Lead Pastor
Pastor Craig
and Lisa Riportella
married in August of 1993, that same year they began ministry together.
They have an amazing family of five children who range in age from
three to twelve years old. They both attended Southeastern University
in Lakeland Florida. This is where they began dating and got married
soon after graduation.
Craig received his
ministerial credentials with the Assemblies of God in 1996 in the State
of Maine where he was serving as the youth pastor of Calvary Temple.
Since that time he has had the wonderful privilege to travel
extensively in ministry both stateside as well as overseas. The
majority of his youth ministry years were spent in New York State where
he was on staff in one of New York’s premier churches. He oversaw a
large and thriving youth ministry there which had an incredible impact
in the community and inner city of Binghamton. The
Riportella’s moved back to Southern New England and settled in
Sturbridge Massachusetts where Craig served on the executive
administrative team for the Southern New England District of the
Assemblies of God. He was the District Youth Director and oversaw the
youth and Christian education ministries of approximately one-hundred
and sixty-five churches. He was primarily responsible for providing
training, networking and resources for the churches as well as large
scale youth events such as camps, conventions, retreats, and mission
trips.
Craig and Lisa moved back to
Waterville Maine in January 2006 with their family to lead the church
that they began youth ministry in some fifteen years earlier. The Lord
has used them in a wonderful transformation of the church. The church
was in need of revitalization and that is exactly what God has done.
Make no mistake; Craig and Lisa fully realize that unless God builds
the house, we labor in vain. However, God was looking for someone to
partner with to re-establish a vibrant, healthy, and effective 21st
century balanced and biblically grounded Pentecostal church in Northern
New England. Craig and Lisa are thrilled to be a part of what God is
doing in this church and the community. Lives are literally being
transformed for the glory of God! Craig and Lisa both say… “We are
privileged to be a small part of what the Lord is doing and so excited
to see what God still has ahead”
Over the
years a trademark and passion of Craig’s is raising up leaders. He has
a passion to train, equip and mobilize an army of warriors who will
take back the ground that the enemy has stolen. Craig says, “My goal is
to train people up for works of service; the Northeast has been in a
spiritual slumber far too long. It’s time for us to take back ground
that the enemy has stolen”.
Craig and
Lisa do not claim to be perfect or to have all the answers. They are
both to quick to acknowledge, we are JUST REAL. We are all very REAL
people, just sharing life together. We are all on a journey and we are
called to help each other along the way. “Real People Sharing Real Life
Together”, that’s what we’re all about! [Contact
Pastor Craig]
Ministry Associate
Youth/Children
Zach Dickey has been attending Calvary Temple since
2006, and has been working for Calvary Temple since 2008 in a number of
different roles. He works as a ministry associate for
children/youth here at Calvary Temple. He is our Chidren's Director
and also runs our Jr. High program, Jr. FRESH, the first and third Fridays
of each month. Zach currently is taking courses through Berean School
of the Bible for Pastoral Ministry. His passion is to see kids come to know
God on an extremely personal level, help them realize that Jesus is the best
friend they could ever ask for, and to make the Bible come to life for them.
[Contact Zach]
Wee Count Director
Danielle
became the
director of Wee Count in June of 2007. She fills in both the infant/toddler
and preschool rooms when needed. She brings a wealth of skills to the
position including experience in center and home-based child care. She also
has several years experience as a nanny in the private sector. Most
recently, she has held a Director's position at a large childcare facility
overseeing all aspects of personnel, including budgeting and payroll, and
childcare enrollments. Danielle is Infant CPR and First Aid Certified.
[Contact
Danielle]
Head of School
Denise can
be described in one word as passionate! She is in passionate love with
her Lord Jesus Christ and with her husband Jeff of the past 15 years,
together they have a beautiful son named Evan. She is passionate about
people and seeing young and old alike on fire with the love of Jesus
Christ! She is passionate about life in general and loves people!
Denise comes to us with over 20 years of successful management
experience and is a graduate of Deliverance Bible, focusing on theology
and Christian education. She currently serves at Temple Academy as our
lead administrator.
