*Nominating Committee preferred nominee
Personal Data
Year of Birth: 1960
Birthplace: Oskaloosa, Iowa
Citizenship: United States
Health: I’m grateful and encouraged to testify that my health is better than the day I was first elected to this role eight years ago. While I still carry in my body some of the ramifications of the mysterious physical attack in 2008, God has fulfilled His promise to me that He would grant me “everything I need for every day.”
Family
Joanna and I have been married for 38 years. She has increasingly become my friend in life and partner in ministry. We are privileged to be the parents of three children and grandparents of five grandchildren.
Church Membership
North Springs Alliance, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Education
Crown College (St. Bonifacius, MN)—BA in Bible and Theology (1983)
Columbia International University (Columbia, SC)—MA in Missiology (1985)
Simpson University (Redding, CA)—Honorary Doctorate (2003)
George Fox Evangelical Seminary (Now Portland Seminary, Portland, OR)—DMin in Leadership and the Emerging Culture (2011) and recipient of the Distinguished Dissertation Award
Service Record
2013–present President, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, Colorado Springs, CO
2012–2013 Acting District Superintendent, Alliance Northwest District, Wilsonville, OR
2011–2012 Interim Pastor, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, Manhattan Beach, CA
2010–2011 Interim Pastor, Fox Island Alliance Church, Fox Island, WA
2009–2010 Associate Pastor, Salem Alliance Church, Salem, OR
2005–2007 Corporate Vice President, C&MA, Colorado Springs, CO
2002–2009 Lead Pastor, Salem Alliance Church, Salem, OR
2000–2002 Vice President for Advancement, C&MA, Colorado Springs, CO
1994–2000 Senior Pastor, Smokey Point Community Church, Arlington, WA
1987–1994 Senior Pastor, Alliance Missionary Church, Mt. Lake, MN
1985–1987 Pastor, Valleyview Alliance Church, Hellam, PA
1981–1984 Youth Pastor, Riverside Alliance Church, Big Lake, MN
Publishing
An Honest Look at a Mysterious Journey (2011)
In the Midst: Treasures from the Dark (2012)
God In You: A Conversation (2017)
A Stained Beauty: The Church Ancient and Present (2020)
Conversion Experience and Continuing Walk with God
My first awareness of God’s pursuit of me was during a Sunday evening service in Monticello, Minnesota, as my father extended a closing invitation. My seven-year-old heart eagerly responded. This childhood faith was challenged as I became a teenager. I live with a lifetime of gratitude for God’s continued pursuit which culminated at an altar service at LIFE ’76 in St. Louis, Missouri. This was my first conscious experience of opening to the work of the Holy Spirit in my life and a decisive moment of surrender to the Lordship of Christ.
God’s faithfulness to me has been evident through the decades. I seek to respond to His faithfulness by coming to Him frequently for the ongoing filling and guidance of His Spirit. This walk is greatly enhanced as I give life priority to His revealed Scriptures through reading, study, reflection, journaling, and memorization.
Expected Role as President
My lifetime of ministry can be simply summarized: I want to express my love for Jesus by loving His Church. I see the presidency as a continuation and expansion of this calling.
The job description provided states that the president is the spiritual leader and chief executive officer of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. I’m grateful for the way this is stated as I see the executive functions as secondary and flowing out of the spiritual. I seek to carry out the CEO aspects of my role with efficiency and effectiveness. Yet, my fundamental calling as president is to spiritual leadership for our church-based movement.
I am pleased that the Lord has allowed me to serve for two terms and would be eager to serve a third and final term to bring many of the efforts launched to their full expression. This list includes, but is not limited to, the restructuring of Alliance Missions and the Great Commission Fund, the refinement of our policies regarding men and women in leadership and the Statement of Faith, and the development of the new National Office both in location and concept.
Vision for the Future of the C&MA
It is my conviction that as a Christ-Centered, Acts 1:8 Family, we are called to four priorities: Love, Proclaim, Reach, and Launch. Every word of that phrase is loaded with meaning for me that I have shared with the Alliance family and will continue to do so.
I firmly believe that The Alliance is one of God’s end-times families that He has raised up to complete the Great Commission as we live out the Great Commandment. It is only by the indwelling Christ and empowering Holy Spirit that we will continue to live out this calling. May we seek to walk in integrity and dependence upon Him as we give ourselves fully to the planting and strengthening of churches, the sending of International Workers, and the discipling of the nations.
I’m grateful for the countless and consistent ways that the C&MA family continues to walk together in the fulfillment of our God-given assignment. As one of our IWs at Council 2019 declared: All of Jesus for all the world takes all of us.
Personal Comments
A mantle fell upon me in 2013 of deep spiritual significance. I’ve not yet felt that mantle lift. Concurrently, I consider it a high honor and great privilege to hold this position. I rise each day to walk with the Lord and serve the Alliance family . . . and when the time comes for me to lay down this role, I will delight in that mantle being shouldered by another. Until then, Joanna and I are both eager to commit for a final four years—God allowing and enabling—to lead this Alliance family deeper into His heart and further into His mission.
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