Anthony Rice pastors GCI churches in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Louisiana. He and his wife Karen are celebrating 29 years of marriage. They have two children, BJ, age 28, and Miranda who is 22.
Anthony grew up in the South but his teenage years were in California as his father, Richard Rice, worked at WCG headquarters until he retired. One of his early accomplishments was learning to ride a unicycle, and when asked if there is something others may or may not know about him, Anthony said, “I hate the taste of liver no matter how it is prepared.”
After graduating from high school, Anthony went to college where he earned a degree in architecture. “I ran architectural departments for two real-estate development firms in Southern California before being called into vocational ministry in 1990.”
Anthony and Karen moved to Louisiana to serve the Baton Rouge and Lafayette churches. Anthony is among a small number of fulltime GCI pastors who have never been transferred. “I have two phenomenal congregations that are an inspiration to me each and every week!”
Anthony enjoys working with at-risk youth. This work led to one of his most memorable moments as a pastor: “I baptized Ricky Johnson, a young man I met when he was 13. He lived in one of the most dangerous parts of town, was failing in school and had an absentee father. He earned his GED at 16 and now works for a company that has sent him all over the world. He just bought his first house at age 19!”
Anthony, who has been a part of GCI most of his life, enjoys being part of our denomination. “Our denominational leadership has persevered through hardship and adversity and I am proud of the journey God has led us on.” Anthony mentions his district pastor, Mike Horchak, “who has been a friend and a great inspiration. Also I have to include Joe Tkach in this because I knew Joe long before he was our president. Joe and Tammy are still the same humble, down-to-earth friends that I knew when our kids were growing up.”
Anthony says his passion is, “Seeing Jesus at work in me in spite of all my short-comings.”
When asked when he feels closest to God, Anthony said, “I was privileged to be introduced to a Prison Ministry named Kairos about 10 years ago. A team of us spent 3-1/2 days with 42 inmates on the inside of a maximum security penitentiary. Most of the prisoners are in for life and have little or no relationship with God. How Jesus transforms lives like theirs is nothing short of a miracle. Such experiences help me to understand why Jesus said ‘When I was in prison…’”
For a couple years Tim Sitterley, senior pastor of GCI churches in Eugene and Salem, Oregon, spent as much time in a kilt as in jeans. No, he wasn’t living in Scotland; he was playing bagpipes with the MacCallum Highlanders, a group attached to the 127th National Guard in Ohio. Tim grew up in WCG. “My father was a member before I was born, but I was five when my mother and I started attending.” Tim spent the first 9 years of his life on a farm in Pennsylvania. “Then my family moved to a small town (Hubbard) just outside Youngstown, OH.” Tim claims his teen years were “rather colorful.” “I was voted ‘Most likely to be dead by age 30’ in high school, and I’m the only person I know who has been forcefully deported by a foreign country—but that’s a story for another time.”
After high school, Tim went to Ambassador College in Pasadena. Soon afterward his parents also moved to Pasadena so Tim never made it back to Ohio. It was in college Tim met his wife Linda and they married in 1979. “Our daughter Danielle and son Michael are both married and live near us. We have four grandchildren (two to each child), Logan, Ian, Noah and Asia. My daughter attends and is active in my Eugene congregation, and my son and his wife are on pastoral staff at Crossfire World Outreach in Springfield, Oregon.”
“After the college closed in ‘79 I was hired by the church; originally in the mail processing center, and later as a writer in the Personal Correspondence Department.” During a time Tim calls “insanity at HQ” in the early ‘80s, he and Linda decided to move to Eugene, Oregon.
“When we moved to Eugene in 1985, I was thoroughly burned out, and avoided any church-related responsibilities for a number of years. However, by the late ‘80’s I was back on the weekly speaking schedule, and when our senior pastor retired in ’95, I was part of the pastoral team in Eugene until another senior pastor could step in. After a couple of years as assistant pastor, I was offered the senior pastor position when our senior pastor retired. A year later Eugene and Salem were joined in a church circuit.”
Tim jokingly suggests that his favorite part of being a pastor is the ability to sleep in on most weekday mornings. But then he got a bit more serious and said: “I grew up an only child in a family that had little connection. With the exception of my mother’s funeral eight years ago, I haven’t seen any of my blood relatives in well over two decades. But as a pastor, you get to be a part of many families. Sometimes that means getting caught up in the drama. But other times it means getting to share in the joys and triumphs. I’ve stood bedside families as a loved one took their final breath…I’ve joined couples in marriage…I’ve blessed newborn children—all in the same week.
