R. Brooke Baker
Senior Minister
The Rev. R. Brooke Baker is our Senior Minister, called to Redeemer as our settled pastor in April 2021. Rev. Baker received her M.Div. degree from Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary in 2019 and was ordained into Christian ministry in the United Church of Christ in 2020. She has served several UCC congregations across Northeast Ohio in a variety of capacities. Previously, Rev. Baker served as music director at Old South Church UCC in Kirtland, Ohio, and as seminary intern at Amistad Chapel UCC in downtown Cleveland. Rev. Baker lives with her spouse in Lakewood.
Margaret Borrelli
Faith Formation Minister
Margaret G. Borrelli has been Minister of Faith Formation at Church of the Redeemer UCC since October 2006, and has served as a Church Educator in the United Church of Christ since 1978. She is certified by the UCC as an Accredited Church Educator and is authorized by the Western Reserve Association as a Commissioned Minister of Christian Education. Margaret grew up in Cleveland and received her B.A. degree from Ohio Wesleyan University. She lives in North Olmsted where she and her husband have raised three daughters. Her interests include writing poetry, reading, and scrapbooking.
Nancey Brock
Parish Nurse
Nancey Brock is Redeemer UCC’s Parish Nurse. A registered nurse (RN) for more than 14 years, Nancey is a case manager in the Acute Rehabilitation floor of Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain, where she discharges patients safely home with all the resources they will need to resume their activities of daily living — a perfect fit for her duties at Redeemer! Nancey also teaches wellness, diabetic education, understanding Covid-19, signs and symptoms of a stroke or heart attack, VA benefits, and many other topics. As she notes, “My strength is the ability to get people what they need. I look forward to assisting anyone who has a question, concern, or maybe just wants to talk.”
Carol Peddie
Director of Music
Carol E. Peddie has been a church music director for more than forty years and has been at Church of the Redeemer since 2005. She has directed numerous choirs and has served as a soloist in Cleveland, Avon Lake, Lorain, Miami and Boca Raton, Florida, and San Diego, California. Carol taught high school vocal music for thirty years both in Lorain and Boca Raton. She grew up in Lakewood and received her bachelor’s degree in music education (voice and violin) from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and her master’s degree in education from Baldwin-Wallace College. She resides in Avon and enjoys travel and sports.
Jason Aquila
Organist/Bell Choir Director
Jason Aquila, Redeemer’s Organist and Carillon Bell Choir director, holds a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano and Chamber Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He spent 10 years as Coordinator of Accompanying at Western Illinois University, during some of which he was the organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in Macomb, Illinois. Jason currently is the Music Director of the Voice Performance program at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music.