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Staff & Leadership at Quest

Quest is, fundamentally, a gathering of people who together compose the church's organic faith community and leadership. To lead us in realizing our vision to be the church that we believe God is calling us to, we have been blessed with women and men who have sacrificed and contributed much to the leadership of the church. The church, ultimately, is comprised of four main synergistic forces:

  1. The Pastoral and church staff
  2. The Elder Board
  3. The Deacons
  4. The entire church membership.

It is through the church membership that we draw our critical ministry leaders for community groups and other ministries. In addition, internship opportunities are available for those who want to serve in that capacity.

  • Eugene Cho » Lead Pastor, Q Cafe Executive Director, Visioning, Teaching

    Eugene is the founding and lead pastor of Quest and the executive director of Q Cafe. He's also the founder of One Day's Wages, a non-profit organization focused on global poverty. Born in South Korea, he immigrated to the U.S. at age six and grew up in San Francisco. He and his wife, Minhee, have been married 14+ years and have three children. He studied psychology and theater at UC Davis and received his theological degree at Princeton Seminary. Eugene and some of his work have been covered through various media including the New York Times, Seattle Times, and NPR. You can read his full story here. Connect with Eugene: His Blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

  • DeAnza Spaulding » Pastor | Compassion & Justice, Pastoral Care, Teaching

    DeAnza joined Quest's staff in 2004 after spending a couple of years with our sister organization, Q Cafe. She joins the Quest staff to provide leadership in Compassion & Justice and to help provide pastoral care. DeAnza finished a Masters of Arts in counseling at Mars Hill Graduate School and also runs a private counseling practice. She and her husband, Frank, and their two daughters live in Shoreline. Her passions include poetry, singing, and runs to Taco Del Mar. She can be reached at deanza@seattlequest.org. Like most Quest staff you can read more at her blog: created for more.

  • Gail Song Bantum » Pastor | Administration, Worship, Life Together, Pastoral Care, Teaching

    Gail and her family relocated to the Seattle area in 2009 from Durham, North Carolina. Before joining the Quest staff in 2010, she led worship and conferences in diverse and varied contexts for over fourteen years. The realities of being a second generation Korean-American woman, 15+ years in an interracial marriage and raising multi-ethnic children, have all continued to profoundly contribute to her particular focus of ministry and reflection—the convergence between theology, worship, and identity. Gail received her M.Div. from Duke Divinity School, and her Bachelor of Music from The Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. In her free time, she dreams of heaven being filled with Asian, Soul and Latin cuisines, Brazilian music, and vanilla iced coffee. Gail, her husband Brian, and their sons, Caleb, Ezra and Joseph currently reside in Queen Anne. Gail can be reached at gail@seattlequest.org or you can stay connected through Facebook, Twitter, and her blog.

  • Ray Bartel » Pastor | Community, Global Presence, Pastoral Care, Teaching

    Ray joined Quest in June 2007 when Interbay Covenant Church, where he pastored beginning in November 2000, merged with Quest. Ray married his high school sweetheart, Joy, in 1967. They have a son and daughter and three grandsons. Ray received a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Divinity degree from North Park University. Prior to full-time pastoral ministry, Ray served as a bi-vocational pastor for 15 years while working in engineering at Boeing. Next to his family and faith, his passion includes Christian apologetics, conversation, ballroom dancing, and staying physically fit. He can be reached at ray@seattlequest.org.

  • Christian Hershberger » Building & Grounds Manager

    Christian has been worshiping with Quest since September 2009 and joined the staff as Building & Grounds Coordinator in December 2009. He was born and raised in an Amish family. At the age of eighteen he left the Amish community to pursue dreams of seeing the world. He served two and a half years with SEND Ministries, including some time spent in Morocco. He attended Columbus State Community College in Ohio and plans to continue his education at the University of Washington. His passions include traveling, photography, music, and experiencing other cultures. He loves coffee and rain, and fortunately Seattle lacks neither. You can reach him at christian@seattlequest.org.