“Yes, when you are that intimate with so many people there can be a good deal of pain involved. But it is the pain that comes from loving and caring—the kind of pain that families share—and I wouldn’t trade it for the safe, distanced relationships that I see so many people living.”
When asked what Tim might like others to know about him, he said, “They already know too much. I get a fair amount of criticism for being too transparent. My congregations already know the details of my health and diet, what Tequila I drink and my favorite brand of cigar. They know I’ve gone through anger management classes and struggle with occasional depression. They know I’m a theistic evolutionist. And they know that I hate cats. There is not much left to reveal.”
Tim calls himself a Bible Geek. “Even during my misspent youth I was constantly in the library reading commentaries and books on early church history. When I was 15 I wrote a letter to a prominent WCG pastor telling him that what I was reading in Galatians regarding grace and the law didn’t seem to line up with what he was writing in WCG literature. I was asked not to attend services for several weeks until I came to see the error of my ways.”
Among his most memorable moments as a pastor, Tim shares this: “A few years back I attended one of the largest counter-culture festivals in the country, and while sitting in a wood-heated sauna I got caught up in a conversation comparing the teachings of Jesus with the writings of the Dali Lama. Later in the day I was walking through the craft market and I heard one of the gentlemen from the sauna yell, “Hey, it’s the preacher dude!” For the next hour or two I found myself surrounded by hippies (and hippy wannabes) who had questions about Jesus and the Bible. For that brief period, I knew what Paul must have felt when he preached in the markets of Athens and Corinth.”
Like many pastors, Tim feels the strongest presence of God when he is preaching. “The speaking part is no big deal. When I worked in the public sector one of my jobs was to speak before large crowds. But when I’m unpacking Scripture, or trying to address a current need of a congregation, I never feel alone on stage. I may joke about many of the aspects of this job, but the moment I feel the sermon is now all about me, and not about allowing God to speak through me—that is the moment I look for another line of work.”
Leroy Joiles, who pastors the GCI congregation in Christian Penn, Jamaica, says, “Perhaps the most rewarding thing about being a pastor is bringing a person to Christ.”
Leroy and his wife, Diane, “a lady who has a heart of gold,” have been married for 16 years. “We have three wonderful children: April, Nicholas and Justin. Another son of mine was killed four years ago, just after his 30th birthday. His son was three months old when he died.”
Leroy grew up and went to school in Kingston, Jamaica’s capital city, but he spent the first few years of his life in a rural district in the Parish of St Ann, living with his father’s parents. “My mother brought me to the country to live with my grandparents because she had decided to migrate to England to join my father who himself had migrated several months earlier.” As a result, Leroy says he grew up without a lot of parental guidance or supervision.
“Both my parents were living in England and my grandparents died when I was young. Even before the death of my grandparents I was placed in situations similar to that of a foster home. I did not have good health while living at my grandparents’ home due to what now seems to have been an allergic reaction to something in the area. Whenever I got sick I would be sent to live with a relative until I got better. As a result, I have lived with most of my aunts and uncles for short periods of time. I must emphasize that it is not because I was a rude child that I had to keep going from house to house. In some cases it was due to a lack of resources on the part of the aunt or the uncle.”
Leroy didn’t meet his mother until he was 15 years old and didn’t meet his father until he was 39 years old. “What I have learned from my situation is this: Despite the difficulties that a person may have to live through from time to time, God is still able to use your life to achieve whatever purpose he wants to achieve through you. I had no idea that I would be doing what I am doing today. I did not plan it and I never saw it coming. However, I firmly believe that God directed the course of events in my life that resulted in being where I am now. It is all a part of his doing.”
God’s purposes were achieved time and again in Leroy’s life. He was drawn to WCG in the late 70s by listening to The World Tomorrow program. “I learned about the broadcast by a cousin who came to my house and told me about this man (Herbert W. Armstrong) who was saying some interesting things about world events and the military might, and achievements of some the world’s superpowers. Interestingly, my cousin was not a part of the Church, and to the best of my knowledge he showed no further interest in The World Tomorrow broadcast from that day he told me about it.”
