Meet Our Team

Rev. Paul Sausser – Pastor

Pastor Paul and his wife Renae have been at Discovery for twenty years. Through preaching, leading, and discipling, Pastor Paul has helped lead the church into spiritual, missionary, and numerical growth.

He has a M.Div. degree from Calvin Theological Seminary and a D.Min. degree from Bethel Theological Seminary in St. Paul. He has served at three other churches leading up to Discovery. Pastor Paul is a lifelong learner, especially in the area of biblical literature and ancient biblical culture.

He and his wife Renae, a retired nurse, enjoy hiking, biking, running, traveling, reading, and cooking new dishes.

Pastor Paul is currently on sabbatical and will retire at the end of 2024.

Rev. Neil Jasperse – Specialized Transitional Minister

Neil Jasperse began transitional ministry at Discovery Church in November, 2024. At the start of his 37 years of gospel ministry he pastored three churches: in northern California, Champaign, IL, and in Grand Rapids. Since being called to transitional ministry, he has served seven other churches, ranging from New Mexico to Nashville to the Chicago area and northern Michigan. His passion is to help people come to know and admire Jesus and to build up churches that are going through major and often difficult transitions. 

Neil’s wife, Ruth, is a retired social worker. She worked for many years at the contact center of Pine Rest. They have two adopted sons: one an officer in the Marines, the other in the IT field in Grand Rapids.

Neil enjoys sports (an avid fan of the Packers), music, table games, good books, and regular walks and exercise workouts.

Rev. Mary Sterenberg – Pastor of Prayer and Spirituality

Pastor Mary is a charter member of Discovery Church. She currently serves as pastor of prayer and spirituality at Discovery Church, Alpha co-director, and healing prayer ministry director.

Previously, Mary served as the Prayer Mobilizer for the Christian Reformed Home Missions Great Lakes Region for eleven years, and served for ten years as Prayer Coordinator for Classis Grand Rapids South. She served seven years on the board of directors for Presbyterian Reformed Ministries International (PRMI). Mary also served as co-chair of the Grand Rapids CityFest Prayer Team for the Luis Palau Association in 2018.  Mary is a member of the faculty of the Dunamis Institute (PRMI) and teaches on prayer and the Holy Spirit throughout North America.

She resides in Caledonia, MI with her husband Bruce. They have three grown and married children and nine grandchildren. Mary’s passion is for the bride of Christ to be healed, holy, unified, restored, revived, and empowered!

Pastor Lonnie Shields – Worship Director

Pastor Lonnie and his wife, Diane, both graduated from Oral Roberts University (they got married the evening of Graduation Day). They founded New Life Christian Fellowship on the northeast side of Grand Rapids and pastored there for many years until a woman ran a red light and hit them almost head-on at about 65 MPH in 2012. The serious injuries they both sustained forced Pastor Lonnie to retire from pastoring New Life. Diane has suffered through nineteen surgeries since the wreck and deals with chronic pain.

Lonnie’s father fostered his love for music, teaching him to play the mandolin in church at the age of three, and encouraging him to take up other instruments as he grew. Praise and Worship has always been a strong focus of his personal life and ministry, especially when he came to understand that God “inhabits the praises” of His people (Ps. 22:3 KJV).

Tony Terpstra – Intergenerational Worship Consultant

Tony has been a Discovery family member for most of his life, despite moving away for a dozen years after college. He returned to the area during Covid and eagerly re-joined the worship team, as playing the drums has been one of his favorite ways to worship. Tony joined the Discovery staff in 2023, first serving part-time as Interim Worship Director for several months. In his current role at Discovery, he assists with planning and leading worship services while exploring authenticity in worship for Discovery family members of all ages.

In addition to his part-time role at Discovery, Tony is a full-time Instructional Designer for Our Daily Bread Ministries, and a weekly volunteer with Bridge Street Ministries. Tony also enjoys parenting adventures with his two young boys, tabletop adventures with his gaming group, and outdoor adventures of any kind in any season.

Sara Barnaby – Administrator

Sara has been a member of Discovery Church for over thirty years. She has served in many ministry positions, including Elder. Sara currently serves as the administrator, Safe Church coordinator, and communication link within the church. Through emails, text, phone calls, bulletin announcements, daily prayer requests, setting schedules and a host of other ways, Sara serves the church family by enhancing strong communication lines.

Sara is married and has four children and 3 grandchildren. She is also a licensed professional counselor who desires to help people work through tough times in life. Sara enjoys gardening, hanging out with her grandchildren, and exploring the Upper Peninsula.

Ted Jarmon – Facilities

Ted has been a member of Discovery Church for over twelve years. He has served in various ministry positions over the years and has mentored and continues to mentor where needed.

Ted has been Discovery’s custodian for over 10 years. He is also employed as a supervisor for a manufacturing company (plastic injection molding) for the last 18 years.

Ted’s free time is spent mostly studying the Word and watching anything sports related! He has two children, Abryanna and Ted Jr.

Ahna Ziegler – Digital Content Manager

Ahna grew up with Discovery Church, toddling around in the church’s infancy and singing on praise team as soon as she could. During college, she began designing graphics and creating videos while serving on Discovery’s worship planning team.

After working in marketing at Eerdmans Publishing for 6 years and then running her own freelance business, now she splits time between managing Discovery’s digital presence and taking care of her two children.

Ahna spends her time knitting, reading, running, and watching Star Trek, and shares a love of board games and local cuisine with her husband Dan.