Our Leadership

Rev. Kyle Oesch
Rector (Lead Pastor)
My family moved to Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood in 2017, and we've been blessed to love and serve our neighborhood through Cornerstone Anglican Church in Portage Park ever since. I first came on Cornerstone's staff as a bi-vocational lay pastor in the Fall of 2017, and in May 2019, I became our full-time Location Pastor. It has been a joy to watch our church mature and become rooted in the neighborhood over the past few years, and it is a privilege to pastor our young, vibrant congregation. In addition to leading our congregation in Portage Park, I also provide ministry oversight for Cornerstone - Edgewater, a Mission that gathers residents at Park View Rehab Center.

Prior to joining Cornerstone Anglican Church, I completed a Master of Divinity degree at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. I have served in pastoral roles in other churches, including the St. Louis, MO, area where I am from (yes, that makes me unapologetically a Cardinals fan). My wife, Natalie, and I have four amazing boys: Aiden, Noah, Silas, and Callan. We look forward to getting to know you and believe there is a place for you in this family of God on mission together to share God's love with our city!

Dcn. Joel Brown
Pastor of Missional Formation
I serve as the lay pastor at Cornerstone Anglican Church – Edgewater, a Mission that gathers residents at Park View Rehab Center in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. I also lead other outreach, evangelism, and mercy ministry efforts for Cornerstone Anglican Church. My wife, Donovan, and I are passionate about seeing society’s neglected members both encounter Christ and grow in sharing his love with others.

Claire Slader
Director of Music and Liturgical Arts | Communications Coordinator
I grew up just outside of Columbus, Ohio with my parents, two younger sisters, and the best cat ever. When I graduated high school in 2015 I thought I would go to college in northern Ohio to study psychology. 6 years later I found myself in Chicago graduating from Moody Bible Institute with a BA in Worship and Media Arts. My time at Cornerstone Anglican Portage Park started with me serving as an intern in February of 2021, in June I came on bi-vocationally while I finished my degree, and in January of 2022 joined staff full-time. Since 2016, it has been clear to me that worship leadership is God's calling in my life, and it has been a blessing to be able to serve in that capacity at Cornerstone.

I think creativity is the coolest and my mediums of choice are photography, writing, and music. Currently I am crocheting a sweater, trying to finish the album I’ve been talking about since 2017, and reading about the history of color.

Donovan Brown
Director of Spiritual Formation
I moved to Chicagoland over a decade ago so I could pursue a degree in Theology with a minor in Old Testament Biblical Theology at Moody Bible Institute. I then continued my education just north of the city at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, receiving my Master of Arts in Old Testament and Semitic Languages. In the meantime, I was falling in love with the liturgy of the Anglican tradition, learning a thing or two about teaching and discipleship, and pressing into the life of the church, particularly at Cornerstone Anglican Church in Edgewater, where I also met my husband, Joel.

As the Director of Spiritual Formation for our parish, I serve both our Portage Park and Edgewater congregations. I love to create spaces and opportunities for the Lord to work in us and through us as a community by developing our love for scripture, the spiritual disciplines, and incarnational service.

Allison Padley
Parish Administrator | Cornerstone Kids Coordinator
Hi I’m Allison, and I am so excited to join the Cornerstone staff. My husband Elad and I moved to Chicago a little over a year ago and have been coming to Cornerstone from the beginning! We love it here and I am so glad to be able to use my gifts to help support the church.

My education background starts in theater. (Elad says that’s where I learned to be dramatic, little does he know I have always been dramatic). I then went on to seminary in Kentucky where I met Elad and got a Masters of Christian Education.

I have worked with churches of all sizes and with almost all age groups. I am excited to work with our children’s ministry and see how we can grow together. I’m also ready to help provide the background support to help all of us be the church to one another and in our community. I look forward to serving our Cornerstone family!

Kyle Crandell
Sexton (Building Manager) | Cornerstone - Edgewater Ministry Assistant
Hello there! My name is (also) Kyle and I first came to Chicago on a summer mission trip with Cru during my freshman year of college and returned the next summer. After graduating from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI in 2017 with a degree in nutrition and food science, I came back to Chicago to do campus ministry at University of Illinois at Chicago.

In 2019, I interned with Cornerstone Portage Park and loved working with the team so I joined full-time in 2020. Today I serve as the building manager for Cornerstone Portage Park and work with Cornerstone Edgewater as a Pastoral Assistant, especially with those in nursing/rehabilitation homes. When I am not running around our building or in Edgewater, I love to go to the gym with friends, listen to ’80’s music and make friends sigh with my ridiculous puns!