Sojourn East

Leadership & Staff

East Staff

Kevin Jamison

Kevin Jamison

Lead Pastor

Kevin Jamison has been the lead Pastor at Sojourn East since 2011. Kevin also coaches other pastors in preaching, vision and leadership. Kevin’s favorite times are those spent with his wife Steph, five children Anna, Owen, Knox, Everly, Hank, and their dog Truman.

Bryan Lopina

Executive Pastor of Operations

Bryan Lopina

Executive Pastor of Operations

Bryan has served as the Executive Pastor of Sojourn East since 2016. Bryan is married to his high school sweetheart Jackie and is dad to three children: Bryan, Jonathan, and Evelyn.

Seth Michels

Executive Pastor of Ministries

Seth Michels

Executive Pastor of Ministries

Seth and his wife Julie served in student ministry for over 20 years through Young Life and Sojourn East. He has served as Executive Pastor of Ministries since 2022. Seth is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He likes history, reading, Lord of the Rings, and loves time in the outdoors via mountain bike, skis or backpacking. Seth and Julie have two children, Avery and Mason.

Justin Hyde

Executive Pastor of Shepherding

Justin Hyde

Executive Pastor of Shepherding

Justin has served in pastoral ministry for over 20 years and has worked as coach and pastoral counselor to ministry leaders and their families since 2009. He and his wife Brandi have been members at Sojourn East since 2021. They have three amazing children: Jonas (b. 2004), Betty (b. 2006) and Henry (b. 2010).

Mandy Bailey

Communications Director & Associate Worship Leader

Mandy Bailey

Communications Director & Associate Worship Leader

Mandy Bailey is the Communications Director and Associate Worship Leader and has served on staff since 2019. She is a graduate of Greenville University (BA, BS) and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (MA). She and her husband David have one son named Ezra. Mandy loves music, goal-planning, board games, and throwing theme parties.

Claudia Blum

Mother’s Day Out Co-Director

Claudia Blum

Mother’s Day Out Co-Director

Claudia Blum is one the directors of the Mother’s Day Out program. She’s married to Ari and they have three amazing kids (Charley, Sadie, and Ari Jr (AJ)). She’s dedicated to serving parents through their kids in a gospel centered program all while teaching them the ABCs.

Audra Bridges

Sojourn Kids Early Childhood Director

Audra Bridges

Sojourn Kids Early Childhood Director

Audra Bridges is the Early Childhood Director for Sojourn Kids. She and her husband, Tyler, have been active at Sojourn East since joining in 2015. Audra has an Elementary Education Degree from University of Kentucky and taught in the Mother’s Day Out program since its inception. Her love for children and the Lord has led her to this role and she is dedicated to partnering with families in the development of their children’s spiritual growth. She and Tyler have two daughters. They love exploring the outdoors and traveling to new places.

Moe Clark

Pastor of Outreach

Moe Clark

Pastor of Outreach

Moe serves as the Pastor of Outreach at Sojourn East. He enjoys getting to know people through meaningful relationships. Moe is passionate about making the gospel known and helping others grow more and more into the image of Christ. He believes community is essential because Christ doesn’t redeem people to be in isolation, but into a new community, a new type of humanity.

Emily Cornish

Mother’s Day Out Co-Director

Emily Cornish

Mother’s Day Out Co-Director

Emily and her husband Ben have been members of Sojourn East since 2012. They have a daughter, Zoe and two lovable cats. Emily started with MDO as a classroom teacher when the program first launched in 2018 and stepped into the co-director role in 2021.

Eric Johnson

Author in Residence

Eric Johnson

Author in Residence

Lyndsay Magar

Connections Director

Lyndsay Magar

Connections Director

Lyndsay is the Connections Director at Sojourn East. She is passionate about helping people get connected and feel at home here! Lyndsay and her husband, Jason, have been members at Sojourn East since 2009. They have three awesome teenagers.

