Our Staff

Suanne Gettings has been Pastoral Associate at Church of the Resurrection for the past eleven years. Suanne has been working for the Catholic Church in some capacity for over 40 years including Director of Religious Education for Glenmary Missions in rural Georgia and lay ministry for evangelization projects in the Appalachian region of Kentucky.  Suanne also served at St. Mary Parish in Lancaster, Ohio before coming to Church of the Resurrection.  Along with her lay vocation in pastoral ministry, Suanne’s first vocation is motherhood; she has three adult children: Jenna married to Andy, Cullen married to Leah, and Muriel who is single.  She is now enjoying two grandchildren. 

 Suanne commented:  “I am in awe of God’s profound unconditional love and grateful for the many ways he has revealed himself to me through the circumstances of my life and the lives of others. Every day, I give thanks for the journey that has led me, and continues to lead me, to people, places, and events that draw me closer to Christ.

Serving the Church of the Resurrection family is a joy beyond all telling and I am often amazed at the spirit of this community.  You don’t have to be in this parish very long to feel that the Spirit is alive and well and working through his people!"

Katy Wyatt is originally from Oxford, Ohio.  She received her undergraduate degrees in Musical Theater and Public Relations from Otterbein University, and a Masters in Religious Education from Loyola University.  Katy has been in Youth Ministry for about 20 years, and has never tired of the fast-paced, challenging fun of working with teenagers.

Katy is wife to Thom, and also mother to Molly and Jackson (who our Resurrection family helped raise, by the way!)  She loves to spend time with her family, travel to fun and interesting places, and trick herself into exercising (hiking, biking, running…you know – fun stuff that doesn’t actually feel like exercise).  In addition, Katy is obsessed with her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Luna – much to the irritation of her family.  (Seriously.  It’s obnoxious how much she loves that dog.)  She is the 4th of five children, and probably the favorite – although her parents would never publicly admit that.

For Katy, there is no job on earth that could possibly be more rewarding that that of being the Youth Minister at Church of the Resurrection.  She is amazed every day at how the Holy Spirit works through the amazing teenagers of our parish (and their beautiful families).  Their love for our Lord and His Church strengthens her faith every day, and gives her hope for the future.  She feels tremendously blessed and humbled to have been called to serve in this capacity.

Thom has been Director of Music at Church of the Resurrection since 1996.  

He was surrounded by church music at an early age as his mother was a choir director/organist and organ teacher.  “My friends would love to come over to our house and see the pipe organ the pipes for which started in the basement and came up through our entire living room floor!”

After receiving a music education degree from the University of Massachusetts, Thom traveled the country in a band and later settled in Columbus. Hospitality management became his career for the next 10 years before accepting a short termed, part time position as Music Director at COR.  That quickly became a full time position, and here we are 21 years later….

Sue Larson has been the Business Manager at Church of the Resurrection since November, 2009.  Prior to moving to Westerville in 2009, Sue and her husband Kevin lived in a suburb of Minneapolis.  After receiving her B.S. in Psychology from Elmhurst College she has always worked for non-profit, spending 17 years as an Executive for the YMCA in Illinois and Minnesota.

Sue grew up in Naperville, IL and met her husband there.  They are both Cubs fans and visit their families in Illinois often.  They also like to vacation in Northern Wisconsin, where Sue’s mother lives.

Abby Porr has been a staff member at Church of the Resurrection since 2010. After graduating from New Albany High School, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Otterbein College (now known as Otterbein University). She has taught private piano and voice lessons over the years, but is not doing so currently so she can spend more time with her husband, Eric, and their son, Sam.

A lifelong Cleveland Indians fan, Abby enjoys attending baseball games with her family (2017 is the year they go all the way!). She also enjoys reading extremely long, in-depth fantasy series (if it doesn’t have a map and a glossary and/or appendix, she’s not reading it!), playing piano and mandolin, camping and hiking, and playing geeky board games with her husband and friends.  She is very passionate about caring for the environment and promoting sustainability awareness. To her, there are few things more important than being a good steward of the earth and protecting and preserving our planet for future generations.

Abby is a born and raised Catholic, and has been singing in church choirs for her entire life. Having the opportunity to share her knowledge of music and passion for Jesus has been one of the biggest blessings in her life. She still can’t believe that she gets to make music for the Lord for a living!

