Craig Minke

Craig Minke is one of GCI’s newest pastors. After serving as an elder for several years, he was asked to pastor the Vancouver, BC, Canada church when Roy Page retired. Craig and his wife Debbie (Burbach) met at Ambassador College. They have been married for 25 years and have three children: Natasha, 20; Bryce, 18; and Brent, 16.

Craig grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan. “Our family was not that well off. Until I was 12, we had no electricity, no TV, no running water and no furnace. Our house was a farmhouse, heated by a big pot-bellied stove in the middle, which was loaded with logs and coal.” Craig’s family farmed grain and raised cattle. Craig says his job was “to watch the cattle when we let them out so they would not get into the neighbor’s grain fields.”

Craig, along with his mother (who is legally blind) and his two sisters, started attending WCG in 1970, when Craig was 12 years old. “We got picked up on our farm by another family and then drove 100 miles to where the church was meeting.” After high school, Craig attended Ambassador College, first in Big Sandy, Texas, then in Pasadena, California. After graduating, he spent a year living in Europe before taking a job with the WCG Vancouver office working in media.

That job lasted 15 years until the denomination switched from a media focus. At that time his job became redundant. “I have switched jobs a few times and through those times God has taken care of us. About three years ago, I started my own company and I am doing this in conjunction with my duties as a bivocational pastor.”

Craig looks at his life as preparation for being a pastor. “I have always felt that to whom much is given much is also expected. I truly feel we were given some great opportunities at Ambassador College, working with the teens at the summer camps, as well as travel and local church events. Serving in the pastoral function is just an opportunity to be able to give something back to the many who invested in my early years.”

When asked what he enjoys most about being a pastor, Craig said, “I enjoy working with people—seeing people grow and change. I enjoy the interaction that takes place. I have always enjoyed the organizing aspect or the administrative aspect and also am a person that likes a good challenge and stepping out into new territory.”

One of the things Craig loves best about GCI is being part of a worldwide family. “No matter where you go in the world, you have friends and a family that treats you like their own. I enjoy the spiritual community and the time spent in fellowship.”

Over the years, Craig has been passionate about working with youth in church and at summer camp. “It is my passion that I can use my gifts to serve, to water and plant that others may learn of the tremendous hope we have been given. God does the calling and my passion is that I can be one of the tools he uses to help our church grow.”

When asked when he feels closest to God, Craig says it’s when he is outdoors. “I enjoy camping trips where you can take three weeks with no schedule and no pressing needs. The beauty of the creation around us loudly proclaims God’s power, might and majesty, along with his kindness and compassion. A break from the busy schedule gives me lots of time to meditate and reflect on things. Often it seems we are much too busy to be able to have quiet, unrushed time for reflection. There are times we need to slow down more, by skipping a meal, taking the night off, getting away for a quiet weekend, so we have time to pursue the important things.”