Our Team

Dave Adams spent 30 years in his first career as a farmer, where he first learned the Gospel message. Born in Woodstock, Illinois in 1955, Dave worked from age 10 with his father and brothers on a family farm. Dave and his wife, Pat were married in March of 1977. Dave, Pat, and their four children started attending Mt Zion in 1988. They became involved in children’s ministry, the high school youth group, and serving as an elder. They sold the cattle and machinery in 1996, and he came on staff at Mt Zion in 1997 as Associate Pastor. Dave became Senior Pastor of Mt. Zion in 2006. Pastor Dave and Pat live in Lake Geneva, WI. They have four children and eight grandchildren. When he has the chance he enjoys riding his Harley-Davidson and fishing. Dave and Pat enjoyed the trip of a lifetime to Israel in 2013.

Stephen Thorngate came on staff part time at Mt. Zion in 1986 as worship leader. As the church has grown, his responsibilities have expanded. For many years he served as full-time minister of music; with the help of his wife, Lisa, he led worship each week, directed choirs, and wrote and produced musical dramas. He also taught music and sometimes other classes at Mt. Zion Christian School. More recently as executive pastor, he leads Mt. Zion’s men’s ministry. He also represents Mt. Zion’s elder board on several subcommittees, serving to connect the leadership of the church’s many areas of ministry.
Pastor Steve grew up in Pebble Beach, CA. He came to Wisconsin for college and has been here ever since. He taught vocal music in Waterford, WI, for 14 years before beginning full-time ministry. He and Lisa have been married since 1974 and have seven grown children.

Matt grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and moved to Wisconsin after meeting his wife doing mission work in Denmark. Matt and Audrie got married in 2006 and began attending Mt. Zion in 2007. They have 4 children; Evangeline (Evie), Noelle (Ellie), Elijah and Eden. After a year and a half of interning with our pastors, Matt came on staff full-time in 2016.
Matt has a background in management and administration and ran operations of retail prescription drug stores for many years. He has a master’s degree in Biblical Studies and Biblical languages from Trinity Theological Seminary and his Doctor of Theology (ThD) from Covenant Theological Seminary. Matt enjoys spending time with his family and small group, reading books, drinking coffee, and having conversations about the Bible and theology. He and Audrie enjoy writing worship music and He is passionate about proclaiming no King but Christ through music, teaching, and everything else.

Pastor Riley Sampson was born and raised in Minnesota. God called him to become a youth pastor at summer camp before he entered 7th grade. That call led him to North Central University where he met his wife Casey and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Youth Ministry. After graduation, he and his wife spent three years as youth pastors in Springfield, IL working with junior and senior high students. While they were serving in Springfield, God began to stir their hearts calling them home to Mt. Zion, Casey’s home church.
Riley and Casey have a passion to see young people discipled and taught to realize their potential to know and be used by God. They believe that God is raising up a generation of students that will not bow to the culture, but that will stand up and be the light of the world. Riley and Casey have been married since 2011 and have three daughters named Selah, Shiloh, and Hadassah.

Bo Boilek joined the staff of the Zion House in May of 2013. He is a graduate of the Mt. Zion House program as well as a former graduate assistant from 2006-2009. In 2009 Bo attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, IL and graduated in May of 2013 with a Bachelor of Art degree having an emphasis on Pastoral Studies and Bible. Bo also has NIC-T4C Certification, 2013. He brings to our program years of experience with this ministry. Bo married his beautiful bride Denay in late August of 2013.

Stacy has served for the last 5 years as our Children's Director and is currently taking on a new administrative role as our executive director. Stacy has a passion for long term vision planning and how all parts of the church body work together in one common mission.  Along with her husband Dave, Stacy has served in various full time ministries since 1997. At a young age, she would loudly sing the words to  "Here I am Lord" and continues to be drawn to the lyrics "I will go Lord, if you lead me, I will hold your people in my heart."
About Stacy: She is always singing, Loves missions and learning about new cultures, and enjoys supporting foster/adoptive families.

Dave has served at Mt. Zion since 2018, and has recently moved into the role of director of small groups. Dave is a high school theology teacher at Faith Christian School. He enjoys walking alongside people as they grow in their faith and connection with one another. He has been married to Stacy our executive director for 23 glorious years, and they have a son who can always be found on the basketball court.
About Dave: He’s always building and creating something, loves his family, and Coffee is his favorite.

