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Our Staff

 

Rev. Mark Middlekauff
Pastor
 

After coming to faith in Christ in his late twenties, Mark became a volunteer leader in the junior high youth group at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis. He loved it! Soon he was asked to join the staff and lead the junior high group part time while running the computer business he started. In the fall of 1998, after being on staff for a month, his future wife Lesley came on staff with the senior high youth group. They met, fell in love, and were married within a year.

A year later they sold the computer business and Mark became the Youth Director over all the student ministries. He also entered Covenant Theological Seminary. In 2005 he graduated with Masters in Divinity. He and Lesley began praying for the next chapter in their lives – a church planting opportunity which landed them here on the East End.

Mark and Lesley have three daughters and a chocolate lab named Gus. He is an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, enjoys cycling and motorcycling, fishing, and good IPA’s.

 

Lesley Middlekauff
Director of Youth & Family Ministry
 

Lesley’s parents came to faith in Christ when she was a young child and as a result she was blessed to grow up in a nurturing Christian home and vibrant church.  She spent much of her childhood pursuing athletic opportunities and attending church events. In college, she combined her love for the outdoors with her heart for ministry and started a backpacking ministry called Miami Trail Ministries.

After graduating college, she moved on to be a mountaineering guide in Colorado with Young Life.  In between guiding seasons, she joined the youth ministry staff at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, where she met her husband, Mark. Lesley and Mark served in the youth ministry at Central for 8 years while Mark also attended Seminary.  During that season their three daughters, Grace, Lily, and Ella were born.  

In 2006 they took the call and made the move to begin a church planting adventure on the East End of Long Island. Lesley particularly enjoys kids of any age, counseling, outdoor adventures, animals, athletics, good food, and the ocean. 

 

Adriana Pariz
Ministry Director
 

Adriana was born in Brazil and moved to North Carolina with her family when she was 11. She is the youngest of seven kids and enjoys 14 nieces and nephews!

Adriana came to faith her freshman year in college. Upon graduating, she worked with a college ministry in Virginia for four years.

After leaving Virginia, Adriana came to the Hamptons to visit her brother for a month and never left, that was in March of 2010! She fell in love with the vision of Grace Church and in January of 2012, she accepted the position of Ministry Director. She graduated from Covenant Theological Seminary in 2020 with her masters in Theological Studies.

Adriana is the proud owner of a red Boston Terrier named Charlie. When she isn’t running around with him, she enjoys spending time with her huge family, playing tennis, traveling and riding her Vespa.

 

Hannah Faye Huizing
Music Director
 

Hannah Faye hails from northern New Jersey where she grew up taking piano lessons, singing with her sister, and always going to the mall. She grew up in a Christian household and was encouraged to use her musical gifts for the church from a very early age. She has since been involved in music ministry for most of her life.

Hannah Faye studied Vocal Performance at Messiah College, where she was also employed at the Office of College Ministries as a Worship Consultant and Technical Assistant. Upon graduating college in 2012, she worked as a vocal musician from performing to teaching private lessons and middle school choir. In 2014, she married Josh, moved to the East End, and hit the ground running by serving on Grace Presbyterian’s Music Team and as a youth group leader. She continues to use her love for vocal education and performance by teaching private voice lessons under Huizing Voice Studio, serving as a Vocal Coach for Pierson Middle School’s musicals, and singing with the Choral Society of the Hamptons. She and Josh welcomed their son, Josiah, in March of 2019.

Aside from music, Hannah Faye enjoys eating doughnuts, drinking coffee, and watching sitcoms and stand-up comedy on Netflix.