CLICK on each picture to view an enlargement.

Minister - Rev. Brett Winters
brett@raymorecc.org

Rev. Winters serves as the Senior Minister at Raymore Christian Church, having served prior in Scottsdale, Arizona. and Tyler, Texas.  Brett has been married to his best friend, Trish Thompson Winters, whom he met and fell in love with, at Lexington Theological Seminary.  Trish is also an ordained Disciple's minister.

Brett's roots are in northern Iowa, and his in-laws are in Missouri and so it is great for them to be back in the Midwest.  Brett's children are of the four legged variety: 2 dogs and 1 rabbit.

Intern Minister - Raymond Hankins
hankinsministry@sbcglobal.net

Raymond Hankins is currently a student at Saint Paul School of Theology where he is pursuing a Master's of Divinity degree.  Raymond is married to Angela and they have just celebrated their 30^th anniversary together.  They have two children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

When Raymond is not reading and studying his theological textbooks, he likes to pursue photography with his large format cherry wood camera and tinker with computers.  Raymond loves to work with people, preach, teach the scriptures and lead others in gaining a greater understanding of God.

Organist - Jan Van Otterloo
vanhumphreyloo@sbcglobal.net

Janice Van Otterloo serves as organist at Raymore Christian Church in Raymore, Missouri, and is a private instructor for organ and harpsichord.  She is also a Staff Organist at the Community of Christ World Headquarters in Independence, Missouri, and performs regularly on the 113-rank Aeolian-Skinner organ in the auditorium and the 102-rank Casavant organ in the Temple.  Ms. Van Otterloo graduated summa cum laude from Drake University with a Bachelor of Church Music degree, where she studied organ with Carl Staplin, piano with Frank Wiens, and harpsichord with David Harris.  She continued her training at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with a graduate assistantship in organ and harpsichord under Robert Anderson and Larry Palmer, and was awarded the Master of Music in organ and harpsichord performance, also summa cum laude.  Prior to moving to the greater Kansas City area, Ms. Van Otterloo was Adjunct Professor of Organ and Harpsichord at Edison Community College in Fort Myers, and organist at Saint Hilary's Episcopal Church, also in Fort Myers.  In the summer of 2006, she toured Europe as organist/accompanist for the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus.  She is in frequent demand as a guest organist/recitalist and accompanist and was selected for inclusion in the Who's Who in America, 2009 Edition.

Jan was born in Sioux Center, Iowa and has been playing the organ for churches since she was fifteen years old.  She lives in Raymore, Missouri with her husband, Ray Humphreys and their three dogs.  She loves reading, walking and her all time favorite movie is Gone with the Wind.

Bookkeeper - Ken Maxson
ken@raymorecc.org

Ken Maxson has served as the bookkeeper for Raymore Christian Church for over 10 years.  Before coming here he worked 20 years in a nursing home business office and 2 years for H&R Block as an FIN bookkeeper.

He was born in Beatrice, Nebraska and graduated from North High School in Omaha, Nebraska.  He is married to wife, Judy and says some of his best moments have not only been with her but also the birth of his 9 grandchildren and great-grandchild.  Ken and his wife Judy are members of Crossroads United Methodist Church.

He loves football and baseball and some of his hobbies include: fishing, horseback riding, putting together puzzles, taking walks in the woods and communing with nature.  He loves watching action, western and science fiction movies.  Meat loaf, steak, chocolate cake, and brownies are some of his favorite foods.

A helpful hint he would like to pass on is; look to help those who are less fortunate than you, keep a smile on your face, and leave everything up to HIM and it will be done.

Custodian - Everett Kilbourne

Everett serves in the position as our head custodian and helps oversee that maintenance needs are taken care of here at Raymore Christian Church.  He retired from Safeway and also worked as a custodian for one of the schools in the Kansas City School District before coming to Raymore Christian Church.

He is from Itman, West Virginia and has been married to his lovely wife, Sarah for over 50 years.  They have 2 daughters and 3 grandchildren.  Some of his hobbies include yard work, working on cars and traveling.  He loves watching old western and action packed movies and loves all kinds of homemade pies, especially cheesecake.

