Clergy & Staff

Rev. Bryan Matias

Deacon-in-Charge

Grace is Bryan’s first call in his ordained ministry. He is a proud graduate of Bexley Seabury Seminary where he received the Saint Marina Scholarship, awarded to LGBTQ students seeking ordination and interested in social justice ministry. He also currently serves on the Bexley Seabury Board of Directors. Prior to being ordained, Bryan studied mechanical engineering at Northwestern and worked as an HVAC design engineer, designing air conditioning systems for hospitals and universities. He is honored and humbled to have been asked to serve here at Grace, to get to spread God’s love to all people and work for the care and justice of all in the New Lenox community and beyond. He lives here in New Lenox with his wife Kendall, their dog Riker, and turtle, Simon.

Fun Facts about Bryan

  • Bryan built sets for plays in college and was part of a Shakespearean theatre company called Lovers & Madmen

  • Bryan's favorite board games are Dominion and Scrabble

  • Bryan loves biking, kayaking, hiking, running and any other way to keep from sitting still too long.

Lauren Meder

Parish Administrator

Lauren has over 10 years’ experience working as an Administrative Assistant. Her passion in the workforce has been problem solving. Lauren enjoys keeping up with technology any chance she has, her favorite classes were Microsoft SharePoint and Introduction to SQL.

FUN facts about LAUREN

  • Lauren has 2 dogs, a few reptiles, a lot of fish, and chickens.

  • Her favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz (1939), and her favorite book is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

  • Lauren has a love for all types of music. She played the violin for years growing up and is re-learning again, along with teaching herself guitar.

chrissy@gracenewlenox.org

Chrissy Putlak

Minister of Music

Chrissy started working at Grace Episcopal Church as the Minister of Music in February of 2018. She started taking piano lessons when she was 7 years old and has been playing ever since. She received her Bachelor’s in Music Education from VanderCook College of Music in 2017 and currently teaches General Music to kindergarten through third grade in Park Forest. When she’s not teaching or playing, she loves to spend time with her friends and family.

FUN FACTS about Chrissy

  • Chrissy learned how to play 19 instruments in college - the ones she excels at include piano, percussion, and bassoon.

  • ”Lord of the Rings” are her all-time favorite movies and book series.

  • Chrissy loves plants and gardening - although she is new to it, she loves planting flowers (or tomatoes) and taking care of her many houseplants.