Chris has been with the Church of the Resurrection for the past eleven years.  Chris is from a family of 13 children, originally from Pickerington.  She now lives in Ashville (just north of Circleville) with her husband Mike.  She has four children, two daughters and two sons.  Both her sons serve in the service, Zach is an Army Ranger and her son Cody serves in the Navy. She also has three grandchildren which she helps watch on her days off.  Chris loves spending time with family and scrapbooking.  You might know Chris, not just as our bookkeeper, but she has built the Vacation Bible School set for eight years now and seems to just have that artistic talent which she loves to use.  

It has been a joy working for the Church of the Resurrection and getting to know the parishioners.  I feel blessed and thankful every day for where God has put me.

Peggy Kehres has been on staff at Resurrection for 17 wonderful years.  Originally hired as a part time assistant for the Religious Education department, she quickly became full time as the program began to grow.  She now serves as our Coordinator of Children's Ministries, responsible for overseeing First Eucharist, C.R.E.E.D. (our religious education program for children), Word of God, Vacation Bible School, Children's Masses and coordinating the hundreds of volunteers that make it all possible. Before coming to Resurrection, Peggy was a stay at home mom in a small Massachusetts town. The Kehres family life revolved around the church, school, and friends.  Even though she was originally from Cleveland, the decision to move back to Ohio was a difficult one.  Jumping right back into parish life made it easier to call New Albany home. 

I  grew up in Cleveland, Parma actually, and is a huge fan of all Cleveland Sports. I was married on my birthday in 1997 and ordained a Deacon in 2016 (not on my birthday). Like most deacons in the diocese, I worksin the private sector.  I spent a lot of time in school and eventually earned a Ph.D. from Ohio State in Political Science and still love to read and study. 

I have been married for 20 years and have 4 wonderful Children.  Our oldest goes off to college in 2017, which means I am really old.  I spend most of my free time reading, but my indulgence is that I brew beer, very dark beer.

What I like most about Resurrection is the energy and vitality of the parish, from its music ministry to its fish fry to celebrating the holidays, our Parish is a dynamic community where I feel the Holy Spirit is alive and well.  I enjoy teaching and working with those preparing for the reception of the sacraments, specifically, with marriage. 

Thomas Arnett has been a Parishioner of the Church of the Resurrection since 2002. In 2004 he became a part-time member of the Maintenance Team working on his days off. His ability to fix practically anything combined with his love for the church and the community encouraged him to retire from his day job after 35 years and become a full-time member of the staff in 2014. 

Thomas has been married to Parishioner Cathy for 35 years and together they have two daughters, Lindsay Press and Lauren Arnett. Lindsay is married to Michael Press and together they have Thomas' first grandchild, Wright Press. Lauren is a proud veteran of C.R.E.E.D, TEC, and Gospel Road.

Dave is the third member of our maintenance team.  If you see or find something that needs to be repaired, Dave will take care of it, but, you need to remember he is still a “trainee”.

Dave and his wife Michelle have been members here at Resurrection for over twenty years.

If would like information on the Cum Christo movement, see Dave. If have any interest in spreading God’s word in prison, again see Dave.

Harry has been a part time staff member since January of 2003. He began as a maintenance person and also did some security for the CREED program. Now just does maintenance.

Harry has been a parishioner for 15 years along with his wife Mary.  He has been a member of the Adult Choir since joining the parish. Harry and Mary have been married for 55 years. I feel like I when I retired from my career, I found a new family here at Church of the Resurrection.

Debbie Jessberger has been the Religious Education Administrative Assistant  since 2015.  She is originally from Springfield, Ohio.  Debbie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Franklin University in 1987.  While working in sales at  MCI Communications,  she met her husband Michael.  They have been married for almost 25 years and have six children, Tim, Jeff, Ben, Madelynn, Emily and Rachel.  Debbie and Michael  moved to their family’s home in  Plain Township in 1992, and joined Church of the Resurrection in 1993. Michael became involved in the music ministry, and Debbie volunteered with CREED classes and in the nursery during masses.

Debbie feels blessed to  work closely with Peggy and Katy and all of the wonderful volunteers in our ministry who help the children of our parish grow in their faith.