Marissa started working as the secretary at West Side in January 2020. She is most likely the one who will answer the church phone when you call during office hours. She is also the one who monitors the church email account and will respond to you or forward your emails to the appropriate person.
Born in 1990, Marissa is a Decatur native who grew up attending a local Presbyterian church. Sadly, she never accepted Jesus as a child and left the church altogether when she was a teenager. However, by God's great grace alone, Marissa wandered her way back into the church in 2013 and ultimately into a relationship with Jesus. If you ask her what it felt like when she gave her life to Christ, she will tell you that it was like truly coming alive for the very first time.
In 2015, Marissa began spending time at the Decatur House of Prayer serving on one of their worship teams. It was during this time at the house of prayer that she really developed a passion for talking with God. At the end of 2015, Marissa moved to Grandview, MO to attend an internship where she would spend countless hours in prayer and worship. It was during this time in the Kansas City metro area that Marissa fell in love with music and songwriting. Often times the songs she wrote were just prayers put to music. Singing to God became a new passion for Marissa.
At the beginning of 2018, Marissa abruptly moved back to Decatur to care for her mom, Sara, during the last six months of her life. After her mom passed away, Marissa decided it was time to enroll in school to complete her Bachelor's degree. Originally she enrolled at Liberty University in August 2018, studying to earn a bachelor's in religion with a concentration in Christian counseling. Her plan was to continue on to earn a master's in pastoral counseling. However, after a while, Marissa began to feel as though the Lord was leading her in a different, although similar, direction. In June 2022, she enrolled at Southern New Hampshire University and began pursuing a bachelor's in psychology with a concentration in mental health and a minor in communications. She plans to continue on into graduate school to pursue a master's in clinical mental health counseling. Marissa's hope is to be able to use her education to serve the hurting and the broken. She also hopes to help educate the church in general about how to better serve those who are struggling with mental health problems.
While Marissa has worked at West Side since the beginning of 2020, she had only been visiting West Side occasionally for services. However, during the summer of 2022, Marissa felt like it was time for her to begin attending West Side regularly. She has loved working for West Side from the very beginning, but now she gets to enjoy getting to know the people of West Side even better as she joins them for the various services and activities. Marissa's favorite hobbies include being creative and crafty in various ways, listening to and creating music, and spending time with her only niece, Bailey.
