Officers & Staff

Rev. Tyler Dirks

Senior Pastor

Tyler was born in The Wild Wild West (Dodge City KS). After graduating from Kansas State University in Manhattan KS (The Little Apple), Tyler voyaged to the East Coast to marry his beautiful bride (Carrie …whom he met in 2002 while working at Crooked Creek Young Life Camp in Fraser Valley Colorado). Tyler obtained his Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte NC in 2007, and then took a call to shepherd students and faculty members at Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte as the RUF Campus Minister from 2007-2013. Tyler then took a call to plant a church in Central Carolina Presbytery on the East Side of Charlotte in June of 2013. Tyler & Carrie have 5 lovely and rambunctious children – – – > Maggie, Henry, Haven, Phinehas, and Winston.

Tyler loves Flannery O’ Connor & “Till We Have Faces.” Also, rock climbing, trail running, mountain biking, sushi, Vince Guaraldi, The Princess Bride, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Justin Clark

Ruling Elder

Justin is a native Charlottean, a rare breed in Charlotte. He attended Covenant Day School through 9th grade and graduated from United Faith Christian Academy.  He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  Justin met his wife Kelly (at church) when she moved to Charlotte in 2005 to teach for the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System and they were married in 2006.  Kelly is originally from Hershey, PA – the chocolate capital of the world.  Justin is the VP of a local industrial distribution company and system integration company.   They live in Mint will with their 4 children (Izzy, Clara, Jack and Walker).  It is always an adventure at their house with two dogs, 1 cat, 60,000 honey bees and 15 chickens!  He enjoys reading, sports, outdoor adventures, attempting to play golf, camping, etc –  all of which he does with Kelly and the kids when time allows.

Jon Wilkinson

Ruling Elder

Jon was raised in St. Louis. He attended Covenant College where he met his wife, Linda, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business. After graduating in 2008, he kept moving east and attended graduate school at North Carolina State University. After obtaining his master of accountancy degree in 2009, he and Linda married and settled down in Charlotte. Jon is a CPA and currently a Director with PwC in the Assurance practice where he started his career in 2009. Jon and Linda have four children, Charlie, Juliette, Elizabeth, and Brooke.

Jon is a huge St. Louis Blues fan and enjoys playing golf. Other interests include running with his F3 group and he has recently begun to learn the art of woodworking. Lastly, Jon is also becoming a lover of the writings of Thomas Watson and always enjoys a Tom Clancy novel.

Tim Blumenstein

Deacon & Groundskeeper

Tim’s Bible always told him life was like a box of chocolates, you never know where you’re going to serve. After Tim was born in the town of Greenwood, SC, he accepted Christ as his Savior and decided to go for a little run. When he got to the edge of Greenwood, he decided to run a little further. After graduating from Covenant College in 2011 with a BA in Natural Science concentrated in biology and secondary education, Tim ran to marry his high school sweetheart, Katie. They both dreamed of serving in K-12 education while growing a family in a Christ-centered church. Tim kept on running to earn his MS in Biology from Clemson University. They both ran to teach in Chattanooga, TN and Washington, D.C. before their current roles at Covenant Day School. ECPC has been the beautifully authentic and perfectly messy community of siblings in Christ they had always dreamed of joining. Tim and Katie have three children, Owen, Harper, and Jude who they love more than Bubba Gump Shrimp.

 

If anyone calls about a landscaping or property need at ECPC, Tim just keeps on runnin’ to church.

Luke Fawcett

Deacon

Luke hails from the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia.  A strong affection for nature and the outdoors inevitably led him to the field of geography, which he studied as an undergrad at James Madison University and in a master’s program at UNC Charlotte.  Along the way, he fell for a pretty little Canadian gal, Evelyn, who he married in 2004.  They have five children – Margaret, Campbell, Audrey, Calum, and Virginia and a handful of requisite pets.  Luke is an Assistant Director with a smart water tech group at a local water utility (and yes, his last name is Fawcett).

