Leadership

Pastor Joey Elsky, originally from Odenville, Alabama, moved with his faithful wife Melanie Elsky to Prattville, Alabama in the mid 90s to follow the calling that God put in their hearts to minister to the area.  Pastor Joey has since helped plant many churches while also building  a church with thousands of members. In 2012, Pastor Joey and Melanie stepped away from ministry because although the church was thriving, the family was severely struggling. Between 2012 and 2016, God was faithful in restoring the Elsky family to a place much better than they could have imagined. With God's restoration came the opportunity to step back into ministry with Real Life Church, and Pastor Joey and Melanie are once again working toward the calling that God put on their hearts.

Pastor Jon Vancoille, from Prattville, Alabama, has been serving in ministry for over eight years. He was not raised in church but always felt a call to ministry with every church he visited. Pastor Jon  began obeying his calling to minister with running production for children’s ministry, and eventually, God opened the door for him to teach and lead in children’s ministry. In 2015, Pastor Jon and his wife began serving at Real Life Church by building and leading the children's ministry. In 2020, Pastor Jon stepped out of children's ministry and began fulfilling the Associate Pastor role at RLC. He loves serving in church and feels his and his family's lives have been blessed by it.

Lakesha Vancoille, from Eclectic, Alabama is the Executive Administer here at Real Life Church. She started serving in ministry eight years ago as a children's ministry worship leader, and since then, she has also served as part of the main worship team and as the children's team administrator. In 2019, Lakesha took a step of faith by joining the staff at Real Life Church as the Executive Administrator and working full-time in ministry. The moment she joined the RLC Staff, amazing changes started taking place. She has a heart for serving people, and in her own words, " [She] loves to Invest, Invite, and Involve people in our ministry!"

Kirsten Rittner, from Prattville, Alabama, is the Multi-Media Manager at Real Life Church. She has been serving in ministry for seven years and loves every minute of it. Kirsten began serving in the children's ministry; later, she served as the interim youth pastor for a little over a year. In the summer of  2020, she became part of the RLC staff as an administrative intern under Lakesha Vancoille. Through hard work and initiative, Kirsten now works as the Multi-Media Manager for the RLC Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Website, and App. Recently, she has also began leading our youth team again during a time of transition.

Will Thornton, from Montgomery, Alabama, is the Worship Pastor at Real Life Church. He began serving in worship ministry at the age of 12. Will is passionate about helping others experience God's presence. He said, "I remember where I was when He found me, and I truly experienced the presence of God."  He has been working in ministry since 2017 and began working at Real Life Church in October 2022.  His favorite thing about RLC is that we love people right where they are while also loving them too much to let them stay where they are. Will is an amazing leader and team member who excels at ushering in the presence and preparing the way for the Word of God.