Kara Rasmussen is leading the Sunday Night Women’s Small Group for the third year. Kara is the Small Groups Coordinator at Restoration Covenant Church. Kara and her husband Jack live in Apple Valley and and have three great kids – Logan (14), Ava (11) and Annie (9). Prior to her role at Restoration, Kara was a stay-at-home mom and holds a degree in Social Work. She has a passion for building community through connecting others and making people feel known and loved. She loves that the Women’s Small Group brings women of different ages and life stages together!
Matt and Mallory Allinder have called Restoration “home” since 2011 and Matt has been serving on the Leadership Team for the past year. They have enjoyed being involved in a variety of small groups during their time at Restoration and had the opportunity to lead a group for couples/families with children last Spring. Matt and Mallory live in Lakeville with their two super awesome kids – Liliana (7) and Rory (4). Professionally, Matt is a software development manager and Mallory is an RN currently serving as a Project Manager in Quality and Patient Safety at Fairview. They are looking forward to learning and growing together in fellowship this season!
Patte & Dick Klatthave loved calling Restoration “home” for just over a year. Patte & Dick have been married for 49 years and have 4 adult children & 5 precious grandchildren! They looking forward to learning, growing and building friendships with others in their phase of life.
Janice Svaren is leading the Families of Youth Small Groups for a second session, along with her husband Pete and two awesome teens, Katy (16) and Jay (13). Janice served as a children’s ministry director for many years at a previous church before their family came to Restoration in 2015. Janice teaches Family and Consumer Science to middle and high school students and holds a masters degree in Family and Parent Education. Janice knows firsthand the challenges of raising Christian children in today’s society and loves bringing families together for fun and relationship building.
Amy and Garrett Zaffke are leading the Wednesday Night All Ages small group for a third session. Garrett and Amy co-lead the group with their two children Zoey (3) and Lincoln (1). They have a passion for living in community, sharing life experiences and growing deeper in relationship with the Lord and others. The group is a bit of a fun chaos as the kids play together and around the group witnessing their parents learning more about the Lord and praying for one another. They are strong advocates for meeting the Lord in whatever season you are in! Garrett works in Communication with Dakota County and Amy works at Bethany Global University, a missions school in Bloomington.
Chad White is the longest running leader of small groups at Restoration as the facilitator of Restoration’s Saturday Morning Men’s Group which averages around 8-12 men of all ages and stages each week. He also currently serves on Restoration’s Leadership Team. Chad and his wife Rebecca live in Rosemount and have two amazing kids- Dorothy (18) and Wylie (17). Chad has passion for helping men study the Word and grow in the relationship with God.