Hunt, fish, camp, hike, repeat.  Luke and Evelyn especially love camping excursions with the fam in their popup camper, and yearly trips to a family cabin in the Canadian Wilderness.  You’ll usually find Luke not far from the barbecue smoker on Saturday afternoons listening to Pearl Jam or Neil Young.  Luke likes to read a variety of books including stories of catastrophic historical events, people and places of the American Frontier, and LOTR; and poetry by Jim Harrison and Archibald Rutledge.

Alex Parman

Deacon

Alex was born in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Alex moved to Charlotte, NC in 2010. Alex met his wife, Kristen, at Uptown Church and they married in June 2011. They now have three beautiful daughters Rebekah, Lydia, and Eleanor. Alex currently works for Hartford in sales and underwriting.

When not working, Alex enjoys spending time with his family, watching all Tennessee sports, cycling, and doing home projects. Lastly, Alex can be found listening to podcasts and audio books, ranging in topic from sermons to true crime.

Jim Saunders

Deacon
Jim grew up in a small town in Ohio, not far from Cincinnati.  Small-town life in the 1970s and 1980s was pretty idyllic for Jim, with freedom to go wherever his bicycle would take him as long as he stayed out of trouble.  By high school years, sneaking a bus-ride to downtown Cincinnati was a big adventure as long as you were back home in time for dinner so nobody knew.  God kept Jim pretty safe and secure during his formative years.
Jim’s family were Christian, but his faith was limited to little more than simply identifying as a Christian until mid high school, when his oldest sister explained the gospel  of Jesus to him.  Beginning during college and ever since, Jim has sought to learn more about the Bible, his faith, and what it means to be part of the Kingdom of God.
Jim has been married to a wonderful wife, Rebecca, for over 30 years, and he has three grown sons and a beautiful new granddaughter.

Mike Schnee

Deacon

Michael Schnee was born and raised in Kent, Ohio. He met the Lord at the age of 12 at a Billy Graham Crusade in Cleveland, Ohio. It wasn’t until he was 17 that he began to more deeply understand, by way of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of Young Life, his sin and need for Christ. By the age of 23, his spiritual walk was sharpened by exposure to Calvinism and the reformed faith.
Michael attended the University of Mount Union, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in history, with a minor in secondary education. Upon graduation from Mount Union in 2005, he married Courtney, moved to Charlotte, and within their first year of marriage, were given the first of five children (Noah, Gus, Anina, Luca, and Zoe). Michael has been teaching middle and high school social studies, as well as coaching cross-country, track, and softball in the Charlotte area since 2006.

In his spare time, Michael thoroughly enjoys spending time with his family, camping, playing pick-up sports, reading (particularly C.S. Lewis works), and cheering for the Cleveland Browns, Cavs, and Indians, as well as THE Ohio State Buckeyes.

Bob Stevens

Deacon

Bob was born and raised in Palm Harbor, Florida where he was part of a Methodist church with family and very involved with the youth group there and had made a profession of faith at the age of five. After a period of uncertainty in his life, he got involved with Campus Crusade in college and recommitted his life to Jesus. Because of some family circumstances he moved to Charlotte in the mid 80s to finish up at UNCC where he graduated in 1989. Kelly and he met at Christ Covenant Church when she came to teach at Covenant Day School and they married in 1990 and have been here since. They live in Matthews in the house they have lived in for 32 years. They have three grown children and three grand daughters who all live too far away. He works for Mechanical Contractors in the area of building automation and systems integration and design graphical interface for end users.

He likes spending time with family and being outdoors. He also likes to build and fix stuff and do anything creative. He keeps up with college football because Kelly loves it.

