North Raleigh Staff
Phil Kiecker - Pastor light+facebook light+email
Pastor Phil was born in Louisiana, lived in Wisconsin, and worked in Seattle before he and his wife, Julianna, made their home here in North Raleigh. Together, they are raising their sweetheart of a daughter, Daniela, and loving on their senior citizen black lab, Clay. Pastor Phil’s life is filled with Disney dolls, watching pro wrestling, picking up the never-ending gumballs from the sidewalk, catching Pokémon, and trying to grow grass in the clay dirt of his backyard.
With the diversity of people and all the activities available in Raleigh, he loves raising a family here. If you ever see him at Sola Cafe or Bottle Rev, be sure to say hi (or hola if you speak Spanish like his bilingual daughter)! He’d love to meet you.
Pastor Phil graduated from the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in 2011 and has been sharing Jesus in the Triangle ever since.
Michelle Greuel - Comm Director
Michelle lives in Southern California with her husband, Nick, and their two wonderful children, Lucy and Jeff. Together, they have lived all over the world: California, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Sri Lanka, and Benin. She also lived in Italy during her college years. Thanks to her husband’s career in the Marine Corps, they have visited countless countries as a family and love experiencing different cultures…especially cultures with great food.
In her free time, she loves watching sports, whether professional or her kids’ teams. She also spends a lot of time scrolling through fonts the way someone would scroll through a social media news feed.
Michelle has been serving multiple churches around the country as a Communications Director since 2019. She joined the Refuge staff for both campuses in the fall of 2022.
Danielle Cosgrave - Operations Manager
After growing up in Wisconsin and graduating college, Danielle got not only her professional start as a teacher in the Washington D.C. area, but that’s also where she started a life with her husband, Matt. Thanks to Matt’s work, they found their way to the Triangle. In 2021, they welcomed one of their greatest joys, their son, into the world and have been blessed to raise him in this community.
With having a small toddler and a small dog (both with much bigger personalities) running around the house, Danielle’s days are usually full. But when there’s downtime, she enjoys tending her garden or reading a good book. As a family, they enjoy taking advantage of living in a metro area with 3 major cities. There’s always an activity for them to do or a cool place to hang out with friends.
Danielle has been in this role since early 2022 and serves both campuses.
Ashley Fritz - Worship Coordinator
Ashley recently moved to the Raleigh area, with her pet chameleon, Matcha, in the summer of 2023 and works as a designer in landscape architecture. Prior to moving to the Triangle, she obtained her degree from the University of Wisconsin.
When she’s not working, Ashley can be found exploring her new environment and meeting new people. She’s an avid gardener and enjoys expanding her houseplant collection. If that weren’t enough, she’s also mastering the art of sourdough (If you’ve ever tried your hand at sourdough, you know what kind of challenge that can be!).
Ashley is passionate about using worship music to praise, communicate, and connect with our Savior. She loves how all abilities, genres, and music styles can be raised up in a joyful noise to glorify our God.
Dima Kontar - Social Media Photographer
Dima is originally from Lebanon, but now calls the Triangle home. She loves to travel and explore this world that God has given to us, but with how family-centered Dima is, it’s no wonder that family-centered North Raleigh won her over.
She has a busy, on-the-go life with her two boys here. Whether having fun with them, helping them with homework, or watching them participate in the activities they love, much of her day focuses on cultivating a strong family life. Even her work in the field of promotion, marketing, and digital content creation has the added benefit of allowing her to be available for her kids.
Dima loves meeting new people and inspiring others to discover new ways to thrive on their own personal journey. She has a wealth of knowledge on all things motherhood, travel, daily routines, and the best things to do in Raleigh - so feel free to ask!
Akeyla Ruffin - North Raleigh Coordinator
While originally from a small town in Virginia, the diverse culture of Raleigh drew Akeyla in. She loves the connections you can make with such a wide variety of individuals, each with their own story and background.
Akeyla is a highly motivated individual, who isn’t just our Coordinator. With a passion for teaching the next generation and sharing Jesus with them, she’s also the lead teacher for toddlers at our Early Learning Center. And if that weren’t enough, she’s also a student at East Carolina University getting her bachelor’s degree in B-Kindergarten and a minor in disability studies.
She’s happily engaged and loves making new memories with her fiancé. When she isn’t working, studying, or watching her fiancé play football, she enjoys baking and doing some traveling.
Akeyla became our coordinator at the North Raleigh campus in 2023.