Our Team
Emery & Shannon Tallon - Port Gamble House Church Leaders
Emery and Shannon are co-leaders of the Port Gamble House Church! Emery and Shannon recently welcomed their first child, Audrey and love being a family of three! They are also volunteers with the youth group and look forward to every Thursday night when they play games and spend time with the youth. They enjoy camping, working on their house, visiting friends and family, and seeing their Alive Church family. They also serve on the leadership team.
Daron Jagodzinske - Pastor
Daron is the founding pastor of Alive Covenant Church. Born in Welcome, Minnesota (that’s right, the sign said “Welcome to Welcome”), Daron spent his first 18 years growing up and working on the family farm. He and his wife, Kristin, have 5 children - Justus, Greta, Ella, Fia and Kwame.
Daron loves seeing God at work in people’s lives, sharing life with Kristin, being a dad, playing basketball, beating his buddies in fantasy football, laughing at Will Ferrell, fishing for halibut/shrimp/salmon/crab, and exploring the beauty of the northwest.
Along the way, Daron received a B.A. in Accounting, worked as a social worker, studied Clinical Psychology and Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, and received his Master of Divinity at North Park Seminary.
Heather McDaniel - House Church Pastor & Liaison
Heather first knew she was called to ministry as a teenage Sunday School teacher in Nairobi Chapel, Kenya. It took about 25 more years, however, to realize that God was leading her into pastoral ministry. In the interim, Heather got a BA in Intercultural Christian Education and Ministry from Wheaton College, followed by an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from UNC-Chapel Hill. While she was in Chapel Hill, she met and married Luke, a fellow UNC graduate student. They have three children - Josiah, Anna, and Eliora - and they still root for the Tarheels.
Heather is currently about halfway through her pastoral education at Seattle Pacific University, working on both a Masters of Divinity and a Masters in Reconciliation and Intercultural Studies. She is passionate about the church becoming a place of health and healing in all areas of life, and loves the way that Alive Covenant offers people a safe space to be broken, vulnerable, and therefore open to God and to each other.
Watching the ocean (in all its moods) is at the top of the things Heather loves to do. She also loves hiking (on real trails, not bushwhacking), Sunday walks with Luke, and reading (aloud and silently). She both loves and hates running, but tries to do it fairly regularly. She would find it challenging to live well without ice cream (especially Haagden Daz and Moras in downtown Poulsbo).
The McDaniel Family (Luke, Heather, Josiah, Anna, & Eliora) - Poulsbo House Church Leaders
The McDaniel family has been going to Alive since 2009 and helps to lead one of the Poulsbo house churches. They enjoy hiking, exploring, traveling, reading aloud, and playing games together (even though Anna almost always wins). They love the fact that their kids are growing up with the experience of not just going to church sometimes, but being the church together.
Rich & Judi Harpel - Kingston House Church Leaders
Rich and Judi are leaders of the Kingston House Church. They are both retired and have been members of Alive Covenant Church since 2009. They are parents of four children, 12 grandchildren, and this past year have been blessed with 2 great-grandchildren! They enjoy family visits, excursions with Alive Church friends, travel, and nature walks.