Our Staff

  • Kurt Carlson

    Lead Pastor

    Kurt was born and raised in Seattle, Washington. He has directed Young Life ministries in Washington and Oregon and served Covenant Churches in Illinois, Oregon, and Washington. He was the Director of Church Planting for the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church until 2016 and was called to NWCC in January 2017. Kurt is married and has two adult children.

  • Sarah Winter

    Pastor of Family Ministries

    Sarah grew up in Buffalo Grove, Illinois before going to Purdue University to study Civil Engineering. After working as a Project Manager for 10 years, she left engineering and followed her heart and call into ministry. She graduated from NorthPark Seminary with a MACF in May, 2022 and is pursing her Spiritual Direction Certification. She has served as Children and Family Pastor at DeerGrove Covenant Church in Palatine and Forest City Church in Elgin and lives in Hoffman Estates with her husband Tim and her kids Kaleigh, Kyle and Quinn.


    Sarah has a passion for sharing our Christian Story with believers of all ages. Living out Ephesians 2:10, she believes that we are all God’s masterpieces, created to do incredible things through Christ and she is very grateful to be able to share in the faith journeys of our Northwest Covenant Church community.

  • NATE WERLING

    Director of Student Ministries

    Nate is originally from Leo, Indiana. He got started in youth ministry interning here at Northwest Covenant Church while attending North Park University, where he graduated with a degree in Youth Ministry and Biblical / Theological Studies. Before coming back to Northwest Covenant in September 2021, Nate was an intern at Covenant Point Bible Camp. Nate is very excited and thankful to have the opportunity to walk through life with the youth and families of Northwest Covenant Church. 

  • DAUN GEISSLER

    DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION AND COMMUNICATION

    Daun was born and raised in Mt. Prospect. She attended North Park University and worked for a major oil company for 20 years before coming back to Northwest as the Director of Children and Family Ministries in 1995. Daun became the Director of Administration and Communication in 2018.

  • Drew edstrom

    Seminary Intern

    Drew was born and raised in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He attended North Park University, where he acquired his Bachelor's degree in Youth Ministry Studies. Throughout his time in college, Drew served as an intern at Hinsdale Covenant Church and Covenant Point Bible Camp in Iron River, Michigan. Drew was called to Northwest Covenant in September 2017. 

  • Joshua Smith

    DIRECTOR OF Worship

    Joshua joined the team at Northwest Covenant in 2022. Joshua has served at Winnetka Covenant Church prior to joining Northwest Covenant.