BCC Church Council

Our council makes the day-to-day business decisions of the church; but, more than that, provides spiritual leadership to the congregation. Each council member oversees a ministry team of several people who meet regularly to dream and realize the potential of their ministry area.

Jeff Farrar (Chair)

Jeff has been a part of BCC for over thirty years! He’s a proven leader who has helped guide BCC through many changes in the past several years. His responsibilities include planning and running council and congregational meetings and overseeing the rest of the council. Jeff is an accomplished photographer and an avid, season-ticket-holding Sabres fan.

Autumn Shepherd (Treasurer)

Autumn has worked as a paralegal for two of Buffalo’s top law firms, handling estates and trusts administration. She puts these skills to work managing the finances of Buffalo Covenant, making sure all the bills are paid, and playing a key role in drafting the yearly budget. She keeps pretty busy outside of church playing violin for several orchestras and teaching her daughters Naia and Chloe everything she knows.

Phil Then (Administration)

Ministry Team: Building and Grounds.

Karen Farrar (Children’s Ministries)

Karen is a recently-retired elementary school teacher. Under her leadership, Discovery Club (our children’s program) attendance has tripled. She enjoys sewing and crafts. Ministry Team: Discovery Club.

Cindy Strickland (Church Life)

Cindy is the administrative assistant at the NFTA office at the airport (stop in and say hello when you fly in and out of Buffalo!) In addition to organizing church events, she tries to find ways to get new people involved in the life of BCC. She lives with her bichon frise in Tonawanda. Ministry Team: Assimilation.

Charmaine Then (Outreach)

In a sense, everything we do at BCC is geared toward outreach, so this is a big job! Charmaine is involved in the planning of church events, making sure they fit into our overall strategy for reaching our community. Our goal is to give to our community; with that in mind, we host events such as free hot dogs during the summer and a quarterly event geared to children (like our Familiy Fun Fest every August). Charmaine owns her own estate sale company and is a licensed appraiser. Ministry Team: Outreach and Diversity.

Nick van Heeren (Spiritual Life)

Ministry Team: Spiritual Life