Pastors and Staff
Team Pastors
David Bennett
David is the lead pastor. He has been at Bridge of Hope Church since 1988 and is the primary teacher and preacher on Sunday mornings. In addition, he oversees the pastoral team and board of the church.
Kandy Bennett
Kandy focuses her energy on organizing the worship arts (which includes drama, choir, Sunday morning music, audio/visual production).
Joanne Baltes
Joanne is our go-to person for hospitality with those who are sick. She is also a person to turn to for prayer.
John Granchie
John is involved in various Mahoning Valley sports serving as a chaplain.
Jason Raynes
Jason is the youth, young adults pastor, and also over all small groups. He says he’s “just a big kid at heart.”
Lori Valenzisi
Lori serves others outside the formal church setting. She leads community character education programs.
Jim Santangelo
Jim is our financial guru for families. We liken him to our Dave Ramsey – Larry Burkett combo.
John Vrabel
John helps welcome people at our Connection Center. He organizes the ushers and generally makes people feel at ease on Sunday mornings.
Administrative Team
Dee Acord
As the office administrator, Dee “wears many hats” at Bridge of Hope. She manages the books, oversees the office, serves as administrative assistant to several of the pastors, among many other duties.
Liz Freeze
Liz is one of the administrative assistants for our pastoral team. She also manages the member records.
Patti Freeze
Patti helps Dees with general office duties. She refers to herself as the “special girl” and also as “girl Thursday.”
Frances Raynes
Frances loves to help count the generosity of God’s people and works to make sure everything is recorded in proper order.