Our Team
Rev. Jay R. Smith
senior pastor
After eight years on staff as the Youth Director (2012-2014) and the Associate Pastor (2014-2020) Jay is now the Senior Pastor at New Covenant. Jay is a life-long resident of the Oklahoma City metro area, growing up in Oklahoma City, and moving to Edmond for his undergraduate studies at the University of Central Oklahoma. After spending a majority of his time in ministry serving in different student ministry capacities God expanded the call on his life to ordination as a pastor. In 2014, Jay became New Covenant’s Associate Pastor and started at Asbury Theological Seminary, graduating with a Masters of Divinity in December of 2017. Jay was appointed in June of 2020 to lead New Covenant as Senior Pastor.
Jay is blessed with an incredible family. His wife Natalie, son Andrew, and two doodles Henri and Olive make everyday a joyous adventure. Jay lives his life with a lot of (often a little too loud) passion. He loves the honor of being a pastor and leading because he believes that the Good News of Jesus Christ is relevant and deeply needed and because he believes that when the church catches fire with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, heaven begins to break through here on earth. He is a lover of Jesus and is striving every day to follow Jesus more fully.
Pastor Jay’s passion is also directed toward a few less “holy” avenues. He is a crazy fan of the OKC Thunder and any OU sports team. He loves all types of music, enjoys a good book (especially history), and maybe loves food a little too much.
Jay is beyond excited for what is in store for this next season of ministry here at New Covenant and he hopes that New Covenant digs deeper into our call to be rooted in Christ, to be a people in community, FOR the community, and a people of love for God and neighbor.
Rev. Cali Eck
associate pastor
(405) 562-3212 | ceck@newcov.tv
Cali is the pastor of our 11:00am Traditional Chapel Service as well as the minister of adult discipleship. Cali has served the larger church in a variety of capacities for over 25 years. She has been inviting others into a relationship with Jesus Christ as a youth and children’s pastor and pastor of discipleship. Cali is an ordained minister in the Global Methodist Church. She received her undergraduate degree from Mid-America Bible college, now Mid-America Christian University, and her Master of Divinity from Anderson University’s School of Theology.
Cali is blessed with a wonderful family. She is the wife of David Eck. They were married in July of 1995. She has 4 children: Jessica, Benjamin, Jonathan, and Brooklyn. In 2022, there was an addition to the family when her son Benjamin married Peyton. Cali enjoys singing, reading, the outdoors, time near the water, basketball, and any activities her children are participating in.
Cali is deeply in love with Jesus. She grew up in the church as a preacher’s kid and caught the fire of the Holy Spirit while attending a youth revival at the age of 14. She loves introducing others to her best friend and Savior. Cali loves serving Jesus through serving the church. She is passionate about helping others come into a relationship with Jesus and guiding them as they seek to live out who God has called them to be in the community. In Cali’s ministry she hopes to help guide the New Covenant family to walk faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can people who witness boldly about what God is doing in us.
Scott Smith
executive director
(405) 562-3210 | ssmith@newcov.tv
Scott Smith is the Executive Director of Ministry and joined the New Covenant Staff in 2020. He has served in the church for over 35 years in different capacities: Student Ministry, College, Connections, Missions, Adult Discipleship, and Staff Leadership. Scott has pastoral spirit and administrative giftedness. He enjoys spending time on the water kayaking and fishing. But most of his time is spent being with his wife, Linda, his kids and four grandkids. He feels very blessed to be apart of the staff at New Covenant.
Kyle Owen
director of worship arts
(405) 562-3216 | kowen@newcov.tv
Kyle Owen is the Director of Worship Arts at New Covenant. With over 20 years of experience in leading worship, being a worship Pastor, and building a culture of worship Kyle brings a passion for leading people to encounter Jesus in all venues where worship takes place. At the core of his heart for worship and building a culture of worship is a huge desire for those who have gifts in the Arts to find a place to serve and use their gifts to worship God. In his free time he enjoys being outside working in the yard, riding his bike, working on a home project and building something out of wood. He has been married to his incredibly gifted wife, Melina, for 20 years and they are blessed with three amazing children, Adalyn, Presley, and Stone. They are all very excited to be part of the New Covenant family and know that God has incredible things in store!