Brooke Malko

Women’s Ministry Director

Brooke Malko

Women’s Ministry Director

Brooke Malko is the Director of Women’s Ministry and a native Louisville resident. She has been married to her husband Jon since 2008, and they have 4 children together. She is a homeschooling mom, loves to read, and enjoys a good cup of coffee. As a true extrovert, Brooke loves to spend her days surrounded by people – enjoying her family, grabbing lunch with a friend, or meeting new women from Sojourn East.

Aaron Napper

Technical Director

Aaron Napper

Technical Director

Aaron Napper is the Technical Director at Sojourn East. He has been working in Church Media Ministry since he graduated from Louisiana Tech University in 2016. He enjoys board games, card games, reading, and going to the movies. He loves spending time with his wife, and baking (and eating) sweet treats.

Kim Nicodemus

Office Manager

Kim Nicodemus

Office Manager

Kim serves as our office manager and assistant to the lead pastor. She has a heart for serving the underprivileged and finds joy in helping others. After the loss of her husband, her greatest joy is spending time with her children, Alex and Jenna. Kim also enjoys reading, traveling, music, and time with friends.

Hilary Noltemeyer

Mobilization Director

Hilary Noltemeyer

Mobilization Director

Hilary Noltemeyer is the Director of Mobilization and a native Louisvillian-go Cards! She has been married to her husband Kyle for 28 years (in 2025), and they have three adult children: Willow, Mirabel and Lincoln. She loves spending time with family and friends, reading, watching sports and being anywhere near the mountains.

Lindsay Olges

Sojourn Kids Hospitality and Administrative Director

Lindsay Olges

Sojourn Kids Hospitality and Administrative Director

Lindsay has attended Sojourn East since 2012 with her husband and their three children, who are now active in middle and high school S2. She has helped to coordinate Women’s Bible Study for several years and serves as a Women’s Ministry Deacon. Lindsay loves welcoming new families, connecting with parents, and supporting the Kids team. In her free time, she enjoys coffee, walks, brunch, board games, and travel planning.

Jonathan Pennington

Associate Pastor

Jonathan Pennington

Associate Pastor

Pastor Jonathan is one of the teaching pastors at Sojourn East and runs our Men’s Ministry. He and his wife Tracy are the parents of six adult children and they love their big family life together. He has been a New Testament professor at Southern Seminary for 20 years and is the author of many books. His many passions include golf, soccer and all kinds of music.

Rodrigo Reis

Student Ministry Director

Rodrigo Reis

Student Ministry Director

Rodrigo serves as the Student Ministry Director since May of 2022. He is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has been in the US for over 10 years. He is also a graduate of Cedarville University and Southern Seminary. Rod’s favorite things to do are to spend time with his lovely wife Sarah and precious baby boy Theo, play disc golf with friends and hit the gym. Moreover, he is passionate about investing in young people helping them understand their identity in Christ and how to live a flourishing life.

Daniel Ryan

International Missions and Soul Care Pastor

Daniel Ryan

International Missions and Soul Care Pastor

Daniel is the Director of Soul Care and has been extensively involved with internationals and ESL, has lived overseas with his family, and has remained heavily involved with many facets of soul care. He currently works to provide oversight and training for those spaces which involve the hurting and the suffering at East.

Chelsea Slevin

Sojourn Kids Elementary Director

Chelsea Slevin

Sojourn Kids Elementary Director

Chelsea Slevin is the Sojourn Kids Elementary Director and a native Louisvillian. She has been married to her husband Jonathan since 2010 and they have four children: Ava, Silas, Liza, and Micah. She loves spending time with her family and friends. She believes there is no greater investment to be made than in our kids. She is passionate about facilitating ways for children to connect what they know about God in their heads, so that it would transform their hearts and lives, and that they would follow Christ all of their days.

Sean Tippett

Facilities Manager

Sean Tippett

Facilities Manager

Sean serves as the Facilities Manager at Sojourn East. He has a diverse background including experience in IT, customer service, and business operations. Sean enjoys home improvement projects, playing golf, and spending time with friends. Sean lives in Oldham County with his wife, Katelyn, and their two daughters.