Travis Jones

Rising Adults Director

Travis was born in the Buckeye State (Ohio), in the city of Columbus. So was his wife, Jess. They providentially met in high school gym class sophomore year where they struck up a friendship as partners for a softball unit. After graduating high school Travis and Jess attended Anderson University in Indiana. While attending college, the high school sweethearts were married in 2005. Travis graduated with a degree in Bible and Religion in 2007. After college, the couple moved to Greenville, SC, where Travis served at a church as a youth and worship leader. Travis grew up playing lots of soccer and it was in Greenville that he began to get vision for the sport as a relational evangelism tool. After a couple years, Travis made a move back up to Anderson, IN, to pursue new ministry opportunities. He took a position at a church as a youth and outreach leader. There he started Unity Soccer to reach the underserved youth in the neighborhood around the church and the calling to incarnational soccer ministry grew. This calling led Travis to the Queen City in 2011 to work for the Charlotte Eagles, a soccer missions organization. Travis and Jess moved into an apartment complex in East Charlotte as soccer coaches in order to share the gospel with their young neighbors who were coming to the city from all over the world. The Joneses have lived and served in that community for over a decade and have seen God grow vibrant, fruitful ministry. It wasn’t too long after moving to Charlotte that Travis and Jess’s family began to grow. They now have four children, Anna, Theo, Owen, and Lucy. Travis and his family became members of ECPC in 2015 and in 2023 stepped into the youth and outreach position.

Travis’s favorite thing is dating Jess. Duh! He enjoys wrastlin’ and snuggling with his kids. He is a huge fan of Taco Tuesdays with friends. He goes fishing a lot, but it’s never enough. He loves walks in the woods, hiking mountains, a good porch, rainy days, singing in the shower, sipping whiskey by a fire, salt and vinegar potato chips, super dark chocolate, dreaming about being good at stuff, and avoiding the mall.

Justin Harwood

Worship Director

Justin was born and raised not too far away in Albemarle, NC. He attended Stanly Community College and obtained two Associate of Applied Science degrees in Information Security and Network Administration and also a Bachelor of Science in Cyber Security from Bellevue University. Justin grew up into a musical family, first starting to learn piano at the age of five from his mother. He also picked up his father’s ear for picking out harmonies and playing music by ear. From there his thirst for music grew exponentially and began learning trumpet, guitar, bass, drums, and any instrument he could get his hands on.

Justin loves spending time with his family, visiting the North Carolina mountains, fly fishing, camping, losing golf balls, and kayaking.

Kristen Parman

Children's Ministry Director

Kristen was born in Arlington, Virginia to Beth and Steve Martin – nope, not that Steve Martin – and is the oldest of three. She grew up in Herndon, VA and attended McLean Presbyterian Church (PCA) regularly with her family where she especially enjoyed Sunday night youth group and her Girls’ Discipleship Group where she began to embrace her faith as her own. During college at William and Mary, she focused her time on school and service, so it seemed natural to graduate and accept a position through Teach for America teaching middle school math in Charlotte, NC. In 2009, she met her husband, Alex, at Uptown Church, and they married in June 2011. She taught math for 4.5 years until the birth of their 3 daughters, Rebekah, Lydia, and Eleanor.

Besides running around after two very busy young girls, Kristen enjoys music, which these days means keeping up with episodes of “The Voice,” but in former high school years meant embracing life as a band nerd, playing the oboe. As a self-proclaimed introvert, she enjoys meeting with other women and their families to talk about life.  While some day she’d love to travel the States and abroad, in this life stage she enjoys watching crime shows, like Bones, and cheering alongside her husband for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Katie Blumenstein

Administrator

Katie was born in Dothan, Alabama (the peanut capital of the world) and moved to the tiny town of McConnells, SC (where there are literally more cows than people) as a young child. After graduating from Covenant College in 2010 with a degree in Early Childhood Education, she married her high school sweetheart, Tim, before teaching 2nd and 3rd grades. She now resides in East CLT. Tim and Katie have four children, Owen, Harper, Jude, and Mac.  In her spare time, Katie enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, gardening, soccer, football, and quoting scenes of The Office with her husband.

Olivia Schneider

Youth Intern