Our Leadership

Board of Directors

Harold Channer

Harold Channer completed his bachelor’s degree in accounting with a minor in Information Systems at the City University of New York. He is currently employed as a Healthcare Solution Engineer at Zoom Communications Inc.

Harold has been married to Jerri Channer for 28 years, and together they have raised two hardworking sons who are also devoted disciples: Andrew, age 21, and Aaron, age 19.

As a shepherding couple, Harold and Jerri deeply enjoy spending quality time with families that have young children and teenagers. Moreover, Harold has served as the Succession chair on the North River Board of Directors and as a member of the North River eldership for over 4 years.

John Durkota

John and his wife, Pam, were married in 1984. In 2001, they moved to Marietta with their three sons: Stephen, Josh, and Tyler.

In 2005, John and Pam became founding members of the North River Church of Christ. Over time, their family has grown as two of their sons have married, adding two daughters-in-law and four grandchildren.

John has worked as a financial advisor for nearly 30 years and currently holds the position of Wealth Management Advisor and team leader of a five-person financial planning practice at Merrill Lynch. Additionally, John serves as part of the Eldership at North River since 2017.

Rachel Bloom

Rachel calls Georgia home. She grew up in Athens and went on to earn both her undergraduate degree in telecommunications and her law degree from the University of Georgia.

After marrying Derrick in 1995, they settled in Atlanta to launch their careers and family. Rachel started in litigation but soon transitioned to working in-house for a Real Estate Investment Trust.

When their children were young (early 2000s), Rachel took a break from her career to focus on raising them. In the 2010s, she teamed up with Derrick to re-enter the world of commercial real estate.

Today, Rachel manages acquisitions, dispositions, and investment projects for various residential and commercial properties across the southeast.

Since 1995, Rachel and Derrick have been residents of Marietta, Georgia. Their passion for serving others led them to participate in the campus ministry at UGA. They're thrilled to find a similar vibrant program at North River.

Being longtime members, since the church's inception, Rachel enjoys giving back through the welcome and usher teams, children's ministry, and VBS.

Rachel and Derrick have been happily married for 28 years. They are proud parents of three children: Kayla, 23, Hunter, 21, and Mya, 17.

Dennis Pickens

Dennis has been a valuable member of NRCOC for over a decade. He's a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Accountancy. Dennis is a certified CPA (Certified Public Accountant) with experience auditing Fortune 500 companies at KPMG and EY.

Dennis was selected by Rotary International to be a Rotary Goodwill Ambassador and Scholar in Scotland. There, he earned a Master of Science in International Business and Emerging Markets at the University of Edinburgh. He further expanded his knowledge with a Master of Science in Cybersecurity.

For the past 7 years, Dennis has been at The Home Depot's corporate office, leading credit services technology initiatives for their private label credit card program with Citibank.

Dennis is a dedicated member of the NRCOC Board of Directors' Finance Committee.

Dennis is married to Kiana and outside of work, Dennis focuses his ministry on guiding young men, young professionals, and dating couples.

Stephen Adkins

Stephen Adkins discovered his faith at 18, being baptized in 1981 while a freshman at MIT. Throughout his undergraduate and graduate studies, he actively served as a campus leader for five years for the Boston Church of Christ.

In 1986, Stephen embarked on a mission trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, joining a team to establish a new, multi-racial congregation. He played a key role leading both the teen and singles ministries there.

Seeking to further his education, Stephen moved to Washington D.C. in 1991 to pursue an MBA at Georgetown University. There, he met and married his wife, Susan.

Their journey together led them to Atlanta in 1993. Since then, Stephen and Susan have been dedicated members, serving in various capacities at both the Atlanta Church of Christ and, more recently, the North River Church of Christ since its inception.

Stephen and Susan are proud parents of three grown children: Mary Alice (married to Grant Hicks), Paul, and Christine. Their passion for fostering community extends beyond their family. They co-lead the East Cobb/Sandy Springs Community and a Young Families group within it.

Stephen currently serves in numerous roles: an elder, Leadership Group member, Church Board member, Co-leader of the media team and North River representative to the Africa Missions Association.

Cameron Gifford has been an active member of North River for over 10 years. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor's degree in Economics and shortly thereafter moved to Atlanta to begin a career in healthcare consulting. He is currently employed with R1RCM for the past 11 years.

After settling in Atlanta he married his wife, Katie Gifford, and they have been blessed with two young girls - Charlie Kate, 3 years old, and Jules, 8 months old. They currently live in the Kennesaw area but have served previously in the Edge Ministry and Intown ministry. He currently serves on the Legacy Giving Committee and has been a board member since 2020.

Michael Wyatt

Michael became a disciple of Jesus in 2000 while a member of the Central New Jersey Church of Christ. He and his wife, Sylvia, have been members at North River Church since 2011.

Professionally, Michael has 30+ years of corporate finance and investment management experience. He served as director of Stable Value Investments for DuPont Capital Management, an investment arm of the DuPont Company. His responsibilities included business development for stable value investments and investment oversight. In 2001, Michael was the head of T. Rowe Price Stable Asset Management.  His responsibilities included investment management, trading, legal, and compliance functions.

Michael earned B.S. and M.B.A. degrees in finance from The Pennsylvania State University. He previously served as head of the investment committee for the Delaware Community Foundation and as chairman of the finance committee for Homestretch, a Roswell, Georgia non-profit organization that provides transitional housing to needy families. He currently serves as president of the board for the North River Church of Christ and as a principal at Wyatt Evolutions, LLC, a Georgia-based real estate investment management firm.

Karla Doe

Karla was baptized in December 2006 at the Greater Atlanta Church of Christ campus ministry at Clark Atlanta University. After studying abroad while in college, and returning home for summers, Karla married her husband, Moe. Over the years, she become connected to various churches of Christ in Ecuador, Tulsa, OK, and Brooklyn, NYC.

In 2015, she became a member at North River. She is currently in the Intown Ministry and serves on the Board’s Legal and Community Service Committees..

Professionally, Karla is a senior associate in Alston & Bird’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. She focuses on providing clients with a variety of commercial litigation services. Before joining the firm, Karla served as a law clerk to the Hon. Eleanor L. Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

She received her J.D., with honors and the Order of the Coif, from the Emory University School of Law, where she served as the notes and comments editor of the Emory Law Journal. She also served on the executive board of the Black Law Students Association and was a teaching assistant for Advanced Legal Writing & Editing. Karla received graduating awards in Constitutional Law, Family Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Karla and her husband, Moe, have a son, Kairo, and a daughter, Kadence. They live in Southwest Atlanta.

Melanie Cicerchia

Melanie was baptized on November 3, 1973, in Gainesville, Florida while she was a freshman at the University of Florida. In 1977, she graduated with a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Medical Technology.

In 1978, Melanie married Paul Martel, and together they served in the ministry for 12 years in various locations including Denver, Cincinnati, Queens, Philadelphia, and Ridgewood, NJ. Tragically, Paul passed away at the age of 37. During their 15-year marriage, they were blessed with two daughters, Elizabeth and Marilisa. In 1996, Melanie married Ron Cicerchia. They have been happily married for 28 years and expanded their family to include Lauren.

In 2003, the family relocated from New Jersey to Marietta, GA and became founding members of North River. In 2009, Melanie initiated the Tuesday morning women's bible study, in which she is still actively serving. Melanie is also the newest member of the Board and serves on the Member Relations Committee.

Their family now consists of Elizabeth, who is 41 years old, Marilisa, who is 35 and married to Taylor Schachinger. They have two daughters named Naomi, who is 7, and Frances, who is 4. Additionally, Lauren, their youngest, is 25 years old.