Meet Our Team
Senior Leaders
Jason & Erinn Urena
Jay and Erinn met in the fall of 2011 at a ministry school in California. Over time, they became best friends, and their relationship grew into love as they realized their dreams for the future were more intertwined than they ever could’ve imagined.
Jay is the son of church planters from Long Island. Growing up in the Vineyard Movement, he was often engaged in creative ministries, and leading at a young age. In his early 20’s Jay often served at a parachurch ministry in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that was held at a place called The Trash Bar. This was the first time he witnessed church done outside of a Sunday morning model and going out to where the people were. A dream was born in this season to open up a coffee bar ministry with a vision to do more than worship gatherings and weekly meetings. A church that brought people in and impacted a city through ongoing outreach that embraces mess, creativity, and holistically following the Way of Jesus.
Erinn is originally from Canada and found a love for God, emotional wholeness, and creative outlets during her travels. As a pastor’s daughter, she was raised in the Church, where she saw and experienced a great deal of beauty and pain. Because of this, she began a lifelong journey to pursue inner healing and wholeness. For Erinn, dreams of owning a coffeeshop populated her childhood imagination, and she’d often draw out sketches and blueprints on graph paper. As she grew older, she gained a sense of calling to merge the worlds of ministry and business. She longs to create an environment without any "sacred-secular" divide, where anyone can come and experience unconditional love, inner healing, and wholeness.
Favorite Coffee:
Jay – Iced Americano
Erinn – Hot Oat Milk Mocha Latte
Executive Leader
Levi Crognale
Levi grew up in a small Upstate New York town and encountered Jesus at 17 during a mental breakdown. After that, he surprised himself and his whole family by moving to California at 18 to go to ministry school. There he discovered his passion for worship and learning about the Bible. Ministry school was also where he met the Urenas, forming the friendship that would eventually lead him back to the East Coast with them to launch The Porch. Levi's love of people has led him to work as a tutor, a Bible teacher, and in direct care for both group homes and homeless shelters. He carries a deep love for The Body of Christ and burns for people to encounter Jesus in all ways, but especially through the Bible.
Favorite coffee: Iced oat milk lattes
Administrative Leader
Rachel Stalker
Rachel is a teacher, an adventurer, an intercessor, and a lover of Jesus.
Rachel is from Upstate New York. She grew up Catholic but began her personal walk with Jesus while in high school. She attended a variety of churches from Baptist, to non-denominational, to charismatic churches. Her multi-denominational experiences have caused a greater love for God and for the unity of the bride of Christ. She’s also passionate about teaching, being a teacher by trade and also teaching abroad. While living in Mexico, Rachel served at a local church in hospitality and administration. She also began to work towards a Master of Divinity through Gordon Conwell, and she graduated in 2023.
Rachel met Jay and Erinn on their mission trip to Mexico and quickly fell in love with the vision of The Porch because it aligned with the vision God had given her for a unique combination of church and business. She joined them in Long Island in 2020.
Favorite Coffee: Black coffee
Lead Community Organizer