Leadership

Mark joined the staff at The Ave as pastor in July of 2016. Prior to The Ave, Mark served as the Campus Pastor of Cross Church, a satellite campus of North Richland Hills Baptist Church, in Fort Worth, Texas. Over the course of 11 years of serving at NRHBC, Mark wore several different ministry hats including missions, evangelism, discipleship, and education. Growing up in Colleyville, Texas, Mark met Janet Emmons, his high school sweetheart. After attending Texas A&M University, Janet and Mark married at NRHBC in July of 2001. After graduation, Mark completed his Masters of Divinity at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in May, 2005. The Spence's are blessed to have adopted their first child, Parker, who was born in December of 2008. God further and surprisingly blessed the Spence family through the birth of their second son, Jonathan, on September 1, 2009. Mark graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary in June of 2014 with a Doctor of Ministry in being awesome.

Bobby joined the staff of The Ave in August of 2018. Born and raised in Colorado, Bobby holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Wayland Baptist University and graduated from Gateway Seminary Rocky Mountain Campus with a Masters of Theological Studies in May of 2018. Bobby’s love for student ministry has a personal connection since he met his wife Shelby while attending student camp one summer. Shelby serves as a school teacher and they have two daughters named Kinley and Adelyn and a son named Gavyn. As a senior in high school, Bobby felt God’s call to ministry on his life while attending a camp in Glorietta, NM. Since then, Bobby has faithfully pursued his calling to student ministry and served where God has allowed.

Steve was born in Wichita Falls Texas. He moved to Odessa Texas at the age of 13 where he completed public education, married his High School sweetheart Debbie, and began a family. They spent 25 years in Oklahoma raising two children and serving in Churches. Steve has a Batchelor’s Degree from Oklahoma Baptist University in Religion and was ordained into the Gospel ministry while serving in Broken Arrow. Steve and Debbie currently live in Aurora CO close to their two grown children. Steve has led and participated in overseas mission projects in Brazil, The Dominican Republic, Italy, and Mexico. Before joining the Avenue Church, Steve and Debbie worked for 10 years in Spanish churches Colorado and Texas. Steve retired from 40 plus years in the Foodservice Industry and is applying his business skills serving the church on a part-time basis. He believes there is no retiring in God’s Kingdom work.

Katy joined the staff of The Avenue Church in August 2023. Born and raised in Clinton, Mississippi, she has been a resident of the Denver-metro area since 2017. She and her husband, Wendall, have been married since 2006 and have two daughters, Avery and Lucie. Katy is currently pursuing a Business Leadership degree at Spurgeon College in Kansas City, Missouri. She enjoys reading, crossword puzzles, and spectator sports in her free time. 

Nina joined The Ave staff in July 2019. Her and her husband are natives to Colorado. They have 5 beautiful children; 4 girls,  and 1 boy, . She is passionate about her faith in Jesus and  loves spending time with her family. She keeps busy with quilting and knitting, in whatever free time she can find. She enjoys working here with such a great group of people to serve alongside them.

Kacy came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at the age of 7. It wasn’t until she was 16 that she completely surrendered her life to our Savior. Kacy grew up in Texas and married Justin in 2005. Justin currently serves in the U.S. Army. They moved to Aurora in August of 2020. Justin and Kacy had their son Jackson in 2009. As a family they enjoy the beach, Disney, SEC Football and serving God through serving in the local church.

Katie joined The Avenue staff in June 2022. She is married to Daniel and has a daughter named Juliet. Katie is from a small town in Kansas but has lived in Colorado most of her life. As a kid Katie enjoyed working in her Grandfathers wood shop and helping with off jobs. After working in maintenance for 4 years, Katie has enjoyed becoming a jack of all trades. She enjoys working with her hands, being able to fix broken things, learning new skills, crafting, and listening to books.

Mandy joined The Avenue staff in June of 2019. Mandy is from a small town in Kansas and moved to Colorado in 1999. She has been a member of The Avenue Church since. Mandy is married to Kyle and they have a husky named Ivy. Mandy enjoys playing with her nieces and nephew, reading, writing, and watching horror movies.