Meet Our Team

New Life is a staff-led church and operates under a church board form of governance. Learn more here.

Joe WickmanLead Pastor

Joined the team in 2007. Ordained in the FMC in 2009. Joe oversees the spiritual health, vision, and strategical direction of New Life Ministries.

Favorite Song: Firm Foundation by Maverick City
Fun Fact: He loves mariachi music – it’s so happy!

Marissa SchweigerCommunity Pastor

Joined the team in 2014. Conference Ministerial Candidate in the FMC. Marissa oversees Outreach, Group Life, New Life Celebrate Recovery, and our Prayer Ministry.

Favorite Song: I Speak Jesus by Charity Gayle
Fun Fact: She loves to travel! Her favorite city is Seattle.

Heather VestelCreative Director

Joined the team in 2018. Heather has a background in news and marketing and oversees our Creative Ministries: Worship, Communications, and Dramatic Arts.

Favorite Song: The Boys of Summer by Don Henley
Fun Fact: She loves video games and ended up meeting her husband for the first time on Xbox Live; the game they met on was “Destiny.”

Brandon BakerWorship Pastor

Joined the team in 2017. Conference Ministerial Candidate in the FMC. Brandon leads our Worship Ministry, overseeing the Worship and Tech Teams.

Favorite Song: God of Revival by Bethel Music
Fun Fact: He lived in Boston for a short time to study Personal Training and worked in the harbor at a local market/restaurant.

Jordan DunlapCommunications Pastor

Joined the team in 2019. Ordained in 2023 in the FMC. Jordan’s focus is on external communications, both digitally and physically, overseeing our social media presence and serving as Producer during our Sunday services.

Favorite Song: Dancing on the Waves by We the Kingdom
Fun Fact: She has never changed a baby’s diaper.

Derek WaddellConnections Pastor

Joined the team in 2020. Conference Ministerial Candidate in the FMC. Derek oversees our Guest Services Teams, Safety Team, Coffee Shop, and Connection Card processes.

Favorite Song: White Christmas by Bing Crosby
Fun Fact: As an EMT, he helped to deliver 9 babies at the hospital.

Stephanie RogersChildren's Ministries Director

Joined the team in 2021. Stephanie’s background in early education – as well as large-scale event planning – has helped prepare her for overseeing our two children’s ministries, MainStreet and UpStreet.

Favorite Song: What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Fun Fact: She plays a mean trumpet.

Katie FosterStudent Ministry Director.

Joined the team in 2022. Local Ministerial Candidate in the FMC. Katie oversees our ministry for 6-12th Grade, Merge.

Favorite Song: King of the Jungle by Steven Curtis Chapman
Fun Fact: Whenever she does jigsaw puzzles, she pretends to be in a timed competition.

Brigitte RitterRecovery Pastor

Joined the team in 2024. Conference Ministerial Candidate in the FMC. Brigitte oversees our New Life Celebrate Recovery ministry, which is comprised of Celebration Place for younger children, the Landing for teens, and Celebrate Recovery for adults.

Favorite Song: …
Fun Fact: …

Tyler BrinkFacilities Manager

Joined the team in 2016. Experienced in facilities and custodial services, Tyler oversees all of our Facilities and custodial volunteer team here in Endicott.

Favorite Song: Revolutionary by Josh Wilson
Fun Fact: He is a Sasquatch enthusiast.

Linda GrantOffice and Business Manager

Joined the team in 2024. With over 20 years of experience in account receivable and management, Linda makes a wonderful addition to overseeing the planning and use of our church budget and finances.

Favorite Song: The Greatest Man I Never Knew by Reba McEntrie.
Fun Fact: Her nickname is “Little Evil” and rides a red motorcycle.

Jessica MaynerOffice Assistant

Joined the team in 2024. Jessica’s heart for people and ministry helps her be the warm and friendly “first face” of New Life at our front desk. She assists all our ministries in a variety of ways, with a focus on creating a smooth and functional front office environment.

Favorite Song: By Your Side by Tenth Avenue North.
Fun Fact: She loves hiking! She’s climbed 15 high peaks in the Adirondacks and plans to do more.

Austin BirchardVideographer

Joined the team in 2021. Austin’s BA from Full Sail University laid the foundation for his work overseeing our pre-recorded videography.