Leroy claims he had no interest in church, but he found the broadcast to be informative and enlightening. “That was the start of a series of events that God would use over the ensuing years to get my attention.”
In 1981, Leroy was invited to attend a Plain Truth meeting. Afterwards he was invited to attend a Wednesday evening Bible Study. “After attending a few meetings, I was invited to church and I have been attending since. I was baptized in January 1983.”
Leroy became part of the pastoral team in Christian Penn in September 2000 when the pastor was laid off. It was a tough transition. “My most memorable moment is the day I first stepped into the position as a part of a pastoral team whose role was to provide leadership to a congregation that was bitterly divided because their pastor had just been laid off and he was being replaced with persons whom some of the congregation believed had conspired to get rid of their pastor. The ensuing weeks and months were tedious as we tried to serve people some of whom we knew did not trust us.”
The team worked together for a few years until Leroy was asked to pastor the congregation. He initially struggled with this role. “I don’t care much about being in the spotlight. As a matter of fact I prefer not to be. It took me a long time to accept that I was a pastor. I began to accept the role when I thought about what happened to Jonah when he tried to run away from doing what God wanted him to do. I came to the conclusion that I didn’t want to find myself in any situation that even remotely resembled what he went through; but there was still the thought – me a pastor, no way.”
Leroy tries to pastor in the way that GCI leadership leads the denomination. “I enjoy being part of this fellowship because the leadership is made up of people who are humble, friendly and who identify with people at the grass roots. Embodying Jesus’ servant leadership, they are simple people who do not set themselves up as demigods who lord it over those they are supposed to serve. This makes it possible for me to feel at home in our fellowship.”
Concerning the church in Christian Penn, Leroy says that “God has set for us a specific task, that when accomplished, will have a tremendous, far-reaching impact on the lives of many who live and work in the community. It is my passion to lead the church so that we can accomplish this task.”
Leroy says he feels closest to God when engaged in long and intense prayer. He prays a lot for Jamaica and the work God has called the pastors in Jamaica to do. “Being a pastor in Jamaica can be bittersweet. There are times when things are good and times when things are not so good. Being a GCI pastor is challenging because our denomination has been through significant doctrinal and structural changes. Despite the ups and downs, God has been good to us and I strongly believe that our congregations here in Jamaica have better days ahead.”
Doug Johannsen, pastor of GCI’s churches in St. Paul and Champlin, Minnesota, sometimes wonders about his bloodline. “My wife Betty and I love to take cruises and have a strong suspicion that we must be of royal blood as the service we receive on a cruise ship feels so natural.” His life story leads one to know he is joking.
Doug at age 3
“I was born and raised on a farm/ranch in western South Dakota, in the days when farms were just completing the transition from horses to tractors. I remember getting our first telephone, electricity and trading the pot-bellied coal stove and the wood kitchen range for ones using propane.”
No stranger to hard work, Doug and his family never did have running water. “Plumbing meant digging a new hole and moving the outhouse over it. We raised cattle, hogs, chickens, ducks, and of course had the customary cats and a dog or two. The main crop was wheat, and occasionally corn, cane or sorghum. Western South Dakota is fairly dry, so fields don’t produce as much per acre as in many other places.”
Doug attended a Methodist church when we was quite young, but stopped attending before age 12 when he began listening to The World Tomorrow on WNAX radio. “For some reason, I had a deep desire to understand the Bible. The question that hooked me was, ‘Which day is the Christian Sabbath?’ I didn’t realize until the mid 1990s that the question should’ve been, ‘Who or what is the Christian Sabbath?’ – or better yet, ‘Who is Jesus?’”
Doug went to South Dakota State University after high school and received a B.S. in chemistry. A few months later he was drafted into the US Army. “My training was in infantry and since the Viet Nam war was going on, that training specialized in jungle warfare. After training most of us were sent to Germany instead, where I spent the remainder of my tour of duty as a company clerk in a mechanized infantry company (think Radar in M*A*S*H without the glasses and teddy bear!).”
