Eternal Rock Staff

  • TOm Engelbrecht, Interim Pastor

    I’ve been married to my beautiful bride, Jackie, for 20 years this year. We have three boys and a girl—Jonas, Silas, Lucas, and Cecily—ranging from a junior in high school to 6th grade.  I’ve had the privilege of serving churches in Illinois, Wisconsin, and now Christ Our Redeemer in Aurora. Connecting people to Jesus through the Word of God is one of my favorite things to do. When I’m not doing that, I’m usually trying to get to the mountains with my family for camping/hiking, or sneaking off to a river to do some fishing.

  • Carrie Ochitwa, worship & Music

    I came to Colorado for the first time when I was twelve - it was enough for me to fall in love with the mountains and sunshine. It is no accident that my first job after college brought me to Denver.

    Traveling was a wonderful part of my marketing career. Living in Chicago was fun and exciting and also where I met my husband, Rob. We loved the big city but I was thrilled to move back to Denver and build careers and family here. Little did I know about his aspirations to play bass guitar and haul equipment around a stage.

    Our oldest daughter, Annie, works in broadcast news in New York City. It is awesome to visit her in Manhattan taking in shows, sports events and amazing restaurants. Janie is our youngest, a professional figure skater. She is often touring around the US, Canada and Mexico. We love any time she gets to spend with us in between tours. We have two dogs, Lola and Eileen, a labradoodle and a mini Australian shepherd - small, but tough enough to herd the entire neighborhood. Playing tennis, swimming, skiing, paddle boarding  and traveling are favorite activities.

    I’m blessed with a lifelong love of music and the opportunity to work with talented vocalists, musicians and tech volunteers at Eternal Rock. The worship team is like a little family; a favorite thing is to listen to live music and socialize whenever we can. People that know me well would say that music is the way I connect most with my fellow Christians. If you want to know more about music at Eternal Rock, please let me know!

  • Dan Kleist, Youth & Member Ministry

    I grew up as a PK (Pastor's Kid) in suburban Chicago during the good ol' days of the Jordan Era. After attending WELS schools for high school (Luther Prep) and two years of college (Martin Luther College) I earned a degree in Recreation and Resource Management and pursued a career in forestry. I started getting involved in ministry to 20s & 30s after moving to Colorado, and eventually was offered the opportunity to serve as Staff Minister at St. Peter in Fort Collins. I completed the Staff Ministry Certification at Martin Luther College in 2019, and accepted a call to serve Eternal Rock in 2023.

    As Youth and Member Ministry Coordinator, I help provide opportunities for members to gather around God's Word through Youth Group & Connect Groups, work to build community inside and outside of the church through fellowship and community events, and help people find opportunities to put their faith into action through service in the church and community.

    My wife Emily and I met when she became the Preschool Director at St. Peter, and sharing an office together quickly led to sharing a life together! We have two sons, Judah and Caleb, and love getting outdoors, bringing people together, playing games, and watching Judah dance to just about anything.


    dan@eternalrock.org

  • Emily Kleist, Children's Ministry

    I grew up in Brillion, WI, in a home of teachers and future teachers. Both my mom and dad taught at my elementary school, and after many years of forcing each other to play “school,” all three of my siblings and I eventually became teachers, too!

    I attended Martin Luther College where I earned a degree in Elementary Education. After graduating in 2014, I was assigned to be the Director and Lead Teacher of Christ Our Savior Academy in Columbia, TN. I served in Tennessee for 5 years before accepting a new  position at Little Lambs Preschool in Fort Collins, CO, where I met my husband Dan. I resigned my position in 2022 to be able to stay home with our two boys, Judah and Caleb. Our family moved to Castle Rock and joined the ER family in 2023.

    In my free time I enjoy getting outside with my family, playing games, reading a good book, and reliving the glory days of elementary recess by playing in adult rec kickball leagues.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

  • List Item

    Type the content for this list item here. This is just example text to show you what it will look like when you enter text content into this list item. Your unique, authentic, and appropriate text will be filled into this section. Once you click into this text area, you will see the filler text disappear.

Leadership Council


  • John Witt

    President

    Type content here...

  • Randy Sillan

    Secretary

    Type content here...

  • Bob Brown

    Treasurer

    Type content here...

  • Randy Niemann

    Member care

    Type content here...

  • Eric Schmidt

    Financial Secretary

    Type content here...