Pedro Pereyra was born in Mexico City, from a young age he heard of the gospel and at the age of 20 made his decision to follow Christ. In his youth, he received God’s call to serve him. Pedro and his wife Maru, got married in 1990 and have since served God in different places in Mexico. They have 3 children: Pedro, Isaac and Mia. For many years he has been Minister of Praise and Worship, in addition to preaching the word of God and serving as associate pastor. God opened the doors for them to arrive in Wisconsin in December 2018 and they joined Mount Zion to support the Hispanic ministry in the music ministry and pastorate. Pedro and Maru greatly enjoy worshipping God and like to encourage people to truly know Jesus Christ, to live a practical Christian life and grow in holiness, integrity, and family unity.

Pedro Pereyra nació en la ciudad de México, desde pequeño escuchó del evangelio y a los 20 años tomó su decisión de seguir a Cristo. Desde joven tiene el llamado de Dios para servirle. Pedro y su esposa Maru, se casaron en 1990 y desde entonces han servido a Dios en diferentes lugares de México. Tienen 3 hijos: Pedro, Isaac y Mia. Por muchos años ha sido ministro de Alabanza y Adoración, además de predicar la palabra de Dios y desempeñarse como pastor asociado. Dios abrió las puertas para que en diciembre del 2018 llegaran a Wisconsin y se unieron a Monte Sion para apoyar al grupo hispano en la alabanza y el pastorado. Pedro y Maru disfrutan mucho la adoración a Dios y les gusta animar a la gente a conocer verdaderamente a Jesucristo para vivir una vida cristiana práctica y crecer en santidad, integridad y unidad familiar.

Christine Smith was raised in Burlington, Wisconsin, and graduated from what is now Catholic Central High School. She earned an associate degree in accounting and another in data processing from Gateway Technical College.
Chris has been working with the finances of Mt. Zion Christian Church, Mt. Zion Christian School and Mt. Zion House since 2003. She also provides human resource management and coordinates Mt. Zion’s food pantry ministry. She and her husband Scott serve as church deacons.
Scott and Chris have six grown children, four of whom are married. All are graduates of Mt. Zion Christian School. They feel very blessed and give thanks to the Lord for their family.
Outside of work time, Chris enjoys bike riding, gardening, and preparing food with and for her family. Bible study, quilting and crosswords are also some of her favorite activities. Chris is an enthusiastic fan of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Green Bay Packers.

Erin grew up in the country town of Lee in northern Illinois. After graduating from Taylor University with a B.S. in Professional Writing, she met her husband, Frank. They got married in 2019, moved to Wisconsin, and started attending Mt. Zion in July of 2020. Their second child is on the way! Erin loves reading books and writing, baking/cooking, outdoor activities like kayaking, and studying the Bible. She feels blessed to serve God at Mt. Zion with her background in communications.

Ashley grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee and has had a passion for helping others from an early age. Ashley and her husband, Adam, were called to Mt. Zion in 2016. Ashley serves to help get church members engaged in serving the church body through leading the First Impressions Team and connecting members to ministry. Outside of serving the church, Ashley is a mom to two sons and holds certifications as a clinical social work with the State of Wisconsin. Ashley and her husband also host a small group.

I have been working with children in the public schools as an Occupational Therapist for the past 5 years and have done some consulting for Mt. Zion Christian School. It’s been an honor to work with children over the years teaching, serving, and leading them. I love seeing their eyes light up when it all comes together. My heart is for encouraging others and loving people.
I am excited to bring my passion and skill-set to our community. My husband and I have four children (5,4,3 and 6 months) and we’ve been at Mt. Zion for over 4 years. I knew the Lord was telling me it was time for a change and my prayer was to be obedient to whatever that looked like. I’m thankful that He brought me here!
In my “free” time I have recently picked up gardening and have adopted nine baby chickens. I also enjoy creating things and DIY projects.
I look forward to laboring alongside all of you as we all partner together to serve the Lord and our community.
Ashley
(Baby Lauren not shown)

Chaplain Larry Hansen has been a part of the body at Mt. Zion for many years. He works in the Jails of Walworth and McHenry Counties to bring hope to the inmates. He is an asset to the Mt. Zion House staff as he brings a knowledge and love for people in need.

Tim has been in charge of outside maintenance at Mt. Zion since 2010. In 2020 he became the building engineer in charge of the maintenance staff. This is a job he is well qualified for, having been the building engineer for three large buildings in the Chicago area.

Tim grew up in Texas, northern Wisconsin and Riverside, Illinois. He and his wife Jackie have four grown children. His son Josh works alongside him.