Pastor & Ministry Staff
Rev. Dr. Marcee Binder - Lead Pastor
The Reverend Doctor Marcee Binder is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. She has been the lead pastor of RUMC for the past two years, and a minister for over fourteen years, serving in small rural churches and as Executive Director of a food pantry, Coordinator of Mission and Outreach for the Missouri River District, and Grant Coordinator for the Great Plains Annual Conference. She received her MDiv from Iliff School of Theology with an emphasis in pastoral care. She is a recent graduate of Saint Paul School of Theology where she received her DMin. Her thesis and research centers on trauma-informed theology and its benefits for female worship participants who have experienced sexual violence. She has first-hand experience in trauma, trauma response, and the affect trauma has on relationships with family, friends, work, and with God.
Pastor Marcee is active in the community, the Eastern District of the UMC, the Great Plains Annual Conference and at the General level of the denomination. She is quick to tell you that she really loves Jesus, tacos, and talking with people. Pastor Marcee lives in a suburb of Omaha with her husband, three dogs, two fish, two snails, one hermit crab, a bearded dragon and an axolotl.
mbinder@rockbrookumc.com
Julie Vidlak - Director of Children's Ministries
Julie is excited to serve as Children’s Ministry Director for ages 3 through 6th grade. Although this is her first formal job in church work, Julie’s prior experiences have definitely led her in this direction.
Julie grew up in the small town of Persia, Iowa going to the United Methodist Church. As she grew in the church, Julie also helped by playing piano for Sunday School and church and helping with Vacation Bible School. She attended Creighton University, received a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics and began what would be a 14 year career of teaching math at the middle school level. Julie continued being active in church, first at Faith Westwood in Omaha, then Southminster in Lincoln, and now Rockbrook. Each church found Julie in similar roles of helping with music and education.
Julie is glad to help in the ever important goal of providing a meaningful church experience for the children of Rockbrook and beyond.
Marc Welander - Youth Director
Marc grew up in western Iowa. He attended the United Methodist Church in Charter Oak, IA. He was baptized and confirmed at this church. He also lived in Moorhead, IA and graduated high school from Blair, NE. Marc is an outdoors and sports fan. He enjoys camping with his family and likes to watch athletic events. He has spent over 10 years working in the Local Carpenter’s Union in Omaha. While working full time he went back to school and recently has made a career change to the field of IT Services after obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree in System Network Administration from Bellevue University. Marc has served as the Vacation Bible School Games Leader at Rockbrook. He and his wife are members at Rockbrook Church with their two children. Marc has great leadership skills and enthusiasm for the youth at Rockbrook.
Amanda Griffin - Office Manager
Amanda has cared about church life for as long as she can remember. She grew up Lutheran with a deep curiosity about how Christians think and talk about God. That curiosity led her to study religion as an undergraduate at a small Methodist college in Greenville, IL. From there, she went to Duke Divinity School, where she earned her Master of Divinity and served in multiple United Methodist churches in North Carolina. She is excited to be serving the UMC again as office manager at Rockbrook!
Artie Shaw - Custodian
Artie is semi-retired and a stalwart of Rockbrook UMC. He has three children and five grandchildren.
Emily Quigley - Finance Manager
Emily grew up in Rockbrook United Methodist church, attending since the age of 9 after she moved here from Louisiana. She is a graduate of Westside and has an Accounting degree from UNL. She enjoys watching her two boys’ activities, including tennis, track, show choir, and baseball. She also enjoys watching Husker football and volleyball.
Emily and her husband enjoy serving Rockbrook in many ways including teaching Sunday School, helping with VBS, playing in the bell choir, or fixing things when needed. Her and her husband were married in this church, and both her boys were baptized and confirmed here.
Paul Susemihl - Chancel Choir Director
Paul is a native of Iowa, received a degree in Music Education from the University of Northern Iowa, and later a Master’s Degree from UNO. He has taught on all levels in both Iowa and Nebraska. Paul has been a Music instructor for OPS for 29 years and recently retired from his teaching position. He has been the Chancel Choir director at Rockbrook since 1989. In addition, Paul has sung with the Clarion Chamber Chorale, Soli Deo Gloria Cantorum, and Omaha Chamber Singers. Paul adjudicates for high school music contests with the Iowa High School Music Association and occasionally in Nebraska. He has been involved with church music since he was a child and enjoys his work at Rockbrook very much.
Tatyana Boellstorff - Pianist/Organist
Tatyana Boellstorff was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in what was then the Soviet Union. She graduated from the prestigious Tashkent Conservatory, with emphasis in Concert Piano, Accompaniment with singers, chamber, and also Music Teaching. Her degree is the equivalent of a Doctorate of Music and Performing Arts in the United States. She moved to Kislovodsk, which is in the Caucasus Mountains, in a resort town named Kislovodsk, which became Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. She moved to the United States to marry Tyson Boellstorff, and lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with her two sons and their families nearby. She spends a lot of her time with her new grandson, and has plenty of pictures.
Tatyana has spent over twenty years teaching at the Rachmaninov Children’s Musical School in Kislovodsk Russia, as well as 15 years here in the US, teaching piano to many, many talented and enthusiastic students. She has also given many, many concerts and produced several music CD’s. She has had the honor of taking her students to many local festivals and contests, where they have consistently been awarded the highest scores and honors.
In addition to working as the pianist and organist at Rockbrook UMC, she currently performs charitable concerts at local nursing homes and retirement centers.