Little Church on the Prairie
Make | Grow | Share
Meet our Staff
Senior Pastor and Head of Staff
James Kim
Thank you for checking us out. I am glad you are here.
I have been one of the pastors at the Little Church and Lakewood Grace since 2010. I consider it an absolute privilege to be able to share about Jesus. Here, you will hear the word of God preached and expounded upon. We go verse by verse through God's word because we stand under the authority of God's word in order that we might begin understanding the world around us. It is exciting to see what God is up to through the Little Church and Lakewood Grace and invite you to find out for yourself.
I have been married to Helen and we have four adult children. I studied philosophy at Pepperdine University, received my Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, and received my Doctorate of Ministry from the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington DC.
When not working, I enjoy golf (most of the times), riding my motorcycle (when the weather is nice), and reading.
Pastor, Lakewoodgrace
Brad Epperson
Brad Epperson grew up in Lakewood and would like to formally apologize to any teacher in the Clover Park School District who is reading this bio. He’s sorry, especially if you were a sub.
Brad graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2008 and was ordained in 2011. He loves Jesus and is also the Associate Pastor at The Little Church on the Prairie. Prior to his ministry at LCOP and Lakewoodgrace Brad was a chaplain resident at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Tacoma, a ministry he is still passionate about to this day.
Brad is happily married to Heather and is daddy to two really fun and exhausting kids; Ava, and Luke. He has no hobbies because he has small kids, but if he had more time he would like to play in a metal band, brew his own beer (he’s a beer snob!), surf more, and take up welding.
Parish Associate
Bill Ward
Bill retired in February 2019 after 20 years as Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Reardan, WA, a small farming community 25 miles west of Spokane. This was his first and only pastoral call as a “second career” pastor and a very different style and pace of life for a lifetime suburban dweller and former electrical engineer. Bill attended UC Davis where he met his wife Lori. Upon graduation, Bill accepted a job with Boeing working in military and then commercial avionics systems. During this time, he and Lori attended Foster Tukwila Presbyterian Church, where both of them became very active in teaching and missions. It was originally to improve his Bible teaching skills that Bill first attended Fuller Theological Seminary classes through their Seattle Extension. After a couple of years of classes, the Session of Foster suggested that Bill explore ordained ministry. Also during this time, Lori & Bill welcomed their four children, Leanna, Peter, Monica and Renee into the world. Soon after Renee came along, they moved to Bothell as Bill followed a job opportunity. There they attended both Emmanuel Presbyterian Church and Lake Forest Park Presbyterian Church, where Bill served as a ministry intern for 18 months. Now settled in Lakewood, Lori & Bill are close to their three daughters and their families (Peter is just a short hop away in Boise). With a great love of the great outdoors, Lori & Bill enjoy camping & hiking, scenic road trips, cooking, gardening and (for Bill) cycling (both road & mountain). Bill has always been passionate about missions, especially the unique mission of the smaller church and “frontier missions” (taking the Gospel where it has not been before). Bill has served the Presbyteries of Seattle, North Puget Sound (now Northwest Coast) and Inland Northwest in a wide range of capacities, including as commissioner to the Synod of Alaska Northwest and to the 221st General Assembly (2014).
Executive Assistant
Cathy Norberg
Bio coming soon!
Office Manager
Nichole Zuger-Cheney
As office manager, Nichole loves greeting members and guests, and brings a wealth of experience in office administration.
When she's not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, gardening, and reading a good book.
Pre-School Director and Director of Children's Ministry
Mary Mannering
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Choir Director
Molly Crane
Molly serves the church as the Choir Director for Little Church and is also the worship leader at Lakewoodgrace. She began her music career at the age of 12. She started taking classical voice lessons and later went on to earn her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance at Western Washington University. She currently teaches voice lessons out of her home studio in Lakewood and at The Tuned In Academy in Olympia. As a member of the Little Church on the Prairie and a Chancel Choir soprano, she feels blessed and excited to explore this experience of modern worship music through Lakewoodgrace. She is grateful to God for pushing her out of her comfort zone to lead others in worship and for granting her the opportunity to be a part of something far greater than she could ever have imagined. She lives in Lakewood with her husband Alex, two cats (Loki and Athena), and her dog (Freya). In her free time, Molly is learning to play the piano and the guitar, which she hopes will aid in her new position. She also enjoys traveling and has seen 14 of the 50 states and 11 different countries. It is a dream of hers to visit as many states and countries as possible (if not all!!) in her lifetime.
Co-Director, Student Ministries
Kaitlin Kim
Bio coming soon!
Bookkeeper
Elaine Sorenson
Bio Coming Soon!
Co-Director, Student Ministries
Janta Steele
Bio Coming Soon!
Co-Director, Student Ministries
Gail Green
Bio Coming Soon!
Custodian
Master Palmer
As custodian, Master cares for the church and property with is easygoing and can-do attitude. He is the proud father to two young girls and grew up in California.
Organist
Jinshil Yi
Bio Coming Soon!