Leadership Structure

We believe that Jesus is our true leader and head. We believe that Jesus provides his church with leaders who give their lives to serve and care for the church. Jesus gave the church a few offices to help structure leadership.

  • First, we are led by what we call elders or pastors (we believe the Bible uses these terms interchangeably).

  • Second, we also have deacons who function in a lead servant role.

  • Third, our members function as an office. We believe that membership at the church is an important commitment that comes with responsibilities to live out the "one anothers" of the faith and to be involved in the direction and decision making of the church.


Elders

 
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Fletcher Lang, Lead Pastor

Fletcher is the lead pastor for CoaH Somerville. Fletcher is married to Megan who is an epidemiologist. They have three children - Kennedy, Shepherd, and Rowan.

Fletcher has been working in ministry since 2005 and has lived in Boston since 2012. Fletcher was the Executive Pastor at CoaH Brookline from 2012-2018 before taking the lead role in Somerville. He holds an M.Div. and a D.Min from Southern Seminary. He enjoys reading, riding his bike through Boston traffic, and watching the NBA.

EM: fletcher@coahchurch.org

 

Mark Schmeissing, Lay Pastor-Elder

Mark is a lay pastor-elder and treasurer for CoaH Somerville. Mark and his wife Kristen moved to the Boston area in 2013 where they attended CoaH Brookline before transitioning to CoaH Somerville in 2018. They have two boys – Luke and Liam.

Both Mark and Kristen graduated from Wheaton College (IL) and moved to Boston for Mark to pursue an MBA from Boston University. Currently, Mark is the Director of Finance and Strategy at a research institute and Kristen is an oncology nurse at Mass General Hospital. In 2017, they welcomed Luke into their family and in 2020, Liam arrived with a bang at the height of the initial pandemic surge. Mark has led the oversight of CoaH Somerville finances since 2018. In addition, he enjoys running half-marathons, watching the Red Sox, and constructing Lego sets with his kids.

EM: mark@coahchurch.org

 

Jeremy Konz, Lay Pastor-Elder

Jeremy is a lay pastor-elder at CoaH Somerville. He and his wife Virginia have been a part of the CoaH network since its beginnings in Brookline in 2010. Their children are Arianna, Olivia, and Finneas.

Jeremy is an Electrical Engineer specializing in RF electronics. Virginia is a full time mom. On any given day you can find Jeremy and Virginia drinking coffee and enjoying pastries. This is fitting as they met in a coffee shop in 2006. Since moving to Boston from Michigan in 2009 they have found deep relationships within church community and have a passion for building lasting connections through sharing meals with others. 

EM: jeremy@coahchurch.org

To contact all the elders at once, you can email: elders@coahsomerville.org


Deacons & Staff

 

Emmanuel and Erica Okharedia, Worship director & leader

Emmanuel and Erica are the worship leaders for CoaH Somerville. They have been married since 2020 and have a son - Ethan.

Emmanuel has been a keyboardist in worship teams since 2012 and is a practicing trademark lawyer. Erica has been singing her entire life and is a tax accountant.

Erica is a huge Top Chef fan and aspiring food star while Emmanuel lives out his NBA dreams on the weekends.

EM: emmanuel@coahchurch.org, erica@coahchurch.org

 

Alexis donnelly, Kids Director & Ministry Associate

Alexis is the Kids Director and Ministry Associate at CoaH Somerville. Currently pursuing a master’s degree at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Alexis is passionate about biblical literacy and discipleship—driven by a belief that people of all ages can approach, understand, and fall in love with the Word of God. She is originally from Upstate New York and earned a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish from SUNY Potsdam in 2018. Alexis loves talking about grammar (whether modern English or ancient Greek), reading Jane Austen novels, and drinking tea with friends.

EM: alexis@coahchurch.org

 

Calvin Chu, Ministry Associate

He and his wife, Lindsey, and sons, Miles and Silas, joined CoaH in 2023. Calvin was born and raised in the Boston area. He began his ministry journey in 2009 at his former church and was previously the Director of Student Ministries before he joined CoaH. He holds an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. In his free time, you will find him consuming podcasts, working out in his basement, and playing board and video games.

EM: calvin@coahchurch.org

 

LEAH Chestnut, Deacon, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Leah is a full-time biotech researcher and part-time CoaH admin wizard. She handles various behind-the-scenes tasks such as editing and uploading the weekly sermon, prepping the newsletter, updating the CoaH Somerville website, and planning events. She and her husband Christopher live in Medford, and they have a blended family of two cats. Leah enjoys baking, reading, puzzles, and setting mini self-improvement goals.

EM: leah@coahchurch.org

 

Michael villalobos, deacon, a/v leader

Michael is a deacon for CoaH Somerville. He and his wife Alexa moved to the Boston area in 2013 where they attended CoaH Brookline before transitioning to CoaH Somerville in 2018. They welcomed their daughter, Makaya, in 2022.

Both Michael and Alexa graduated from the University of Virginia and moved to Boston for Alexa to pursue an MBA & MSW from Boston College. Currently, Michael is a Sales Engineer at a software company called Jellyfish and Alexa is an Director of Operations with Transformations Care Network. In 2019, they bought a house with the Langs in Somerville and have enjoyed renovating it and hosting Community Groups (CGs) and other social gatherings. Alexa has sung on the worship team while Michael led setup/ teardown since they came to Boston in 2013, and they have led CGs together since 2016. Michael picked up Audio/ Video responsibilities as part of the re-launching effort post-pandemic shut down in 2020 and joined the worship team on drums in 2021. 

In addition, Michael enjoys staying active by playing on the church softball team/ any sporting endeavor generally, creating practical small space furniture solutions, drumming in the neighborhood band, and playing strategy games.

 

Riley Orrell, Deacon, First Impressions Leader

Riley is a deacon at CoaH Somerville. After spending most of her life in Indiana followed by a short stint in Minnesota, she moved to the Boston area in 2019 and has been a member at CoaH Somerville since March of 2020. Riley leads our First Impressions Team and co-leads a community group in the Cambriville area. During the day, Riley is the Administrative Director of Cardiology at Mass General Hospital. In her spare time, she is learning how to roller skate outdoors and also enjoys board games, hiking, and Broadway musicals.

 

to contact all the deacons at once, email deacons@coahsomerville.org