Home >> About >> Our Staff

Deacon Board

Mark Cole

Aalden Guilmette

Scott Lane

Wayne Morris

If you have a question, concern, or need,  please feel free to contact our Deacon Board at any time.

Our Staff

Cliff Powell, Lead Pastor:
cliff@hillsidebible.org

I was not given the privilege of being born into a Christian home, but my childhood home was very disciplined, with expectations for very high achievement on a human level. My dad grew up in a large family that was very poor. In addition to the poverty, a mean, abusive and disconnected dad who drank away his paycheck; my dad contracted polio that robbed him of the use of his legs for the rest of his earthly life. Yet, through sheer determination he battled back, catching up in school, putting himself through college and then Law School, becoming a successful attorney and Judge.

But all the while God was at work bringing him to the realization that there was a much greater purpose for this life. When he met God personally through faith in Jesus Christ everything changed. The virtually unattainable expectations he once held for his sons, were replaced with a loving gracious standard. God ultimately used my mom and dad to bring my brothers and me under the sound of the Gospel. 

Trusting Christ at the age of fourteen, I got involved in the youth ministries of a Bible teaching church, but like many young Christians, what I didn’t know was that there is more, so much more!  Through a series of devastating events, God changed the course of my life forever! A young naive Christian learned that life here on earth is not an end in itself, but a means to an end (that we might know and love the Lord our God intimately). God taught me that in addition to “having” Christ, we must acknowledge and yield to His ownership of us. He doesn’t merely want to be a “part” of our life, He wants to “be” our life (Col.3:4). 

Having received an undergraduate degree from Briercrest Bible College in Saskatchewan, Canada, where I also met and married JoAnn; and a Master’s Degree from Moody Graduate School in Chicago, we went on to serve the Lord in a number of Churches around Michigan, including Bloomfield Hills Baptist and the River Church of Holly in southeast Michigan where we were blessed to see the church grow to more than 2000 in 10 short years. 

​We now praise God for the privilege of continuing to serve Christ at Hillside Bible Church, and for three grown and responsible children. Sons Chad with wife Wendy, who work hard and serve God as faithful volunteer servants, Justin who serves as pastor of Fieldstone Church with wife Cathi and family, and daughter Tiffany with husband Andrew. We look forward to the exciting journey ahead at Hillside, helping people experience new life in Christ, and seeing God bring “generational change” to families, the way He did for us.

---

Amber Guilmette, Office Administrator
amber@hillsidebible.org

A little background:
I began attending a small church near my neighborhood where I grew up in Commerce, MI when I was 12. Shortly after hearing the gospel, I asked Jesus into my heart and accepted his gift of Salvation, though I wouldn’t truly understand that gift, or walk with God until after I had graduated High School.  I did, however, feel his presence and pursuit of me during the many trials of my teenage years. Thankfully, He never gave up on me! The day I surrendered my life to Him marked the start of an incredible journey of spiritual growth and a desire to pursue a much deeper relationship with Jesus. 
Fun fact:
My middle name is Sonshyne and Aalden’s middle name is Raine. 
My mom told me we were ‘meant to be’ back when we were young teenagers, working at her restaurant. Little did she know (but God sure did!), we would reunite years later as young adults and get married. 
We have now been married for more than 18 years and God has given us the privilege of raising 4 great kids, a beautiful Labrador Jenna for 12 years, and more currently, a Sproodle named Lottie.
Interests:
I love to take pictures of everything, but only scrapbook a small fraction of them. I enjoy attending Bible Studies, spending time with my family, neighbors and friends, and hosting picnics in our backyard. I love to read and watch way too much TV. My newest interest is bow hunting at our farm in the Upper Peninsula. 
Spiritual Goals:
For me personally, to continue to grow spiritually as a follower of Christ, to show His love to others, and serve Him obediently in the things He asks of me.  ​

---

Melanie Lintz, Children's Ministry Director
melanie@hillsidebible.org
​
Education: 
​Originally, my goal was to become a Special Education Teacher and so I entered Oakland University. However, due to changes in how Michigan was handling our special needs students, I changed course and elected to finish with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree with an eye towards social work. After college, I helped teach preschool for a year at Peace Christian Pre-school, which was affiliated with Peace Lutheran Church where my dad was Pastor. After that, I helped care for my grandparents who had moved into my parents’ home- where I also lived. I then started working as a caregiver for a young lady with whom I have had a wonderful relationship for over 30 years.

When I came to Christ: 
I was raised in a Christian home but not a Believer’s Baptism home.  My father was a Lutheran pastor and my mom was raised Baptist. I have, for as long as I can remember, loved the Lord as my personal savior.  I started visiting Faith Baptist Church in Waterford, which is now known as The River. There, I met Jerry at a singles Bible study he was leading. At age thirty the Lord began to speak to me about Believer’s Baptism. The Lord spoke to me through Scripture, sermons from the pastor of the church that I was attending at the time and my fiancé- now my husband- Jerry. So, on my thirty-first birthday, I followed the Lord in Believer’s Baptism.  
 We were married in 2003 and were members of Faith Baptist until 2010 when we moved to Texas. We returned to Michigan in 2015 and have been living in Ortonville-and attending Hillside-since 2017.

We have two children; Josiah 14, and Sabrina, 13. I enjoy spending time with my family by going to our kid’s soccer games, our son’s first year of lacrosse, and walking our dog Shadow. I have also been doing some online Bible studies though Lifeway.     

Some interesting facts are that while we were members of Faith, Pastor Cliff was a pastor on staff there and we got to know him a before we moved. While at we were attending Faith, my brother, sister-in-law, and my two young nieces were baptized by Pastor Cliff in the lake at his home. Years later when we moved to Ortonville we ran into Pastor Cliff at a Crossman Park picnic provided by Hillside Bible Church. We started to visit Hillside and became members several months later. 
Since becoming a member, I have taught Sunday School, helped in VBS, and Awana.  I have always enjoyed working with children. I will be praying, and will appreciate your prayers, that the Lord guide and direct me as I serve Him, and you, as your Children’s Ministry Director.

Favorite Bible verse:  
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” 
​

---

Caleb Johnson, Youth Ministry Intern
caleb@hillsidebible.org

A Little Background:
My testimony is not exceptionally dramatic by way of circumstances in my life. I was saved a young age while my family and I were attending Faith Church in Waterford. I grew up in a Christian home and was surrounded by parents and grandparents who continue to serve the Lord today. While the circumstances were nothing more than a family simply attending a church service, God had revealed my sin to me and I was at a loss of what to do with my heavy conviction. A member of that church had walked me through carefully, asking questions about what I would do with my sin and the promise of redemption by way of Jesus Christ alone.  The Holy Spirits conviction was so strong that I knew the only way to rid the burden was to let Jesus take it for me. I thank God that I don’t fight this fight alone, and that His Son took the punishment that should have been mine. 
 
Interests:
Some hobbies that I enjoy are riding my motorcycle, bible studies with my family, shooting, gaming with my brother, playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends and being a Reserve Deputy for Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
 
I am the summer Intern here at Hillside helping where I can and aiding in the Youth ministry. 
 
Favorite verse:
​ John 1:5 “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”.

---