Meet Our Pastor

How I Got to Where I Am (the condensed version)

I had the great privilege and blessing of being raised in a committed Christian home. My parents (and grandparents) provided a wonderful example of godly living. As such I heard the gospel story from before I could walk. However, it was at a church camp when I was seven years old that I made accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior.

I was not planning on becoming a pastor. Trinity Western is a liberal arts university and I graduated with a BA in Physical Education. My goal was to work my way up the leadership ladder in the YMCA with a dream of eventually pulling that organization back to its original Christian purpose. God had different plans.

While searching for a job in a YMCA and paying off college loans my pastor asked me to consider preaching at a new church that was getting started in Hot Springs, South Dakota, about an hour south of my hometown. Although I had never preached a sermon in my life I agreed to give it a shot. After the first Sunday the group of 5 families starting the church asked me to come back and preach every Sunday until they got established and found a “real” pastor. I ended up preaching every week for about 5 months.

When the newly formed Southern Hills Evangelical Free Church called a pastor I assumed that chapter in my life was closed. Having had no luck with the YMCA’s in South Dakota I moved to Wichita, Kansas to look for work in that part of the country. No door was open. Eventually I received a call asking if I would be interested in serving as a youth pastor for a church plant in Fort Collins, Colorado. I accepted and enjoyed a great season of ministry in that community. But in April of 1988 I received a phone call from the small group at the church in Hot Springs informing me their first pastor had left and wondering if I would consider coming back to be their full time pastor. By this time God had done His work in my heart and I was ready to say yes. The rest, as they say, is history.