Ryan Guerra
Worship Pastor
I am Southern Illinois born, but mostly Northern Illinois raised. Even still, you may catch me talking with a hint of the Southern accent I picked up in my youth in Carbondale, IL where I was born. I always say it is so far south it might as well be Kentucky.
Growing up in a Christian family I was taught the truth of the Bible. However, not until highschool, when faced with life decisions I had never encountered before, did my faith really become my own. God showed me these were opportunities to decide if I would truly live the way He calls his children to live. Through God’s grace (and a lot of mercy) He set firm the direction of my life at that turning point. I am thankful for His continued and underserved grace and mercy over me each day…because I need it more than I understand.
My wife and I arrived at Water’s Edge when I joined the staff in October, 2007. Before Water’s Edge we spent nearly ten years of ministry to youth in two other Chicago area churches. At those churches I led worship teams and small groups of students and adults. It was also a time of involved, hands-on training in theology and The Gospel and how they should practically play out amongst The Church and Christians so we fight the temptation to live religiously, but instead fight to live like and for Jesus.
My passion in worship is for the Christian to be encouraged to worship Jesus each day of the week and for those who don’t know Jesus to be pointed to belief and faith. To support this, I use both contemporary songs and hymns that are aligned with the Truth of Scripture to help the congregation understand and love God more deeply as we worship together.
My wife, Harper, and I met when we were fifteen and were married in 2001. She has always been my biggest help, especially as her spiritual gift of administration compliments my God-given spiritual gifts—we love working as a team. We have a super sweet daughter who was born in May 2010. Our family enjoys doing anything outside, Sunday afternoon naps, hiking, hitting the gym & going to the Farmer’s Market in Wheaton during the summer. We love having a sound track to our life and rarely don’thave music of some sort playing in the background.
We are excited our family is part of what God is doing through Water’s Edge and I am thrilled and honored that God has placed me in the Worship Pastor role here.
