Ministers & Staff Rev. Russell Willoughby SENIOR MINISTER Pastor Russell Willoughby, our Senior Minister, has been leading Church of the Valley since the Summer of 2006. Pastor Russ is a 1985 graduate of Howard Payne University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in religion.  His Master of Divinity degree was taken at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in 1988.  Later, he earned a Master of Arts in religion with a specialty in philosophy of religion and theology from The Claremont Graduate University in 1994. Currently, Pastor Russell is completing his Doctor of Philosophy degree. Pastor Russell is a native of Monett, Missouri where he lived until age 14.  His family moved to Cuero, Texas a week before he started high school.  During his senior year at Cuero High, he began dating Sarah Means.  They married while in college, four years later.  Their son, Christian, was born in 1997. The Willoughbys have served churches in Texas, California, and Missouri.  During seminary in Louisville, Pastor Russell also worked at a homeless shelter on Skid Row.  He later became a shelter director while Sarah finished her graduate degree in social work.  Originally ordained as a Southern Baptist minister, Pastor Russell switched to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) following seminary.  For the past 20 years, the Willoughbys have been happy participants in this wonderful, open-minded, and progressive denomination. Rev. Michael Kosik ASSISTANT MINISTER Director of Children's Ministry Our Children's Minister, Rev. Michael Kosik, also serves as one of our church's Assistant Ministers.  He has been a member of Church of the Valley and The Little Brown Church for over 20 years and has been working with our children for over 10 of those years.  Michael is an accomplished writer of children's plays and songs and has been a part of the entertainment industry, as an actor, for many years.  Currently, Michael is working on his Masters of Divinity degree at Claremont School of Theology. Rev. VeAnn Clark ASSISTANT MINISTER Director of Youth Ministry Our Youth Minister, VeAnn Clark, also serves as one of the church's Assistant Ministers. VeAnn has worked with teens for the past 15 years. She has been a member of Church of the Valley (COV) since 1999 when she began volunteering regularly with the church's outreach ministry team at juvenile hall. In 2001, she and her husband Michael became youth leaders in COV's Youth Ministry Department; leading Jr. High Sunday School. In 2003, VeAnn was hired as Youth Director. In this position of ministry, VeAnn serves as pastor to Jr High Youth, Sr High Youth, Young Adults and their families.   Through her leadership, the youth department at Church of the Valley successfully launched Emerge, an after-school program, focused on homework tutoring and multimedia enrichment classes. Also in 2005, VeAnn co-founded Boot-n-Bible Film Camp with filmmaker Alan McFarland. Both Emerge and the Boot-n-Bible Film Camp programs encourage youth to explore who they are and what they believe through creative mediums such as digital film and other forms of technology-based media.   VeAnn holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Central Florida. In 2009, VeAnn graduated with a Certificate of Ministry Studies, a two-year program through the Disciples Seminary Foundation and Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California.  Currently, she is discerning the pursuit of a Master degree in Media Psychology and Social Change. Photos and Staff Bios coming soon.... Martha Barron Assistant Youth Director Barbara Campbell PRESCHOOL DIRECTOR Linda Kerns MUSIC DIRECTOR Ed Martel ORGANIST Tony Fine MAINTENANCE