Meet Our Staff

Steven Cone
Lead Minister
Steve grew up in Salem, IL. He now lives in Bloomington with his wife, Villy, and daughters, Anna and Stella. Steve joined Northside as Senior Minister in 2024. Before that, he was Professor of Theology at Lincoln Christian Seminary. He also served as a missionary in the Czech Republic and the Republic of Ireland. Steve loves cooking, reading (especially fiction), walking in the great outdoors, and music (especially classic rock, jazz, and classical).

Gary Gawlik
Associate Minister
Gary attended a Bible study as a student at Illinois State University and gave his life to Christ in 1986. He worked at Northside from 1988-1997 then joined the staff again in 2015.
He is married to Sandy and they have three adult children, two of them are married.
Gary loves to fish and play all kinds of games.

Melissa Knotts
Administrative Assistant
Melissa has been working part-time as Northside’s Administrative Assistant since September 1997. She has been married to Jim Knotts since 1981 and they have two grown children, Samantha (Michael) Hovar and Joey (Yue) Knotts, and two grandsons: Alex and Nathan. Melissa enjoys singing, sewing, watching live theater and visiting with friends.