[Contact
Denise]
Office Manager
Rachel
serves as the office manager of Calvary Temple overseeing and
coordinating all of the secretarial and administrative duties of Temple
Academy, Wee Count Day Care and the Church office staff. Rachel is
married to our facilities director Greg Tuttle; they have two beautiful
daughters Olivia and Amelia, both high school graduates. She has served
with tremendous diligence in this office since 2005. With the unique
demands of a ministry that must coordinate numerous very busy calendars
and shared facilities Rachel’s job is of utmost importance. She is the
glue that helps hold all particulars together, and does a wonderful job.
Facilities Director
Greg is
our Facilities Director and oversees all of the facility and
property needs of our three buildings and land. Prior to joining our
team here, he served at a local company as their maintenance
supervisor. He has been full time with us since November of 2006. Greg
handles the demands of everything from replacing broken pencil
sharpeners in the classroom to coordinating the installation of
playground equipment and so much more. Greg is an invaluable member of
our team. With nearly 200 people in and out of our facilities on a
daily basis Greg plays a vital role in the smooth and successful
operation of this ministry. After all, what would we do without Mr.
Tuttle to fix the broken toilet!
Bookkeeper
Patty serves
in the bookkeeping office, a critical role in all of the
ministries of the church; including Temple Academy, Wee Count and all
of the particulars of the church budget. She is currently part time
here in the office but accomplishes a full time job on a part time
schedule. She oversees the entire payroll of staff here in the
ministry, part time as well as full time employees totaling over 30
individuals. Between the school accounts and church matters Patty is
incredibly skilled and gifted in balancing all of the financial demands
of the ministry. Patty worked several years in a law office prior to
joining our team. We are honored to have her as
such an integral part of the ministry.
IT and Sound Technician
Steve is
our IT and Sound technician of the ministry. He has his hands full
maintaining and sustaining the equipment here at our facilities, sound board and our internet
presence, Steve is the master mind behind it all. He has helped bring
this ministry from the dark ages technologically into the 21st century.
He is intricately involved with every area of technology within
ministry. Without Steve working tirelessly behind the scenes our Pastor
would still be trying to log-in. Thank the Lord for individuals like
Steve who are gifted and talented in the area of technology, a critical
tool being used for the Kingdom of God.
Worship Leader
Jeff is our Worship
leader.
He is an amazing musician who plays a variety of instruments, he’s been
in various traveling bands, and has experience in a wide genre of
music.
Most importantly, he has a passion to worship through the venue of
music. Jeff is a very gifted and anointed worship leader with a passion
to honor God in all he does. He works with an incredible team of
musicians here at Calvary Temple and loves to help others develop and
use their gifts to worship the Lord through music. Jeff is married to
Denise who serves as the lead administrator for the academy. They have
one son, Evan who is in the first grade. Evan is following in his
father’s footsteps and loves to make a song out of everything. If you
have a passion for the Lord and love music, and are looking to use your
gifts to serve the Lord, get in contact with Jeff.
Master's Commission Director
Stephanie
is our newest member on staff here at Calvary Temple. She and her husband
Matt were married in July of 2007. They recently moved from the down east
area to launch a Master’s Commission here in the Central Maine area. She has
a strong desire to see the youth of this generation impact the surrounding
communities through the ministry of serving our local community. Stephanie
is also serving as our Youth Director at Calvary Temple, overseeing all of
our different Youth Focused Ministries, (Sr. High, Jr. High and Drama Team).
For more information about Central Master’s Commission, please visit our
site at centralmainemc.com
[Contact
Stephanie]
Ministry Associate
Josh
Baker is Ministry Associate at Calvary Temple. Josh has been married to
Meagan Baker for four years with two kids. Josh and Meagan have attended
Calvary Temple since 2007, and have served on staff since October 2010. Josh
studied for ministry at Zion Bible College for two years. Having grown up in
the church and around the ministry, Josh was excited to join the team at
Calvary Temple. Josh has a strong burden for his generation. He desires to
create a relevant worship experience for young adults. Through intense
discipleship and intentional relationships, Josh believes a “lost”
generation can be reached. Josh, also, has a strong passion for missional
churches and believes one day God will lead him to plant one.
[Contact Josh]