Meet Jessica Bender
Jessica got invited to Standpoint Parkside's then college group in 2013. In 2014 she started attending Transit and hasn't looked back since. She enjoys the outdoors,camping, kayaking, amusement parks, roller blading and curling up for naps with her dog Roxy. She has worked with kids for 14 years and has worked in her current job for 6 of those.
Meet Hannah Imeli
Hannah started attending Transit in 2012 when her sister Megan invited her. She has met many of her friends from Transit and the infamous parking lot hangouts afterwards. When she isn't working at Heinen's she enjoys reading, writing, spending time with family and her new niece.
Meet Hayley Pausch
Hayley started attending Parkside in February of 2021, she very quickly fell in love with the solid preaching and made her way to Transit a few weeks later where she has planted her roots and hasn't missed a week. She would love to welcome you in to Transit regardless of where you stand when it comes to faith. She is often found rocking the color pink, a Comfy, listening to country music and typing up some code on her computer(the kind that helped bring you this website). She loves going on walks when it's nice out, spending quality time with friends and her two adorable Australian Shepherds Finley & Gracie.
Meet William DeFord
William began his Transit career at the end of 2022 and was promptly greeted by Tim and Peter who made his transition into transit as smooth as can be. He has transformed significantly since then in his growth in Christ as well as his ability to relate and converse with others. He has since transitioned to serving alongside the music team as being part of the AV crew and he looks forward to meeting you!
Meet Zeke Callaghan
Zeke is a 22 year old who resides in Broadview Heights. Jesus led him to Transit in June of 2023 where he was eager to grow in faith after a season of bewilderment. He encourages Christians to be surrounded by the truth of God's word and to have fellowship with other believers. He is grateful for Transit and everyone who has welcomed him in and encourages all to be a part of it whether starting out your faith journey, if you have been walking with the Lord for years or if you're unsure of what to believe about this world. Traveling is one of his big passions and he hopes to visit every continent in his lifetime. He loves working with computers, playing tennis and hanging out with his big poodle who is well behaved... sometimes.
Meet Hannah Lerner
Hannah is a 27 year old who grew up in Brazil as her parents were missionaries, she speaks Portugese and Spanish. Her favorite treat is cake and her and her husband Dane are huge Cavalier fans. Her first time at Transit was an overwhelming one showing up late and being intimidated by the amount of people there. After saying to her husband that they should just leave with the intention to slip out and never come back they were relieved to be greeted by Cameron Cronk who kindly greeted them and made them feel welcomed enough to continue showing up. They are both thankful they pushed past their nerves to continue coming, making tons of friends and getting an extra dose of the word from Matt Ross each week which would have been missed out on had she turned around on the first day.
Meet Mackenzie Ellman
Mackenzie came to the Parkside Green branch a few times in her undergraduate years. Upon graduating she desired to be involved in an evening group and figured she could find one at the main campus. She first attended Transit in the summer of 2021 but felt too young compared to others and picked up new work in the meantime. Two years later she eased herself back into Transit and became a regular attendee. She enjoys hanging out with friends and through that has found a love for board and card games, mini golf and hiking. She also enjoys biking around her neighborhood, kayaking, cleaning and learning how to cook and bake new recipes.
Meet Dane Lerner
Dane is Cleveland born and raised. He loves anything that has peanut butter in it. He enjoys cooking and eating together with others. After decades of prayer for his wife the two crossed paths a few years ago and are now (as of 5 months) happily married! A cool testimony from him is that when he was 12 years old he went to the Loft when it was still called “the warehouse” held for the middle schoolers. He constantly prayed for all the people that would be attending that building. The same blessed building that today Transit is now held. Where he continues to pray for it.
Meet Jemima Ukwela
Jemima has been involved in Transit since around 2020, after Standpoint (the college age ministry) became a part of Transit. In being a part of Transit these couple of years, it has been and continues to be a special space for her in her young adults years — through connecting with others weekly who desire to live for Christ and share Him with others, praying and encouraging one another as we face similar life circumstances, and enjoying community in fun happenings (i.e., game nights, volleyball, grabbing Mitchell's ice cream). If one is looking for a place to build meaningful connections in this way, she hopes you find the same experience of Transit as a place you feel invited to join and welcomed in!
Meet Elizabeth Korsten (and her pup Vega Lynn)
Elizabeth is thankful for the great community of people she has met through Transit. She always seeks to put God first in her life. G>^v Galatians 2:20
Meet Deanna Wolford
Deanna grew up in Aurora, Ohio and has one brother, she grew up going to church but didn't have much faith. She attended college in Tennessee where she took an interest in gardening and did a double major in Natural Resources (that is, Forestry & Geology) and French Literature. She was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder shortly after graduating from college and moved back to Aurora. She began working at a grocery store, and then an engineering company and has lived in Cleveland from 2015 to 2017 in a Catholic Worker house as a volunteer, she had mental health episode and moved back to Aurora, where she's lived since 2017. She currently works at a grocery store in Solon. Her dad passed away from cancer in June 2022 she began attending church again when he was dying because she needed to figure out what she believed. The church she attended was far away, so she started looking for churches closer to Aurora. She usually has to work on Sundays, so she searched for churches with Sunday evening services and found Parkside. She also remembered that the church she attended said that Parkside was a “good church”. She found Transit on the Parkside website and started attending in Summer 2023 where she looked forward to Transit each week. She started attending a church in Aurora a few months later. She accepted Jesus as her Savior, and is so happy now. In her free time she likes to run, knit, read books, and listen to music.
Meet Brian Armstrong
He heard about Parkside Church through some college friends. He started going to Transit after moving to the area in May 2023. Brian enjoys adventures like camping, hiking, road trips, and other active or outdoorsy things. He also enjoys mental adventures like reading, and thinks in his spare time (when not questioning the meaning of life). If you want an interesting conversation, ask Brian what he thinks about something specific in nature (plant, animal, or mineral)!
Meet Eliza Kriz
Eliza started coming to Transit a few months after moving to the Cleveland area after visiting Parkside and seeing Transit in the bulletin (so yes, the bulletin blurb works!). She's enjoyed building community at Transit and being part of the worship team. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Cleveland's metroparks, attending local swing and contra dances, baking and reading.