I answered the call of God to enter into full time ministry when I was about 30 years of age. I had already received my Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Ferris State University (1982) and had taught a couple of years when I "re-booted" my life path to serve God as a pastor.
I was asked way back in 1986, "You're good with people, you know how to speak in front of people, why don't you just get into a church and start preaching?" Good question.
While I knew I could probably do that, I honestly believed that the people who make up the congregation of the local church have every reason to expect that the man they call their pastor has prepared himself for that calling (btw.. despite my masculine gender terms here, I'm really supportive of women in leadership positions/callings).
So I mapped out a plan -- 5 years of biblical studies to reach my goal. I chose Grace Bible College as my local school. I met with the "denominational" (Grace Gospel Fellowship is really a fellowship of churches as opposed to denomination) and college leadership (Mr. Chuck O'Connor and President Jack Dean) and they assisted me with putting together a curriculum that I could do (both onsite at the school and through distance learning).
I didn't really want another degree, I simply wanted to be licensed and ordained within the local fellowship (Grace Gospel Fellowship) that I belonged. So with the advice of Mr. O'Connor and President Dean, I worked on the plan of getting the equivelency of the Grace Bible College Bachelor of Theology Degree. I would transfer in my Bachelors Degree and take all of the courses advised.
I took many classes through Columbia Bible College (South Carolina), Moody Bible College (Chicago), and Summit Christian College (Fort Wayne).
The process took a little longer than imagined, but I stayed pretty much on course and finished in the spring of 1992 in which I was licensed and subsequently ordained into pastoral ministry.
Having served the Lord in pastoral ministry for the past 25 plus years, I have learned so much, grown so much, experienced failure and success, but pretty much I feel so privileged to be used God in His Kingdom.
One extra note - While in church planting in the late 90's, I began thinking about my strict dispensational theology (mid acts for starting the church, no water baptism observed and cessation of what is sometimes referred to as miraculous and sign gifts). Michelle and I would have conversations about perhaps we just don't have it quite right.. ahem.. we could be wrong.
While serving at LifeTrak Community Church in Caledonia, MI, we continued to have discussions and decided we would engage the scriptures by setting aside the "dispensational glasses" and simply to ask the Holy Spirit to guide our study of God's word.
We concluded (I'm summarizing otherwise this could be a very long story) by realizing some basic truths... the church had it's beginnings very near to Acts 2 (but not afterwards), water baptism (believers' baptism) is encouraged by our Lord Jesus through the Great Comission (which we don't limit to Israel), and all of the gifts are fully operational today as the Holy Spirit grants to each person.
This would become problematic for I served actively in the fellowship (having served on the local councils, national councils, chairman of the national convention (later called the Family Bible Conference), chairman of several leadership conferences and also on the licensing and ordination committee. I was pretty steeped into the Grace Gospel Fellowship. But out of good conscience and integrity, I prayed and made the decision to return my credentials of ministry. I must say that my brothers in Christ within the Grace Gospel Fellowship met with me, prayed with me, and were very gracious in their treatment of me. I have nothing but the highest regard for these men that I served with. But it was time to move on.
Michelle and I would then be water baptized as a profession of our faith and I would be ordained by New Community Church and our mentor, pastor and friend, Pastor Lew VanderMeer.
Michelle and I then followed the Lord's leading in planting a non-denominational, life giving church - Better Life Church of Kentwood and Gaines Township. It was quite the journey as we launched in partnership with ARC (Association of Related Churches). We ministered to so many different people, learned and grew so much personally, we are so thankful for the experience. However, after nearly 4 years, we were unable to sustain a strong enough ministry base to keep the church going. Again, we are thankful for the experience and are trusting God for the next season of ministry he has for us.
After nearly 4 years of waiting on the Lord, going pulpit supply, doing some church advisory work and actively podcasting (and blogging), the Lord has called us once again back to the world of church planting. October 10, 2021 we met for the second time with a pretty highly energized team of people who are “all in” for a new church - Better Life Church Newaygo. We are holding launch team meetings and hoping to launch the first weekend of December, 2021.
Here's the sketch our pastoral service then:
1992 Grace Community Church Belmont, Michigan Student Pastoral Internship
1994 Lakeview Bible Church Carter Lake, Iowa Senior Pastor
1995 Grace Bible Church Newaygo, Michigan Associate Pastor of Community Outreach
1996 New Community Church Newaygo, Michigan Church Planter/Senior Pastor
2003 LifeTrak Community Church Caledonia, Michigan Senior Pastor
2013 Better Life Church Kentwood, Gaines Township Church Planter/Lead Pastor
2018 Interim Pastor/Pulpit Supply Newaygo, Michigan Interim pastoral work, Pulpit supply, Pastoral mentoring/coaching/advising
2021 Better Life Church Newaygo Newaygo, Michigan Church Planter/Lead Pastor