Amber Hocker
director of connection and care
(405) 562-3217 | ahocker@newcov.tv
Amber Hocker joined the New Covenant staff in 2014 and now serves as the Director of Connection and Care. Amber considers this her “dream job” because she finds the greatest joy in caring for others. When she is not at the church Amber keeps herself busy chasing around her seven kids and spending time with her sweet husband Jon. Her hands are very full, but her heart is overflowing!
John Gilstrap
director of next gen and evangelism
(405)562-3227 | jgilstrap@newcov.tv
John Gilstrap, our Director of Next Gen and Evangelism, joined the New Covenant team in July of 2020. He has served in the church for over 25 years as a Student Minister, Young Adult and Family Minister, Director of Discipleship and Worship Leader. John’s greatest passion is to help people of all ages enter into a life transforming relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. When not working, John spends his time with his wife Dawn and their two kids, Sarah and Noah.
Cristina Hughes
director of children’s ministry
(405)562-3242 | chughes@newcov.tv
Cristina Hughes is the Director of Children’s Ministry at New Covenant and joined the team with over 10 years of experience in Children’s Ministry. Cristina finds unbridled joy in sharing Christ’s love with others, especially children and families. She’s found that often times there is more to learn from children about God’s love than she has to teach them.
Cristina grew up on a cattle ranch in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains, went to college at the beach and married a wheat farmer’s son. Together, Cristina and her husband Shade came to OSU for graduate school and after having two native born sons (James and Gus), they now consider themselves honorary Okies. When she’s not throwing streamers and glitter around the children’s area Cristina likes to read, garden, swim, run and spend time with her 3 boys (she includes her husband in that count).
Jonah Grisham
director of student ministries
(405)562-3207 | jgrisham@newcov.tv
Jonah joined the New Covenant staff in 2015 and believes wholeheartedly that Jesus is the only lasting source of hope, purpose, freedom, truth, and love. He leads young people to encounter the glorious grace that Jesus offers and to have their lives transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jonah, his wife Chandler, and their two huskies Copper and Timber live in NW Oklahoma City where they love to talk to their dogs as if they were human, workout so they can eat whatever they want, watch all the TV shows, and spend a lot of time with family.
Catherine Cates
director of communications
(405)562-3223 | ccates@newcov.tv
Catherine joined New Covenant’s staff as Director of Communications in 2016. She finds a lot of joy in using her education and gifts in marketing and communications to amplify the message of Christ’s love for all and to help people connect into the loving community of New Covenant. Catherine is a firm believer in the power of prayer, the importance of caring about and caring for all of God’s children, and God’s wildly creative and persistent plan that is making all things new. Catherine really enjoys laughing over dinner and having extravagant movie nights with her husband Nathan and their three kids.
Ruby Gabelmann
director of church administration
(405) 562-3213 | rgabelmann@newcov.tv
Ruby Gabelmann is the Director of Church Administration and joined the New Covenant staff in 2010. She is originally from Texas but now calls Oklahoma home. Ruby, and her husband Bill, have 2 adult children that both live out of state. She loves traveling, hanging out with her husband, and spending time with her children as often as she can. Ruby is so thankful to work alongside such an amazing staff where she sees the love of Christ demonstrated daily.
Kelley Austin
director of finance
(405) 562-3204 | kaustin@newcov.tv
Kelley Austin has attended New Covenant since 2010 and worked as the Director of Finance since 2012. She has a husband and two children, Taylor 23 and Alexandra 18. Kelley feels very blessed to work at New Covenant because it is an amazing place. When she is not working, she likes to read and hang out with her family.
DJ Grizzard
director of facilities
(405) 562-3218 | dgrizzard@newcov.tv
DJ Grizzard joined the New Covenant team in 2019. DJ enjoys sports, technology and spending time with friends and his family.