After returning to South Dakota, Doug was hired by the State of South Dakota as a health inspector. He moved to Rapid City and was responsible for the western third of the state. It was at this time that he renewed his interest in church. “It just felt like it was the right time to do something about my interest in the Worldwide Church of God so I began attending the WCG congregation that had been formed there about a year earlier. The Rapid City church was part of a circuit that included parts of Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Nebraska.” Shortly thereafter, Betty came into the picture.
In the summer of 1973, a church family from Texas came to Rapid City to visit relatives and when they attended church they thought I reminded them a lot of a family they knew in Dallas. Of course, that family just happened to have a daughter that they thought I should write to. I wasn’t exactly a fan of blind dates or pen pal stuff, but I had always wanted to go to Texas and thought it might be easier to go if I knew someone from there. So Betty and I began to write to each other. Eventually we started talking on the phone, but we didn’t actually meet face to face until the fall of 1974 when I flew to Dallas to visit and attend the feast in Big Sandy.” Doug and Betty were married about three months later and will celebrate their 38th anniversary this December. They have two daughters, Lara and Dana, and no living grandchildren, but their daughter Dana is expecting in early 2013. “Our daughters and son-in-law (Eric) are a great source of joy for us.’
After marriage, Doug and Betty moved to Nebraska where Doug became an optician. He worked there for 10 years until they moved to Rapid City to manage an optical lab. “Because the Rapid City church circuit was so large, there was an exceptional need for volunteer help to assist the pastor. As time went on Betty and I were doing more and more volunteer work and I was ordained an elder in 1986. I continued my optical career in Rapid City until 1991 when I was hired full time into the ministry.”
Doug and Betty moved to Omaha, Nebraska and served as associate pastor in the Omaha, Lincoln, Nebraska and Sioux City, Iowa church circuit. In 1995 they transferred to Lawton and Ada, Oklahoma, then in 1999 to the Twin Cities where they live today. Doug now serves as a District Pastor for Minnesota, North Dakota, part of South Dakota and part of Wisconsin. He has also served as coordinator of the Wisconsin Dells celebration and on staff in the Northern Light and Snowblast Winter youth camps.
Doug commented on his hobbies and interests: “My hobbies include photography, an interest I picked up in the Army. After moving to Rapid City I purchased darkroom equipment and began developing and printing photos. The Worldwide News had just begun, so I wrote an article and included a couple of photos. I remember my surprise and joy when the article and photos were published. I wrote many more articles after that. My other hobbies are travel and wood turning.”
Life in GCI has never been dull: “Pastoring puts one into contact with a wide variety of interesting people and we experience with them some of their best and worst moments.” Doug relishes memories of baptisms, weddings, funerals, worship services, classes and long discussions. He loves the specialness of all the people. “I just can’t help but wonder what this will look like when the Lord puts it all together.”
In spite of their share of tragedies, Doug and Betty remain strong and encouraged by their relationship with God. “I used to think that having good things happen was the only sign of being close to God. But since 1995 we’ve experienced so much trauma in our lives (deaths of parents, siblings, suicide of a close family member, death of a grandchild, lightning fire destroying our house, and so on) that I’ve come to realize that Jesus doesn’t take away most of our trials in this life, but he accompanies us through them all. It is as if I hear him say in the midst of such trials, ‘Doug, I know this hurts, but I’m with you. Just trust me that this is important for you to go through and I’ll make it all right in the end.'”
Dennis Wheatcroft has a distinction few pastors can claim—he is in a hall of fame. “While running cross-country at Fort Hays University, our team won the national championship two years in a row (1968-69). Just a couple of years ago, we were invited back to the university and inducted into their hall of fame.”
Dennis, who pastors GCI churches in Murphy, North Carolina and Chattanooga, Tennessee, and his wife, Sidni, celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary this year. What many don’t realize is that Dennis and Sidni were born on the same day, month and year. “However, I am nearly 12 hours older, since I was born in Kansas at 6:30 a.m. and she was born in California at 4:00 p.m.”
Dennis and Sidni have three married sons: Brad (Valerie), Brett (Beth), Robert (Jeminah); and five grandchildren: Madeline (8), Ella (7), Isaac (2), Kaitlyn (2) and Andrew (4 months). “We are extremely blessed to have all of our children and their families living in Chattanooga.”
Family is Dennis’ passion. “I see family as one of the primary ways that God reveals his triune nature. With the attack on families and the dysfunction that has become the norm; we lose this important revelation of God.”
