Meet the team.

we love Jesus. We Love Yakima. We Love To Laugh.

Curt McFarland

Alex Rule

Designated Pastor

Pastor, Missions & Outreach

After leaving in 2009, Curt returns to Grace of Christ to serve as assistant pastor. From the end of 1995 to 2005 Curt served on staff as pastor/director at Ghormley, and then for four additional years here at the church...
Meet Curt.

Pastor Alex served “Gracia de Cristo," the Spanish-speaking community of our Church Family; he also spearheads our outreach to the Latino community at Adams Elementary...
Meet Alex.

Kara Brown

Jazheel Garcia-Figueroa

Student Ministry Director

Student Ministry Asst

Kara joined us as our Director of Student Ministries in the Summer of 2022. God has set a deep passion in her to connect our youth with a LIVING God!
Meet Kara.

Jahzeel Garcia-Figueroa is now our Student Ministry Assistant. Jahzeel has recently heard the Lord call her in this direction for now. As she grew up in this church, she was very active in youth. She attended youth consistently from 7th -12th grade.
Meet Jahzeel.

Sarah Huck

Nate Gross

Family At Grace

Contemporary Worship

Sarah was born and raised in Yakima, Washington. She worked in pharmacy for 13 years before deciding to stay home with her growing family. She and her husband, Marcus have been married for 15 years and have four children- Wyatt, River, Silas, and Ella...
Meet Sarah.

Nathan was born and raised in the Yakima Valley, calling Selah home for most of his life. He started writing songs at a young age, and has led worship since he was 16 years old, with Psalms 96 & 150 being instrumental Biblical passages in his development as a leader...
Meet Nate.

jason wickson

becca Mailand

Traditional Worship

Preschool Director

Jason is our Traditional Worship Director at Grace - working primarily with our Temple Choir and Jon Waite, organist, who lead our worship service at 11:00...
Meet Jason.

Becca is our Preschool Director at Grace of Christ. I am delighted to be back at Grace of Christ Preschool and can't wait to see what God has in store for this amazing school and ministry. Meet Becca.

crystal Lopez

Preschool Teacher

amber Miller

Preschool Teacher

Crystal is our Preschool Teacher at Grace of Christ. I started working for Grace of Christ back when it was still First Presbyterian in 2004. Meet Crystal.

Amber is our Preschool Teacher at Grace of Christ. I am so excited to watch your children learn and play this year! Meet Amber.

Amiya Aparicio

Preschool Assistant

ana Espinoza

Preschool Assistant

This is my first year at Grace of Christ, but I have worked with PreK to 5th grade students at Adams Elementary since 2015. I am so excited to work with your children one on one and help them grow to their full potential!
Meet Amiya.

This is my first year at Grace of Christ! I love working with kids and helping them solve problems in a positive way...
Meet Ana.

tammy Nunley

Business Manager

Tammy Nunley celebrated 25 years at Grace as Business/Finance Manager in 2020! (Happy Anniversary, Tammy!) She was born and raised in Nebraska although she loves living in the Pacific Northwest...
Meet Tammy.

Deb Meyers

Tech & Communications

Debbie loves worshiping the Lord and loves technology – so she has the perfect job -using technology to bring Glory to God! She joined the staff in 1991 following a stint as the volunteer newsletter editor,..
Meet Debbie.

ericka clark

Pastor's Assistant

Ericka has been on staff at Grace since 2001. She spent the first 16 years in the main office and since 2019 has been the administrative assistant to the pastors...
Meet Ericka.

Jennifer Brice

Front Office

Jennifer joined Grace of Christ in March of 2017 bringing laughter and joy to our childcare. She has two boys Miles Jr. and Ezekiel that are the loves of her life. Jennifer was born and raised in Yakima with her 8 older siblings...
Meet Jennifer.

Dan Barela

Custodian

Serving now as Head Custodian, Dan Barela started at Grace of Christ in 1987 - yep, that's 34 years ago! He loves serving with the staff and all the people of our ministries, from Preschool to Golden Circle...
Meet Dan.

John Yolo

Facilities

During John's youth in the Lower Valley during the 60's & 70's, John "attended" First Pres via KIT Radio. Then in the 80's he moved to Yakima and, on a Sunday morning invitation from a classmate, John found his in-person Church home with Grace!
Meet John.

meet our lay leaders.

dennis whitcher

Lay Pastor

Dennis received his Certificate in Lay Ministry from Whitworth College in 2002. He was ordained as a Lay Pastor and commissioned to serve as the Pastor for the Tieton Presbyterian Church where he and his wife Barbara served for three years. Dennis was commissioned by our Session in January 2014, to serve as a volunteer Lay Pastor for Grace of Christ Church.

Dennis currently serves as a Deacon, conducts worship services at retirement homes, performs memorial and funeral services, serves on the Pastoral Care Team and assists during Sunday worship. He enjoys quilting with his wife Barbara, target shooting, trap shooting, and golf.