
Mark Spence
Lead Pastor
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 Estes
Family Pastor
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. 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.

Kacy Keplinger
Administrative Assistant
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.

Nina Maes
Finance Administrator
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.