Favorite Song: …
Fun Fact: …

Amber JenningsOutreach Assistant

Joined as Volunteer Staff in 2022. Conference Ministerial Candidate in the FMC. Amber oversees our Laundry Love outreach and New Life’s relationship and support of Latin America FMC.

Favorite Song: Lovely Day by Bill Withers
Fun Fact: She shares a birthday with Ernie from Sesame Street.

New Life is part of the Genesis Conference in the Free Methodist Church USA.

The FMC is distinct from United Methodist & other Methodist denominations.

Learn more about the Free Methodist Church USA here.

Board of Administration

Major decisions are the responsibility of the Board of Administration. The Board is made up of the Lead Pastor, Operations Pastor and 4-6 New Life Partners who provide accountability in the areas of holiness, leadership, and finances. Each lay Board Partner serves a three-year term. New partners are nominated by a nominating committee, qualified by the Board, and approved by church partnership via an up-or-down vote.

Our Lead Pastor oversees the staff team, seeking God and wise counsel for vision, direction, and strength. Under his or her direction, the staff leads the ministries, makes decisions, and trains volunteers to implement New Life’s mission and vision daily.

As part of our commitment to creating safe places for Healing Conversations, our Church Board and staff are available by email to anyone who needs to make an appointment to discuss a church hurt, past or present.

Board Members

Mike Blachek, [email protected]

Kevin Webb, [email protected]

Cristina Flores-Meyer, [email protected]

Christopher Marvin, [email protected]

Designated Reporters

A part of New Life’s commitment to Healing Conversations.

Church Hurt Happens. We are committed to processing through it together.

We define church hurt as a specific pain resulting from actions taken by churches, church leaders, and churchgoers inside the confines of the church community. But God’s beautiful truth is that we do not have to stay in suffering.

If you are feeling church hurt from New Life, or even a previous church that you attended, we are committed to processing through this together starting with Healing Conversations.

What are Healing Conversations?

At New Life, we believe that God has laid out a plan to help individuals grow from pain. Our formula for Healing Conversations is simple: to listen. We want people to be heard and seen. Healing Conversations are not meant to be “one and done” but are meant to begin a pathway toward forgiveness, resolution, and/or reconciliation when possible.

Who can you talk to?

In order to create safe places for Healing Conversations, those experiencing church hurt are invited to reach out to our pastors, staff, or church board, who are available by email to anyone who needs to make an appointment. You may also call our offices at 607-785-8579 to set up an appointment.

We acknowledge that it is important to have peple to talk to that are outside of our organizational structure, and for that reason we have appointed two members of our congregation as Designated Reporters. These individuals were vetted and are familiar with New Life’s culture throughout the years and under multiple Lead Pastors.

Jan Prentice

Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Work experience: 24 years at Samaritan Counseling Center, Endicott, NY. Extensive continuing education. Specialties include trauma, relationship issues, problem-solving, group therapy, training, and practice in Solution Focused Brief Therapy.

Jan began attending New Life in 2001 and is a Partner here. She is an avid participant in Tuesday Prayer and New Life’s other prayer groups, as well as an enthusiastic worshiper. She has led and facilitated various groups in our ministry and taught several courses.

Jan says, “I am happy to serve as a designated reporter because I know people get hurt, and people get hurt in church. Jesus’ mission and ministry is to bring healing and new life to the hurting and hungering. I am definitely on Jesus’ team on that mission.”

You may reach her at: [email protected]

Matt Towers

Licensed Master’s Social Work.

Matt has been working in his field since 2019, and with his Master’s Degree in Social Work, he is willing and equipped to help navigate through the waters of pain and trauma.

Matt says, “Since my wife and I started attending New Life after we were married in 2021, I have grown in my personal relationship with God. After some time I joined a small group, served on a ministry or two, and grew confident in sharing my faith and my story. Throughout 2023, I felt this desire to find a way to use my spiritual skills in the church. I prayed over being presented with an opportunity and the role of designated reporter came to fruition. And I said yes to the opportunity to be able to serve in this new capacity. When we make changes in our lives and choose to follow God’s will to the best of our abilities, with that change can also come past hurts, traumas, and anxieties. We all need someone to talk through that struggle with, someone to navigate those strong emotions and hopefully help by being an empathetic ear.”

You may reach him at: [email protected]