Cody Blair
middle school youth associate
(405) 562-3200 | cblair@newcov.tv
Cody Blair, the Middle School Youth Associate at New Covenant, joined the team in the spring of 2023. With a passion for student ministry, Cody thrives on sharing not just the love of Jesus with students, but also explaining how “cool” Jesus truly is. Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Cody’s journey led him to Oklahoma, thanks to Oklahoma Christian University, where he earned his degree in Youth Ministry. He now resides in Edmond with his beloved wife, Abbi, and their stubborn dog, Denzel. Outside of work, Cody enjoys immersing himself in the outdoors, indulging in rounds of golf and corn hole, and hollering for his cherished teams, the Texas Rangers and the Texas Longhorns – HOOK’EM!
Aimee Kester
children’s ministry associate
(405) 562-3200 | akester@newcov.tv
Aimee joined the New Cov Children’s Ministry team in 2023. She has the fondest memories of growing up going to church and learning about Jesus and from an early age she knew she wanted to serve others. Aimee has worked a variety of jobs through the years, some with grown ups and others with kids; all fantastic opportunities but working in family and children’s ministry has always been her favorite. Aimee is married to a very kind fella and they have three little kiddos. They have also had the privilege of being foster parents to some super cool kids through the years.
Kate Martinez
children’s nursery associate
(405) 562-3200 | kmartinez@newcov.tv
Kate joined the New Cov Children’s Ministry team in 2023. Kate is a wife, mother, home-schooler, crafter, gardener and most importantly a child of God. The Lord led her family to New Covenant in 2020 and she is now excited to be part of the kids team. Kate has so much passion to help her kids find a strong foundation in Christ and she feels blessed to share that passion with NC Kids.
Jill Davis
secretary
(405) 562-3200 | jdavis@newcov.tv
Jill joined the team July 2015. She serves as Receptionist, and Assistant to the Facilities Director. She enjoys providing Hospitality to the many visitors and precious members of the Congregation. She spends her time off camping and boating with friends and family. Jill lives in Moore with her handsome son and incredible husband. She has two beautiful grown daughters, and is embracing her new role as Grandma to her wonderful granddaughter Izabelle.
Deanna Rainey
worship & communications assistant
(405) 562-3219 | drainey@newcov.tv
Deanna Rainey is Worship and Communications Assistant, and joined the New Covenant staff in 1996. She has been involved in many aspects of ministry at New Covenant through the years, and loves to engage with people and assist them in any way she can. Deanna loves gardening, nature, books, and time spent with Jesus every day. She loves spending time with her children and grandchildren as much as possible.
Gigi Self
accounts payable specialist
(405) 562-3211 | vself@newcov.tv
Gigi joined the team as an Accounting Associate in 2018. She loves her job and she feels like working with all the staff members, Church Members, and volunteers is such a blessing. She loves spending time with her two kids and her grandkids as much as possible. Her hobbies include running with good friends, reading and being outside.
Lucas Silva
choir director
Lucas Silva is the Choir Director, and joined the New Covenant staff in 2019. He is passionate about serving the church through music. He believes that musicians and church members should do music with excellence for the Glory of God, the proclaim of the Gospel and the edification of the Saints. He invites you to join him every Sunday to praise God through worship and song. Lucas is from Brasil and lives in Edmond with his wife Elen and his two sons, Pedro and Mateus.
Debi Gorman
director of children’s day out
cdo@newcov.tv | (405) 562-3225
Debi Gorman is the Director of our Children’s Day Out program. Debi received her degree in Family Relations and Child Development from UCO. She has worked with children for over 30 year in different capacities: Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and Child Care Center Director. She joined the New Covenant staff in July 2011. She grew up in Edmond and loves all the family connection that she’s made through the years. She married her husband, John in August 1994. She has two children, John James and Allie. She enjoys spending her free time with family.
Khristin Stevens
assistant director of children’s day out
cdo@newcov.tv | (405) 562-3225
Khristin studied Early Childhood education at The University of Central Oklahoma during that time she met her Husband Mark and his daughter Sarah. They married in October 1999 and had 2 children Conner and Kallee. Conner started coming to CDO June 2003 then Kallee started August 2004. Once they were both at CDO she started subbing in the center. After about a year of subbing she began teaching. She has taught in every classroom and can see amazing things about every age. July 2011 she was hired to be the Assistant Director of CDO and has loved every minute of doing this job. Her time outside of work is spent with family.