If you have any general questions for our staff or leadership teams, you can contact the church office at info@gumchurch.com.
Church Staff Team
Church Staff Team
If you have any general questions for our staff or leadership teams, you can contact the church office at info@gumchurch.com.
Pastor Benson grew up in San Antonio, Texas and received his undergrad at Kansas State University. He later received his Masters of Divinity from Duke University in North Carolina. After pastoring a church in Virginia Beach, Benson joined the staff here at Gainesville Church in 2017 as the church planting pastor of our second campus, Revive House Church. In 2023, following the retirement of Pastor John, Pastor Benson was appointed as the Lead Pastor of Gainesville Church. Continuing to see the church grow, sharing Jesus and reaching people who have never been to church has always been Benson's passion! When he's not serving the church he enjoys spending time with his family, wife Alicia, their young son & their two energetic dogs named Bean and Duncan. If you've met Benson, you know he is a self proclaimed "nerd" & "super goofy", and on long weekends you can find him riding his bike and spending time with family & friends.
Jake Mcglothin
Associate Pastor
Pastor Jake was called into ministry while doing disaster relief work in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. He is a New Orleans native and graduated from Louisiana Tech University with a degree in History. He then received his Masters from Wesley Theological Seminary. Jake is passionate about forming & building Christ centered community that impacts our neighbors & the larger community in meaningful ways. Jake met his wife Robin while serving in the Peace Corps together in Armenia. They moved to Northern Virginia in 2010, and have two beautiful children, Mack & Stella. They will soon be adding a puppy to the family named Rusty Bucket McGlothin. Pastor Jake is a Black Belt in Jiu-jitsu, a published author, and loves spending time talking about (and eating :)) food!
Wendy is a Wisconsin native, and graduated with a degree in Business Management. She is a long time member of Gainesville Church along with her husband Chris and 3 boys. She is passionate about helping people grow in their faith and become involved in the church community. When she is not serving at the church, she enjoys spending time with her family, going to concerts, reading and taking care of her plant collection.
adam ruggieri
Worship Director
Adam was born and raised in the greater Philly area (Delco gang rise up!). Even as a young 16 year old his passion for music and worship began to merge as he embraced leadership roles in his local church. He graduated with a degree in music & business from Eastern University and came to Gainesville church in 2016, along with his wife Carol Ann. Adam is passionate about worshipping God through music & he absolutely loves building relationships with people in the church. Fun fact about Adam is that when he's not leading worship his favorite genre of music is heavy metal (yes, like guys screaming and guitars playing at the speed of light...he loves it!).
Bert Miller
Youth Director
Bert is passionate about middle & high school students experiencing life-changing faith in a fun & loving community. Bert grew up in a military family stationed all over the US...from Hawaii, to California, to North Carolina & Virginia. After attending high school in Northern Virginia, he graduated from Roanoke College with a degree in Religious Studies. Bert and his wife Liesl currently call Centreville home.
janet lunsford
Choir Director
Janet is a Western Kentucky native, and grew up along the beautiful Tennessee River. She received her degree in Music Education from Murray State University, and continued with graduate work at Oberlin College & George Mason University here in Virginia. Janet taught High School music & chorus in the Fairfax County Schools for over 22 years before joining us at Gainesville Church as the Choir Director. Janet has a passion for children, youth and adult choirs and enjoys spending time with her family and participating in Women's groups here at the church.
Lisa Davis
Connections Director
Lisa is passionate about pointing people to Christ and helping to foster a community of friends that truly do life together. Originally from California, Lisa attended Los Medanos College for Business Management and then lived in 18 homes, in 7 different states traveling with her husband, Hayes, Coast Guard career. When Lisa isn't serving, singing and working at the church she enjoys spending time with her family...her husband Hayes of 31 years, two adult daughters, and 2 grandchildren.
patrick weaver
AV Director & Database Manager
Patrick is a Northern Virginia native, growing up in Fairfax County before attending Shenandoah University. Patrick is a passionate perfectionist when it comes to being behind our sound board. With a degree in Music Production & Recording Technology he plays an important role in the quality of our worship services. As a new parent of a baby girl, along with his wife Nora, they spend much of their free time together as a family.
renee johnson
Children's Education Director
Renee is passionate about teaching children how much God loves them here at Gainesville Church! She is a California native, with a marketing degree from San Jose State University. Renee grew up as an active member in her local Catholic Church and began a personal walk with Jesus at a Young Life camp in High School. Renee has a very active family with her husband Eric & two kids in high school. When she's not at church, they enjoy the outdoors, sports and working out.
carrie lee
Assistant Children's Education Director
Carrie truly loves working with children and helping them to build a personal relationship with Jesus. She grew up in Western Pennsylvania in a very faithful family attending her local church. As a former school teacher, Carrie is passionate about education and graduated with a Masters Degree in Education, with a specialization in Gifted Education. When she's not here at Gainesville Church, Carrie enjoys crafting and baking with her 3 young girls, and spending time with her husband Steven.
Bernadette yamasaki
Receptionist
Bernadette grew up in Maryland before moving to Northern Virginia. After attending Gainesville Church for many years, she became a part of our staff team in 2017. Bernadette's passion is helping people in need as she leads our community assistance program. When she's not serving here at the church she is a phenomenal quilter & seamstress. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and two adult children.
Melonie Plotkowski
Office Manager
Melonie is new to the Northern Virginia area recently moving from North Carolina with her husband and 4 children. She graduated with a degree in Interior Architecture and Graphic Design from the University of NC in Greensboro. She served as the Communications Director at her former church in NC before moving to VA and joining Gainesville Church family. She has a passion for design, church communications, and reaching the un-churched in our community.
Karl Shultz
Ministry Intern
Karl is a northern Virginia native and is currently attending a local college while exploring the possibility of being calling into ministry. Karl has attended GUMC for over 15 years and recently accepted the position of Ministry Intern to both grow in his faith & gain the experience of working directly in ministry. He is passionate about bringing as many people as possible to the knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ. When he's not serving here at the church you can find him enjoying time with friends, hiking, fishing, weightlifting and busy with school.
bean mcglone
Bean is a wise and gentle soul, passionate about ministry and staff morale. He's been in ministry his whole life. Bean knows the key to a good day at church begins with a full breakfast. You can find him every morning waiting patiently outside the church kitchen, while a certain human prepares him bacon, eggs, and cheese. The rest of the day you can find him checking on the staff, knowing the best way to cheer us up is by having us scratch his back or give him a treat.
duncan mcglone
Duncan (AKA Dunkie, AKA Dunkerton, AKA Sir Dunkerton, AKA Chunkerton, AKA Dunc) is the world's goofiest floof. Duncan is passionate about only two things in life, people giving him food and tennis balls. He's not sure why he has to go to church all the time, but there is always an ample supply of tennis balls and food, so he goes along with it. Deceptively empathetic, whenever anyone is having a rough day they soon find a 65 lbs dood jumping into their lap.