  • Jill Vance » Associate Director of Quest Justice and Compassion

    Jill is the Associate Director of Quest Justice and Compassion. She oversees the day to day operations of The Bridge Care Center, which is Quest’s homeless outreach ministry. She has been attending Quest since November of 2009 after relocating from Northern California. Jill received her bachelor of arts in Psychology from Biola University. One of the things she loves about living in Seattle is its abundance of parks and coffee shops all throughout the city. She can be reached at jill@seattlequest.org

  • Jin An » Information Technology | Operations

    Jin has been with Quest since the beginning and was the first staff member in 2001.  Since then, he's been serving on the worship team as guitarist and occasional worship leader, doing anything computer related and doing whatever else needs to be done.  He is a 1.5 generation Korean-American and has grown-up in the Seattle area for most of his life.  He is passionate about music, his daugher, and a few other hobbies.  He is a graduate of the University of Washington's Business School, with double degrees in Information Systems and Marketing with a minor in Asian American Studies.  He currently owns his own consulting company doing all aspects of IT, and brings those skills to the Quest staff.

  • Joanie Komura » Office Operations: Finance & Administration

    Joanie, a fourth generation Japanese-American, was born and raised in Seattle. She attended University of Washington and worked at the Seattle Times for many years. In 2001, she stepped into church at Quest and eventually came to revelation of Jesus and was baptized at Quest. After volunteering for couple years, she officially joined the staff as Finance Administrator in 2004. Along with her duties at Quest, she works as a freelance photographer and is avid fan of Bon Jovi. You can reach her: joanie@seattlequest.org.

  • Katey Hage » Children's Ministry Director

    Katey Hage is the Children's Ministry Director at Quest Church. Katey brings an intense passion for children and experience in our own Children's Ministry to the role. She and her husband Corey and their two boys live in Magnolia. Katey writes on faith, life, and family at her blog, Unveiled Faces. You can reach her at katey@seattlequest.org.

  • Matt and Roxy Hornbeck » Associate Directors | Worship

    Matt and Roxy join the Quest staff as worship leaders.  Matt and Roxy moved to Seattle in 2008 from Flagstaff, Arizona, where they were worship leaders for eight years at Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Flagstaff. They are currently earning their MFA degrees in Nonprofit Arts Leadership at Seattle University. Both Matt and Roxy serve as founders and directors for quiet, a nonprofit arts community dedicated to art and social change. They have a love for God, a love for music and art, a love for people, and a love for coffee. Since worship is an outpouring of our relationship with God, they feel truly honored to share in worship with the Quest community.

    Contact Matt at matt@seattlequest.org or Roxy at roxy@seattlequest.org

  • Morgan Schmidt » Youth / College Director

    Morgan joined Quest in July 2009 as the director for youth and college ministry. Morgan can't imagine a better way to spend her time than hanging out with students and equipping them to become more and more the individuals God has created them to be. She attended Gordon College in Boston, where she studied youth ministry and became a loyal Red Sox fan—now she is in the MDiv program at Mars Hill Graduate School. Morgan is passionate about doing life with people, country music, kayaking, and enjoying the adventure of living in Seattle. You can reach her at morgan@seattlequest.org.

  • Pam Christensen » Associate Children's Ministry Director

    Pam is the associate children's ministry director at Quest. She has a passion for early childhood ministry as well as ministry to children and families with special needs. In her free time, Pam loves to read, study history, go on road trips, and play outside with her family and their dogs. She and her husband, Eric, have two boys and live in Shoreline. You can reach her at pam@seattlequest.org.

  • Sun Kim » Associate Director / Audio & Visual

    Born and raised in Seattle, Sun holds great passion for music and all things audio.  He is currently studying for a B.S. in Audio Design Technology at the Art Institute of Seattle and is interning at BackBone Records in Bellevue.  He plans to bring his love for recording and live sound to the Audio/Visual Ministry in order to someday record a Quest Worship album.  He can be reached at sun@seattlequest.org.