving through music and has always been involved in church music, and currently sings with the adult choir.

Arthur Jaros

Art and his wife, Claire, have been married over 40 years and have four adult children. They participate in the Living Word Adult Community. He enjoys studying and teaching the Scriptures. Art works as a private practice attorney in the Chicago area

Madeline Joy

Maddy is from Wisconsin and is currently a student at Wheaton College. She occasionally plays violin in the orchestra at church and is a part-time music instructor at Notable Notes Music Academy. She enjoys a good cup of tea and meaningful conversations.

Catherine Kistler

Catherine has four adult children. She first attended College Church on Christmas Eve in 2020, and now sings in the adult choir and participates in the Living Word Adult Community. Catherine works as a sales associate in a Hallmark shop. She loves music and loves to sing, as well as gardening and cooking.

Andrew Kopp

Andy is very involved in the STARS ministry and serves the church as an usher on Sunday morning.

Andrew Lamb

Andrew is the oldest child of College Church members of Del and Lea Lamb and grew up at College Church. A student at Wheaton College, Andrew is involved in the College Group, and serves in the AV area helping to run cameras on Sunday mornings. He is also involved in music and worship, playing piano and percussion. His loves are “music, baseball and the Green Bay Packers.”

Chong Zhu And Ying Li

Chong Zhu and Ying Li have been married over 30 years and have two young adult sons. They both grew up in mainland China. Chong studied computer science and finished his master’s degree at University of British Columbia (Canada) before moving to the Seattle area. Ying Li is an applied scientist, specializing in data science—a field she has worked in for 30 years. She also teaches college classes. They attend the All Nations Adult Community.

Rebecca Losey

Rebecca grew up as a missionary kid in Asia with her parents and four siblings. She moved to Wheaton from Germany where she attended Black Forest Christian Fellowship. She began attending College Church as a freshman at Wheaton College. She loves to play basketball, make music, watercolor and spend time with friends.