Leadership
Pastoral Team
A shared and equal Council of Elders leads Risen Hope. This provides accountability, encouragement, diverse experience, and varied gifts to serve the church. We continually identify and equip men to establish a team that honors and serves our congregational diversity.
Family and Discipleship Pastor
Rick has been a believer for over 20 years. In May 2019 he was installed as an ordained pastor in Risen Hope. In addition to general pastoral oversight, Rick, as our Family Life and Discipleship Pastor provides pastoral care within the church and teaches in various contexts.
Rick previously served as a Youth Pastor and as a bi-vocational Lead Pastor of a multi-ethnic church in Upper Darby, PA. He has a huge heart for discipleship, church planting, and winning the lost to Christ.
He has earned a Bachelors of the Bible and another Bachelors in Social Work, both from Cairn University. He has also earned a Masters of Divinity in Pastoral Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Currently, Rick is employed as a Workforce Team Leader at EDSI, Inc. He and his wife, Jae, have two children.
Pastor
Alex has been a believer for over 25 years. He preaches, trains leaders, and also oversees the diaconal team, Promise Kingdom (children’s ministry), member care, and global missions. He also leads a community group with his wife Teresa.
Alex graduated from Rice University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He worked on chip design projects for Intel for 9 years before moving to Philadelphia to attend Westminster Seminary, from which he received a Masters of Divinity. He was ordained in October 2016. He and his wife, Teresa, have four children.
Outreach and Worship Pastor
Dave Estornell
Dave has been a believer since 2005 and in Sovereign Grace Churches ever since. As Outreach and Worship Pastor he leads our music worship and tech ministries and equips the church for evangelism, outreach, and mercy. Dave also oversees church administration, finances and our office staff.
Raised in Delco with multi-generational roots in Drexel Hill, Dave served in the US Navy followed by 3 decades of leadership in the software industry. Reflecting a growing call towards pastoral ministry, Dave completed our multi-year Pastoral Leadership course in 2019, the Worship Matters Intensive for congregational worship pastors and leaders in 2020 and the Sovereign Grace ordination requirements in 2022. He was ordained in June 2022. Dave and his wife Christine live in Springfield.
Pastoral Assistants
The Pastoral Assistant provides help to the ordained elders in key areas such as member and hospital visits, member care, and giving input in elders meetings. The pastors are grateful to the Lord for raising up others to share the joys and responsibilities of ministry. The Pastoral Assistant does not serve as one of the ordained elders and does not hold any governing authority in the church.
Bill Davis
Bill has been a faithful believer for over 40 years. He is a graduate of the Manna Bible Institute. Before retirement, he long worked as a Philadelphia Highway Construction Inspector, while simultaneously serving believers in the Philadelphia community for many years as a Bible instructor and discipler of men. He is also a regional presenter for Evangelism Explosion International. He has been faithful in community service, including soup kitchen ministry and Bible School teaching. Currently, he serves as our Deacon of Prison Ministry and Hospital Visitation. He also is active in community outreach events and as a Community Group Leader. He and his wife, Becky, have three children and five grandchildren.
Deacons
Our Deacons are members of the congregation that have been recognized as mature believers in Christ by the pastoral staff and have been appointed to the leadership of a ministry within the church.