Sam Yong

Worship Director

Sam Yong

Worship Director

Sam has been leading worship at Sojourn East since January of 2018. He is originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but spent his formative years growing up in Cameroon, West Africa. Sam moved to Kentucky to study worship and music during his undergraduate years, and fell in love with Louisville and with Sojourn.

Governing Elders

Mark Franco

Mark Franco

Mark has been a member of Sojourn since 2007 and an elder since 2013. He is married to Tanya and they have 12 kids together: Cameron, Seth, Alethia, Autumn, Amaris, Gabriel, Heidi, Holly, Hadrian, Phoebe, Caspian, Sylvia. Mark enjoys building up people within organizations to help them exhibit the peaceful ambition that Jesus invites us into.

Chris Gault

Chris Gault

Chris and his wife Cynthia became members of Sojourn East in 2019. They have four adult children and soon will have four grandchildren. Chris has served as an elder since 2023. He has special interests in soul care, community groups and men’s Bible studies. Chris and Cynthia were missionaries in Central America for 17 years prior to joining Sojourn East.

Kevin Jamison

Kevin Jamison

Ben Mast

Ben Mast

Ben and his wife Kristin have attended Sojourn since 2002. They have three grown children, Caleb, Molly and Ella, and son-in-law, Carter. The Mast family was part of the Sojourn East launch team in 2009. Ben and Kristin have served as community group leaders, community group coaches, in Sojourn Kids, Affordable Christmas and on the coffee team. Ben is a professor (UofL) and licensed clinical psychologist.

Rick Steinrock

Rick Steinrock

Rick Steinrock has been an elder at Sojourn East since May of 2018. Rick serves in the men’s ministry, the care ministry in marriage mentoring and leads the mens Saturday morning Bible study.

Matthew Westerholm

Matthew Westerholm

Matthew Westerholm became an elder in February 2023. He teaches music and worship at Southern Seminary and often volunteers in Sojourn’s worship ministry. Matthew has served in pastoral ministry and Christian higher ed in Minneapolis, Grand Rapids and Chicago. He is married to Lisa, and they have three adult sons. He enjoys classic jazz, NBA basketball and (thanks to his sons) anime.

Shepherding Elders

Moe Clark

Moe Clark

Steve Hendricks

Steve Hendricks

Steve Hendricks and his wife Debra have been members at Sojourn East since 2019. They have three adult children and four grandchildren. He has served as an elder and interim pastor before coming to Sojourn East. He currently serves on the men’s ministry leadership team and teaches at the Saturday morning men’s Bible study. Steve works as the state director for the LHC Group, overseeing home care services and operations for seniors and children.

Justin Hyde

Justin Hyde

Kevin Jamison

Kevin Jamison

Bryan Lopina

Bryan Lopina

Bryan has served as the Executive Pastor of Sojourn East since 2016. Bryan is married to his high school sweetheart Jackie and is dad to three children: Bryan, Jonathan, and Evelyn.

Jason Magar

Jason Magar

Jason has been a member at Sojourn East for fifteen years. He has served with the care and counseling ministry, community groups, kids ministry, AV team and as an elder at Sojourn East. Jason is also a local business owner, working in financial planning and wealth management. He enjoys hiking, traveling, listening to good music and watching college sports. Jason and his wife, Lyndsay, have three children.

Seth Michels

Seth Michels

Jonathan Pennington

Jonathan Pennington

Daniel Ryan

Daniel Ryan

Lynn Thompson

Lynn Thompson

Lynn Thompson and his wife Lianne have been members at Sojourn since 2021. They have four adult children and ten grandchildren. Lynn has years of experience as an elder and pastor, and currently serves the church in a variety of ways from involvement with the soul care ministry to hospitality on Sunday mornings.

Open Positions at Sojourn East

Open Positions