Leadership
BOARD OF ELDERS
Northwest Hills Community Church (NHCC) is a church that is guided, protected, and led by servants called Elders. Currently, our Elder board consists of seven men: Mike Ambrose, Michael Burgos, Paul Carmen, Mike Clark, Duane Doot, James Lawson, and Mike Ocain.
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Rev. Michael R. Burgos
Teaching Elder (Pastor)
Michael grew up in the Hudson Valley region of New York State and married his high school sweetheart Marion. Today they have nine children, Abigail, Gabriel, Christian, Grace, Lily, Virginia, Israel, Benjamin, Ruby, and a hyperactive black lab named River. He holds an MA in Theology from the University of Chester, an MA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Belhaven University, a ThM from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Theology from Forge Theological Seminary. He is also a certified counselor with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.
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Rev. Michael F. Ambrose
Ruling Elder (Pastor Emeritus)
Mike Ambrose served as pastor of the Calvary Baptist Church in Torrington for 25 years before that congregation joined with NHCC in 2015. Before coming to Connecticut, he served two churches in Illinois. He holds a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies from Gordon College and an MA in Religious Education from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Pastor Mike enjoys working with the elders and members of NHCC, especially in ministries of discipleship, congregational care, and missions. He and his wife Betsy have 4 grown children and 14 grandchildren.
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Paul Carmen
Ruling Elder
Born in 1965, Paul grew up in Western Massachusetts. He graduated High School in 1983 and shortly after joined the US Navy, where he served for 10 years working on passive sonar systems. He is a father of four and husband of one, his lovely bride, April.
A self-proclaimed wretch, Paul was soundly saved by God's grace in his early 30s while attending Calvary Baptist Church. Since then, he has endeavored to serve the Lord as a Sunday School teacher, Deacon, ministry team leader, occasional preacher, and now as an Elder at NHCC. He currently works in IT and enjoys reading and spending time with his family and their giant dogs Toby and Bella.
Mike Clark
Ruling Elder
Mike became a believer in Jesus when he was nineteen years old and has served the Lord in many different ways for over four decades. He has been involved in church planting, prison ministry, Biblical counseling, street evangelism, and assisted in starting Grace Place, a crisis pregnancy center in Torrington. Mike has been married to Janice for 42 years, he has three children and fifteen grandchildren. He served as Superintendent of Parking for the Parking Authority of White Plains for many years before retiring. His hobbies are gardening, fishing with his grandchildren, hiking, biking, or just sitting under a tree reading a good book. His favorite Bible verse is Psalm 27:4.
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Duane Doot
Ruling Elder
Duane grew up in Simsbury, Connecticut, in a God-fearing home along with his five siblings. He went to Southern Connecticut State University where he met his wife Kathy. They have three children and eleven grandchildren. Duane came to understand the Gospel and what a personal relationship with Christ was all about a customer of his shared Christ with him. He accepted the Lord when he was twenty-six years old. Duane started his construction business in 1980. He chose Colossians 3:23 as his company's theme verse. "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters." Duane enjoys fishing as well as boating with his family. He enjoys riding his motorcycle with Kathy and biking with his son, son-in-laws and grandchildren.
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Mike Ocain
Ruling Elder
Mike is a lifelong resident of Torrington with deep family roots in the area, and a heart to see revival in this city. He and his wife Maureen, married since 2000, have been blessed with six wonderful children: Julia, Joshua, Molly, Ethan, Eric, and Eleanor. Maureen and Mike also foster children as a ministry and have had the opportunity to serve multiple children through the years. Mike and his family are an integral part of NHCC's Youth Ministry, and he serves the homeless community through Operation Overflow and the local soup kitchen.
Mike's hope for NHCC is to push forward truth through the gospel of Jesus to anyone suffering within the city and that we would be a body of people that serve each other with a sacrificial, radical love that others would see as the love of Jesus.
James (Jimmy) Lawson
Ruling Elder
Jimmy has spent most of his life in Torrington. He is a graduate of Oliver Wolcott Technical School from the Machine Drafting Department and a 25 veteran of the volunteer fire service. He has been married to his wife Natasha for 16 years and is a father of 2 boys, 21 and 13 years old. Jimmy has been an IT manager for his current employer for 20 years.
BOARD OF DEACONS
Deacons are servant-leaders who use their skills and gifts to lead and manage a variety of the church's ministries. Our present diaconate consists of:
Eric Beach (Men's Ministry)
Jennifer Beach (Children's Education)
Nathan Browning (Tech)
Arnold Cochran (Buildings and Grounds)