Dave Nodar

Dave Nodar

Founder and Senior Leader

Dave founded ChristLife in 1995. Dave was apprehended by God's love and made a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ as Lord as a member of the Catholic Church in 1971. He served as a leader in a renewal movement for 20 years, and after a period of prayer and discernment began ChristLife in 1995. His passion is to help others to know the love of God the Father in Jesus Christ through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.  

Dave authored one of the first books on the new evangelization, Characteristics of the New Evangelization; co-authored Discover Christ with Bert Ghezzi, Follow Christ with Fr. Erik Arnold and Ally Ascosi, and Share Christ with Fr. Erik Arnold and Dianne Davis; and is a principal teacher and developer of the ChristLife Series. Dave is a graduate of Towson University with a degree in Religious Studies and a minor in Theology from Loyola College. He continued with graduate studies at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family Studies.

Dave and his wife Ely live in Ellicott City, Maryland. They have seven children and five grandchildren. 

Leo Rudegeair

Assistant Director

Leo co-founded ChristLife with Dave Nodar in 1995. He is a lifelong Catholic who came to know Jesus in a deep and personal way in 1973. He lives in Clarksville with his wife, Vera, and they have five daughters, 18 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.

Leo has spoken at conferences and seminars nationally, as well as schools of evangelization in Central and Eastern Europe. He served in the national leadership of a Catholic renewal movement for fifteen years. After a career in the U.S. Navy and Federal Government as an engineer and engineering manager, he retired to enter full-time Christian service. He is a graduate of Villanova University with a degree in Electrical Engineering.

Peter Ascosi

Assistant Director

Pete joined ChristLife in June 2005. He grew up in the Catholic Church and experienced a life-changing conversion in 2003-2004. He lives in Catonsville with his wife, Ally, and four children.

Pete speaks at national and regional conferences encouraging people to invite others into a personal relationship with Jesus. He is a graduate of Mt. St. Mary’s University with a degree in History and completed masters studies in Non-Profit Management at Notre Dame University of Maryland.

Dianne Davis

Director of Mission Expansion

Dianne joined ChristLife in 2012. She was raised in a devout Catholic family and made a personal commitment to Jesus and surrendered her life to Him in 2001. She went from "loving" Jesus to "falling in love" with Him and her life has never been the same! She has been married to her husband for 30 years and they have two sons.

Dianne has coordinated Discovering Christ at her parish and parishes in her surrounding county. She is a teacher in the ChristLife series. She has extensive non-profit experience, having volunteered and served on the Boards of non-profit organizations. She spent fifteen years in the banking industry as a Vice President for Bank of New York and M&T Banking. She is a graduate of Marist College with a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Jennifer King

Director of Communications and Events

Jennifer joined ChristLife in February 2015. She grew up in a Catholic family, but fell away from the faith in her teen years. Years later, she tangibly experienced the personal love of God at a Discovering Christ retreat and it changed everything.

Jennifer spent over a decade serving as a leader for ChristLife Young Adults, leading mission trips to Haiti, and has helped coordinate Discovering Christ at several parishes. Before joining ChristLife, she spent years working for the Federal Government in a variety of communication-related positions. She is a graduate of the University of Baltimore with a degree in Corporate Communication and completed masters studies in Publications Design.

Aster Evenson

Director of Evangelization Resources and Technology

Aster joined ChristLife in September 2022. She previously worked in the corporate software world. Last April she found out that her recent job was ending after nine years. Rather than looking immediately for the next corporate job, she instead spent a month in prayer asking for God’s guidance and was led to ChristLife. Since joining, she has been blessed with many opportunities to see lives being transformed, including in her own family.

Isabella Schatz

Mission Support and Young Adults Coordinator

Bella joined ChristLife in 2022. For a long time she thought she wanted to work in the corporate world after graduating from college, but after a turning point in her faith last summer, she discerned her desire was to work for a Catholic organization. The Lord brought ChristLife into her life in an unexpected way—a random email from someone I hadn’t spoken to in months! She coordinates ChristLife Young Adults and supports the mission with development and communications.

Lisa White

Events Coordinator

Lisa joined ChristLife in 2022, after being involved with ChristLife for 12 years at her home parish and as a member of the Board of Directors.

She considers it a privilege to help others encounter Christ and meaningful to be part of a ministry whose work of evangelization is accomplished in such a powerful yet personal way.

Rev. Erik Arnold

Rev. Arnold was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1999 and serves as pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Ellicott City, MD. He earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and is ChristLife's liaison to Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore. He is a speaker for the Discovering Christ, Following Christ, and Sharing Christ courses.  As a pastor he has run the ChristLife series in his parish multiple times with great fruitfulness. 

Ally Ascosi

Ally  received her theology degree in 2007 from Marymount University and is a convert to the Catholic faith. She is happily married to her husband Pete and currently spends most of her time raising their four young children. Over the years she has shared her faith through serving as a team member for Discovering Christ, Following Christ, and Sharing Christ courses; facilitating women’s bible studies; leading a children’s ministry in her parish; and ministering to young girls through a character development program in her community. Along with Fr. Erik Arnold and Dave Nodar, she co-authored Follow Christ.

John Messina

John holds a master of divinity degree from Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, and currently teaches scripture and ancient history at a private Christian school in Baltimore, Maryland. He frequently serves as a worship leader for ChristLife.

Rev. Dale Picarella

Rev. Picarella was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1984 and serves as the pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Havre de Grace, MD He has several years of experience running the ChristLife series. His vision is to see the Church’s mission of evangelization reflected in every area of his parish’s life.

Jane Selner

Jane is the Coordinator of Parish Ministries at St. Rose of Lima in N. Wales, PA. After nine years of lowering Mass attendance and minimal ministry participation at her parish, she helped implement the ChristLife series and has seen incredible results. She’s been married to her husband Craig for 24 years.

Lisa Timm

Lisa is the Director of Faith Formation at Holy Trinity parish in Poughkeepsie, NY. In 2010, she ran the first Discovering Christ course in the Archdiocese of NY at her parish. Her greatest passion is to bring people into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and to assist in the promotion of the New Evangelization.

Board of Directors