STAFF
ELDERS
Rick Fiechter
Lead Pastor, Elder, Foundation Crew Leader
Rick grew up in a small farming community around Bluffton IN. Rick married his sweetheart, Deb at the ripe old age of 19. Both of them have always had a passion for the Lord and reaching out to people with the Good News about Jesus. Rick has worked in dairy farming, construction, factory work, and managing a wholesale company selling heating and AC equipment. During this time, he helped lead worship at their local church. At 31, he left the wholesale industry to go to college full-time and helped plant a church in their community. Rick and Deb have five children, and Deb has kept busy helping in ministry and schooling the kids.
In 2005, they sensed a call from the Lord to move to Saint Cloud Florida to start The Connection church. Today, Rick continues to serve as Lead Pastor at The Connection as well as serving as Global Collaboration Lead Coach for GACX (www.gacx.io) a global alliance for church multiplication; over 90 organizations committed to seeing1 church established for every 1,000 people requiring over 5 million new church plants world-wide.
Rick has a B.S. in Pastoral Ministry, M.A in Ministerial Leadership, and a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies and is the author of Lasting Leadership, intended to help young pastors and church planters balance personal, family, and ministry leadership for lasting health and success.
He and Deb live in St. Cloud FL and love their church, community, and spending time with their kids and 7 grandkids.
Kerry Scott
Elder, Finance Team Member, Foundation Crew Leader
Kerry and his family originated from the lakes and cornfields in northern Indiana, where he attended schools in Milford and Warsaw, Indiana. His wife Denise was from a nearby town of Nappanee and they attended the same church camp together as children. While in college and graduate school, they both met at camp again as support staff in the summer of 1980 and started dating. They were married a year later. All three of their children were born in that area as well while Kerry was serving as an Associate Pastor and then Senior Pastor at the Jefferson Brethren Church in Goshen, In., and Denise working as an elementary art teacher.
Sensing a call to serve the Lord in a different capacity, they moved after 12 years of ministry to central Florida to take part in a church planting initiative sponsored by Florida churches within the Brethren church. Kerry started working in a lay capacity as a store and district manager for RadioShack Corp while his children were being educated by Denise. While that particular mission opportunity did not materialize they remained committed to serving in a church planting capacity and eventually met pastor Rick Fiechter and his family who had recently moved into their neighborhood. They soon joined in helping launch The Connection Church.
Kerry has his B.A. and M.Div. from Ashland Theological Seminary, OH. For the past 11 years he has worked as a financial advisor for Edward Jones with an office in Saint Cloud while serving as an Elder.
Thomas Todd
Executive Pastor, Elder
Thomas was born and spent his early elementary years in Pen Argyl, PA. He moved with his family to a small rural town outside of Nashville at age 8 and grew up there. Thomas moved to Knoxville, TN with a job opportunity in his early 20’s. Though Thomas attended church during his adolescence, He did not truly know and follow Jesus until He turned twenty-five. Thomas met his wife Donna in Knoxville and they were married in 2004. Thomas worked in the mobile home industry beginning in sales, then moving to management, banking, and regional operational supervisor for seven states and thirty-eight dealerships. At 31, Thomas left the mobile home industry to go to college full-time and serve as a youth pastor at a church in Kissimmee, FL. Thomas and Donna have six children. Donna is a licensed cosmetologist and keeps busy schooling kids and serving as a worship leader.
In 2008, the Lord led them to join staff at the Connection Church originally planning to plant a congregation from the Connection. In 2009, the Lord led them to stay on staff and serve the Connection Church. Today, Thomas serves as the Executive Pastor at the Connection as well as the director of the Foundation Counseling Center, a ministry of the Connection Church.
Thomas has a B.S. in Biblical Studies, a M.Div., and a M.A. in counseling.
Thomas and Donna live in Saint Cloud, FL and love spending time with their children, church, and community. Thomas enjoys reading, running, and spending time outdoors with his family enjoying new adventures. Thomas and Donna are passionate about joining people on their journey, helping them see the glory of God through the hope and healing of our Lord and Savior Jesus.
DEACONS
Marty Mann
Deacon, Finance Team Member, Young Adults Group Leader
Marty was born in 1969 just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio and eventually found his way to Florida. He has worked on the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes as a fisheries biologist for the past 20 years; fishing has always been his favorite past-time. Additionally, Marty teaches high school biology, chemistry and physics one day a week for a local Christian educational cooperative. Besides fishing, Marty and his son now train in Martial Arts and both of them have achieved the rank of a black belt in Taekwondo.
Marty got married in 1995 to his beautiful wife, Anna Marie. After she finished nursing school, they started their family. Abby was born in 1999. Then after some difficulty having a second child, they were blessed with Jackson in 2008. Currently, Abby is at Liberty University and is majoring in Musical Theatre and Jackson is in the 7th grade and “majoring in gaming."
After attending the Catholic church up to college, Marty let life get in the way and didn't attend as regularly; however, God continued working. Once he began to have a family, he started to attend church again. His wife had some friends that attended a Baptist church and she convinced him to try out the Protestant side. The Baptist church where they attended was much better at discipling its congregation so the decision was made to attend permanently. Marty and Anna Marie were rebaptized and renewed their faith to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Abby was baptized at this church as well.
A few years later, the Connection Church was planted and the Mann family started attending. Marty has led a Foundation Crew for many years, served as volunteer youth pastor for middle and high school students and currently serves as a church deacon and the Leader of our Young Adults Life Skills group. He recently committed to serve on the church's finance team as well.
Gabriel Borrero
Deacon, AV Team Leader, Foundation Crew Leader
Gabe was born on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. When he was 5, his family moved to Connecticut, eventually moving to Florida at the age of 9. Gabe came to know Jesus in his younger teenage years, attending a bilingual, Pentacostal Church with his family in Kissimmee, FL. Over the years, Gabe grew to know our loving Savior.
In 2013, Gabe met his high school sweetheart, now wife, Amanda. She attended the Connection Church since the start, and they eventually agreed to both be planted there after prayer & guidance from the Lord.
Gabe is a Director at Chick Fil A and is working towards real estate investing. Amanda owns a wedding planning business and serves as the First Impressions Leader at Connection.
Together, they enjoy traveling & experiencing quality time with their friends and family. They have a passion for knowing others personally, serving their local church & community, adoption & understanding the Word.
Deric VanBuskirk
Deacon, Youth Connect Director, Foundation Crew Leader
Deric VanBuskirk was born and raised in Bremerton, WA. He was brought up in a middle class working family with two older brothers and a younger sister. They were a part of the local Lutheran church, where the seeds of Jesus Christ were planted in his heart.
While in high school, Deric began his first job which led into a career in the food and beverage industry for over 25 years. When he was in his early 20’s, he moved to Pennsylvania, where he continued to work in the culinary field at a Christian conference center. Several years later, he found himself in Florida, where he developed his culinary career, working his way up to executive chef at the Walt Disney World Resort.
It was at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom where he met his wife Kerri, and they were married in 1999. They have three children, Julia, who is away at college; Jordan, who is a sophomore in high school; and Jenna, who is in the fifth grade. Deric now works as an entrepreneur in the vending, camper rental and real estate fields. He and Kerri, along with their kids, enjoy camping, traveling, and serving others.
Deric has served in many capacities at The Connection Church over the last 13 years. Along with serving as a Deacon and our Youth Connect Director, he also assists in overseeing the other foundation crew leaders in the church and he guides our Prison Ministry. He and Kerri both coordinate the church’s mission trips each year as well. 1 Peter 4:10 is a compelling verse for Deric, and he is always ready to serve people who need help. He has a true servant’s heart.