Meet The Team

Chris Perstrope

Lead Pastor

God stirred my heart and my family's heart to begin a new ministry that will reach and influence more people for Christ. We planted Connect Church with this vision in mind; to see new believers and disciples made in Fenton and the surrounding area.

My wife, Rebecca and I grew up in the St. Louis area. For the past 20 years, we have pastored and led worship ministries in Southwest Missouri, South Florida, Northern Indiana and in St. Louis. Rebecca is the Communications and Women's Discipleship Director at Connect and leads our student vocalists on Wednesdays. We are excited to see what God does through our church and look forward to connecting with new people.

We have 4 beautiful kids - Tyler, Chloe, Ellie & Mya. They are all growing musicians and actively serve on our Worship and Media Teams. I am also an avid St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Heat fan!

Contact Pastor Chris at chris@connectchurchstl.com.

Chris Norman

NextGen Pastor & Elder

Christopher Norman "C-Norm"is our NextGen Pastor at Connect Church. He grew up in the Arnold/Imperial area and enjoys playing sports and outdoor activities. He served as an intern at Crosspoint Church STL and served as the Young Adult Associate at the Ridge.

Chris leads our Birth to Young Adult Ministries. His heart is for the emerging generations as he looks to equip, affirm, support and love the students as they grow in Christ.

He and his wife McKayla have one son, Micah, born in 2023 and bringing joy to everyone he meets!

If you have questions for Chris, you can reach him at chrisnorman@connectchurchstl.com .

Follow ConnectSTLStudents on Instagram or Connect Church STL Students on Facebook.

Bryan Menke

Care Pastor & Elder

Bryan leads and serves as our Care Pastor. He trains and equips our lay counselors and personally specializes in marriage, christian and recovery counseling. He is licensed and ordained as a pastor with over a decade in ministry.

Bryan is also a first responder serving our community as a full-time firefighter.

His wife Michele leads our Hand n Hand Pregnancy Center ministry and serves throughout the church alongside their children. Michele is a registered nurse at Hand n Hand and a faithful member of our church.

You can contact Pastor Bryan at bryan@connectchurchstl.com or by phone at 636.492.1605.

Steve Bayer

Associate Pastor

Steve is our Associate Pastor at Connect Church serving in a variety of leadership roles in recovery and discipleship. He is lead pastor over our Celebrate Recovery ministry. Steve also leads our small group and marriage ministries. He and Debbie are passionate about marriage and seeing new believers grow deeper in their faith and strengthening their connection to God and His people.

Steve and his wife Debbie have lived in the St. Louis area all their lives. Steve has been active in ministry for more than 20 years serving in a variety of roles including youth ministry, missionary work, discipleship, and pastoring.

Debbie is an elementary School Teacher in the Mehlville School District. They have 3 amazing children and 2 adorable dogs.

You can reach Steve at SteveBayer@connectchurchstl.com.

Peyton Kostich

Media Director

Peyton is our Media Director at Connect Church. She is well versed in all aspects of sound and media production from years of service at Rickman Auditorium and training under Jeremy Duren for several years.

Peyton has been instrumental in training our next generation of media crew members and continuously improves our in house and online sound and media production.

You will find Peyton in the media booth supporting our worship teams on Wednesdays, Sundays and most special events.

You can reach Peyton at peytonkostich@connectchurchstl.com

Dana Weigel

Administrative Director

Dana oversees many aspects of our planning and operations. If you have any questions regarding facility maintenance, building projects, scheduling, volunteering or any other topic you aren't quite sure where to ask, she can help. Dana also serves on the personnel and finance subteams and other areas and activities as needed.

You can find Dana at church throughout the week. She attends with her husband Chad, and their adult children Emily and Jacob.

You can reach Dana at admin@connectchurchstl.com.

McKayla Norman

Communications and NextGen Assistant Director

McKayla joined our church team in 2019 to serve in our student ministries and most recently in 2020 as our Administrative Assistant. She is a faithful believer and leads our Student Ministry alongside her husband, Chris. McKayla is also dedicated mother to baby Micah, one of our littlest connectors.

McKayla manages our day to day communication tasks from social media posts to developing print materials and a whole lot of tasks in between.

In addition, McKayla has a heart for students and meets throughout the week with our 6th-12th grade young ladies to minister and do life alongside them. According to one of her disciples/students, McKayla is 'fierce' in her faith. We can attest to that and are so grateful for her heart to serve here at Connect.

If you have questions for McKayla, you can reach her at mckaylanorman@connectchurchstl.com .

Rebecca Perstrope

Communication and Women's Discipleship Director

Rebecca serves as our communications director to ensure the entire Connect community remains informed and engaged. In this role, Rebecca coordinates across our various ministries and works closely with our video team and administrative staff to craft the information you see both online and in person.