Preschool Director - Rhonda Bobbitt

My husband Craig and I have lived in Belton for 16 years.  We have 3 children, Karlee 19, a freshmen attending Allen County Community College on a volleyball scholarship, Greta 17, a senior at Belton High School and Isaac 12, who is in 7th grade.  Thirteen years ago, Bright Cherubs Preschool was started by me and Louanne Cownie of Lee's Summit, Missouri.  Running a preschool and having 3 children who are busy in sports and school takes up most of my time, but I do enjoy cooking and scrapbooking.

Music Director - Suzanne Hatcher
Suzanne@raymorecc.org

A versatile musician and life-long Christian daughter of a minister, Suzanne Hatcher is comfortable on both choral and orchestral podiums as well as behind the piano and in front of audiences as a singer.  Holding a Master of Music degree in Voice from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas, Suzanne is in the final revision stages of her dissertation for the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Conducting with a vocal pedagogy cognate from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

Suzanne's church ministry career has spanned over 20 years to date.  Starting as a church pianist at the age of 13, she has served churches in the following denominations: American Baptist, Southern Baptist, Episcopal, United Church of Christ, and Presbyterian.  She has also done substitute work in ministry in Catholic and Lutheran churches, and now holds a teaching position at a Catholic school where playing twice-weekly Mass is one of her duties.  Now with her position at Raymore Christian Church, Suzanne adds Disciples of Christ to her already diverse religious background.  She is comfortable with all aspects and styles of worship, and had led everything from Taize, having made a pilgrimage to France, to plain-chant to high liturgy to extremely informal, cutting-edge contemporary worship.  Congregations and colleagues have always admired her ability to infuse new ideas into long-standing traditions, and to encourage and build the talents of her musicians.

As a choral conductor, Suzanne has worked with all levels and ages of singers.  While at UM, Suzanne was one of the founding conductors of the Advanced Women's Choir, a co-conductor of Maelstrom - the University's Men's Choir, and on the conducting rotations for both Chamber Singers and the internationally acclaimed Frost University Chorale.  Suzanne can be heard conducting the University Chorale on their album, What Dreams May Come, released in 2004 on the Albany Records label.  Suzanne also spent three years as the chorus master for the Frost Opera Program, preparing everything from Gilbert & Sullivan to Wagner.  Since her time at UM, Suzanne has been the conductor of the Chapel Choir at William Jewell College and a guest conductor of the Liberty Symphony for a performance of Puccini's Messa di Gloria.  She informally functioned as an assistant conductor for the Orlando Gay Chorus during the year she was their accompanist and one of their resident arrangers.

As a singer, Suzanne has been hailed for her rich, dramatic spinto voice and her musical and dramatic interpretations.  The Stockton Record praised her elegant musicianship and flawless intonation, the Florida Sun-Sentinel said she brought sassy panache to a performance of Yiddish music, and the Miami Herald raved about her deep voice in the music of Debussy.  Additional reviews have called her singing lovely and her voice dulcet.  South Florida reviewer Lawrence Budman wrote Suzanne displayed fearless coloratura and was luxury casting in a performance of the operatic music of Mozart.  Suzanne was singled out in a review of New World Symphony's performance of Schubert's Mass in E Flat as one of the soloists under the famous conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.  She has been heard in opera, oratorio, and concert in California, Washington, Texas, North Carolina, Kansas, Missouri, Florida, and across the pond in England.

Also an active professional chorister, Suzanne is a member of Seraphic Fire (a chamber choir based in South Florida), the new Kansas City-based choir Voices of Peace, and she is an alumnus of the Kansas City Chorale.  With Seraphic Fire, Suzanne can be heard as a soloist on several recordings.  Additionally, she has held memberships in numerous professional organizations and in 2005 was inducted into Pi Kappa Lambda, the Honor Society for Music.

Suzanne has been on the faculties of Florida International University, Miami-Dade College, University of South Florida where she was a Visiting Artist in Residence and principle coach for the opera program, and most recently William Jewell College in the Kansas City metro area where she was the Director of Vocal Studies.  Content to be away from academia for a while, Suzanne currently serves as the Music Director for Raymore Christian Church, Music Teacher for Our Lady of Unity Catholic School, and Conductor/Artistic Director of the Northland Community Choir.