The 5 Things You Need to Know about Westwood’s Staff 

Scott Christiansen -- Senior Pastor scott@westwoodchurch.net

5. Born in Iowa but lived in Nebraska most of my life

4. HUGE Husker fan.  It is ridiculous, really.

3. Worked with teenagers for almost 20 years as a high school teacher and a youth pastor.

2. Love leading Westwood and working with a great staff and a great congregation who love Jesus and love serving His Kingdom.

1. The biggest passion of my life is my family.  My wife Cathy and I have been married for over 30 years.  We have 3 sons: Jacob, Benjamin and Zachary.

Michelle Goodrich --- Director of Children's Ministry michelleg@westwoodchurch.net

5. I’m a Creighton basketball fan – not quite to the extent Pastor Scott is a husker fan . . but still a fan!  

4. Before working in Children’s Ministry, I taught middle school special education, and later 5th grade

3.  I look forward to meeting you, plugging your kids into great programming, and serving alongside you.

2.  I love watching the fantastic volunteers at Westwood loving kids in the name of Jesus.

1. I’m married to a great guy (Bob), and we have 2 kids (Shelby and Grant) who keep us busy, entertained, and humble.

Dawn and Ben Putnam -- Directors of Young Adult Ministry dawn@westwoodchurch.net or ben@westwoodchurch.net 

5. We’ve been married for nearly 13 years and doing youth ministry together for over 10. 

4. We have 4 children: Brandon, Reagan, Colton, & Kendall, that make our life CRAZY FUN!

3. We both have a SICK obsession with In-N-Out Burger, Chick-Fil-A and Pizza Ranch....and will travel a ridiculous distance on a regular basis to ensure we never forget their tasty deliciousness!

2. Westwood has been our church home for as long as we can remember. Dawn’s Grandparents were some of the first members of Westwood. We were married here, our family has grown here (numerically AND spiritually), and now we are blessed to work and serve here. 

1. We both LOVE TEENAGERS! We know.....its weird!  But we believe teenagers (particularly high school students) are the most FUN group of people to hang out with on the planet! You will never find another group anywhere who has more fun, is more passionate, or has the enthusiasm for life that teenagers do! Don’t believe us? Give them some plastic spoons and a deck of cards and see what happens!!! And if they get excited over a silly game of Spoons, imagine what happens when we have the opportunity to share with them about the LOVE OF CHRIST!!! Its incredible, and is the passion God has laid on both of our hearts. 

Director of Worship Arts

Kara & Aaron Willems- - Directors of Middle School Ministry  kara@westwoodchurch.net

5. We Love Missions!  God has given both of us a heart for people from other cultures and countries.  Up until this past year, we've spent our whole married life serving as missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and the RCA in Bangladesh and, primarily, the island nation of Papua New Guinea.

4. We both graduated from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. Aaron with a Humanities degree in Religion and Philosophy. Kara with a Christian Education/Youth Ministry degree and a career concentration in Mission Service.  Aaron then did some graduate linguistic studies in Dallax, TX., and he is currently back in school, getting a second degree at UNO to become a middle or high school science teacher.

3. Aaron loves learning, ultimate Frisbee, Biblical Greek and the Huskers.  Kara loves to putz around with creative projects and enjoys cooking and trying new foods. 

Support Staff of Westwood Church

Connie Wismer -- Office Administrator connie@westwoodchurch.net

Burt Finch -- Staff Administrator burt@westwoodchurch.net

Jennifer Van Cleve -- Director of the Westwood Church Preschool preschoolkids@westwoodchurch.net

Deb Schuiteman -- Supervisor of the Westwood Church Mom's Day Out mdo@westwoodchurch.net