In addition, Rebecca is leading Connected Women, our women's discipleship ministry with monthly events tailored to our church and community. These events provide an opportunity for the women of Connect to grow deeper in faith and develop relationships.

You can contact Rebecca at rebecca@connectchurchstl.com

Jenn Perez

NextGen Pre-K Director and Administrative Assistant

Jennifer serves as our Connect Kids Pre-K Director and provides administrative support throughout the week. She has a heart for children and has served and led in children's ministry for the last 10+ years. Jennifer also serves as a youth leader on Wednesday nights and leads the high school girls. She is also involved in Lay Counseling at Connect.

When not at Connect, Jenn enjoys time with her husband mark and 2 boys Austin and Logan who keep her on her toes. She also loves her day job cooking and serving at Dave's Diner in Arnold.

You can reach Jenn at JennPerez@connectchurchstl.com.

Tim McGill

Elder & Treasurer

Tim and his wife Sheree are a founding family of the church. They are parents to Rebecca (married to Chris Perstrope with 4 kids and Connect Kids Director), Megan (married to Steven Butler with 4 boys and serving as Connect Church Video Ministry Leads) and Amy (married to Adam Reinking with 3 kids, currently serving as missionaries in Prague.).

Many people recognize Tim as a gifted greeter, he remembers nearly everyone's name even as the church continues to grow. Tim and Sheree have actively led and served both our greeting and hospitality areas since the church was founded.

Tim is an Accountant by trade and has served as elder and treasurer since the church was founded.

If you have questions for Tim, you can reach him at TimMcGill@sbcglobal.net.

Matt Boyd

Elder

Matt and his wife Amanda have faithfully assisted in establishing the church from our early days of set up and tear down to our present day location at 1779 Springdale. They have served in almost every volunteer role at the church. Matt is also passionate about baseball and woodworking, you can see his craft in the cross displayed prominently above the baptismal. Matt continues to serve as an elder and member of the finance and personnel subteam.

Matt and Amanda have 3 children; Parker, Hayden and Mattie. They also have a beautiful labradoodle that enjoys welcoming visitors.

You can reach Matt at mwboyd@ymail.com

Andy Laupp

Elder

Andy and his wife Megan are a founding family of the church. They have a heart for children and have led and served in children's ministry since the church was founded. Andy serves as an elder and member of the finance and personnel subteam.

Andy and Megan have two children; Sam and Mia. You will see all of the Laupp's at church on Wednesday's for Student Night as well as on rotation Sunday in Children's Ministry.

Contact Andy at vaethos1@gmail.com.

Kevin Frost

Maintenance Director

Kevin and his family have been with the team since the founding of Connect Church. Kevin spearheaded a number of projects to prepare the building for our official launch and has selflessly served since then to ensure we have a safe, secure environment to worship in each week. Kevin also serves on our greeting and parking team.

You can reach Kevin at maintenance@connectchurchstl.com.

Joshuwa Scott

Operations & Administration Lead

Joshuwa is a gifted operations and administration leader, serving as our primary on-site staff member Mon-Thurs 8am-5pm. He handles our Sunday operations as well as day-to-day needs throughout the facility to include cleaning management, responding to visitors and phone calls, supply ordering and everything in between. Joshuwa also serves as our point of contact for events and facility requests.

You can find Joshuwa on the stage Sundays rocking the bass or assisting in other roles. He is attending school to be a high school math teacher and most recently worked as a substitute teacher.

If you have administrative needs or any other questions for Joshuwa, you can reach him directly at joshuwascott@connectchurchstl.com or via phone at 636.492.1605.

Steven Butler

Video Director

Steven and his wife Megan are professional photographers and serve the church weekly by filming and finishing the services each week as well as producing our My Story videos annually. Megan sings on our worship team and plays the ukulele.

Steven has advanced our online live and camera offerings to include broadcast to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and other platforms to ensure we share the word in person and online.

Steven and Megan have 4 boys and a full time photography business. You can find them at https://www.smb-studios.com or contact Steven directly at steven@connectchurchstl.com

Tyler Perstrope

Worship Lead

Tyler officially joined the team in June of 2023. He grew up on the stage at Connect Church and has served as drummer, guitarist, vocalist and now worship leader over years of hard work and dedication. Tyler teaches guitar and drum lessons and is currently pursuing his degree.

If you have worship questions, you can reach Tyler at tylerperstrope@connectchurchstl.com.

Mark Perez

Elder & Prayer Director

Mark Perez is a spiritual leader at Connect serving with our NextGen Ministries in addition to his role as Prayer Director. He leads a team that prays over our church every Sunday, serves on the Care Team as a counselor and prayer partner and facilitates all aspects of prayer for our church.

Mark is a lot of fun, has a great sense of humor and is a passionate Christ follower. He and Jenn have two sons, Austin and Logan who also serve in various roles at Connect.

If you would like to reach Mark, you can contact him at mrknjenz@gmail.com.