Dennis grew up in a small town in Kansas and graduated high school in 1968. “Then I attended Fort Hays University for two years before becoming involved with WCG and attending Ambassador College in Bricket Wood England from 1970-74.” After graduating, Dennis was hired as a ministerial trainee and sent to Alberta Canada. After serving as a trainee for a year and a half, Dennis was ordained and became a pastor. In between Alberta and where he is now serving, Dennis and Sidni served in Wheatland, Casper and Sheridan, Wyoming; Billings, Montana; and Glendora, California.”
Dennis, who was recently asked to serve as a district pastor, said that being a pastor is both rewarding and challenging. “What I have most enjoyed about being a pastor is undoubtedly all of the people that we have had the opportunity to serve with over the years. It is always a privilege to participate in the transformation that Jesus brings, through the Holy Spirit, in people’s lives.”
When asked about his most memorable moment as a pastor, Dennis tied it in with his passion for family. “I had the opportunity to perform the marriage of two of my three sons. Those were special opportunities.”
Dennis says the transformation of our denomination has been amazing and he has enjoyed where God is leading us. “As difficult as it has been, the journey has been well worth it. This gives all of us a unique perspective about God and his grace. I enjoy participating in all that Jesus continues to do in his body as a whole and especially in our little part.”
When asked when he feels closest to God, Dennis said, “More and more I am learning to see God’s presence in all of life. Consequently, I feel close to God not only in intimate times of prayer and study, but as I am living life. Especially time spent together as a family.”
Jim Roberts’ passion is jewels, both kinds. “I’m a serious rock, mineral and crystal collector and hobbyist. Also the people of God, which are described by Peter as ‘precious stones’ making up the building of God, are a chief joy.”
Jim, pastor of GCI’s congregation in San Leandro, California and his wife, Hazel have been married for 42 years and have one daughter, Rosie, who “gifted us with two perfect granddaughters, Shannon, 10 and Morgan, 6, just 100 miles away.”
Jim was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri. “Due to economics, I spent my pre-school years on a semi-primitive farm with my super grandparents who grounded me well in the ground, in the Baptist faith, and in not quite fitting in with my immediate family when I moved back to town with them.” It was on the farm that Jim developed an interest in earth science and went to college to study geology. Because of his Baptist background and creationist point of view, Jim said he was struggling in his geology major. It was about this time he started listening to The World Tomorrow broadcast. “In early 1965 The World Tomorrow radio broadcast was doing a series on creation vs. evolution. I was struggling with that question; the position taken seemed most intriguing. I sent for literature and soon accepted the church’s various doctrinal positions and really felt drawn by God.”
Soon Jim was about to make a big change in his life. “At age 19 I began to attend WCG and determined to apply for Ambassador College in Big Sandy.” He applied in 1967, and though he said he never dreamed of moving to California, when he was accepted, “I found myself headed for Pasadena instead!” Jim remained in California except for a stay of 18 months in Ohio. “I have spent 45 years in California and feel certain I was planted in California by the good Lord.”
Jim said he felt a calling to become a pastor while still a Baptist, but went into the field of earth science instead. “I then felt called to attend Ambassador College and study theology instead of geology. I was not hired into the ministry upon graduation in 1970 but I spent about 20 years doing ministry on the side while working with the computer department at Pasadena. Late in 1994 I got interviewed for full-time ministry and decided God was still moving me in that direction.
Jim’s first assignment was quite a challenge. “I was the only new hire that arrived at his first pastorate in the same month that the doctrinal changes took place. I had to go from assistant pastor in two churches to pastor of six churches in just five months. I had to grow into the job and grow along with the members in the new understanding. God was gracious.” Jim continued to serve full time in ministry for 17 years. “In 2012, I ‘retired’ and was re-hired part-time and I’m still at it.”
Jim shares two highlights about being a pastor. “One is teaching. I am not nearly as much preacher as teacher, which seems natural. I love helping people unravel the meaning of Scripture and making the gospel clear. The other is the joy of watching people respond and grow in faith and bear useful fruit in their lives.”
His most memorable moment as a pastor happened shortly after being hired full time. “It was an 8-day ‘moment’ in 1995 in Dayton when as a green emergency pastor I had to coordinate my first Feast of Tabernacles in nearly impossible conditions and watch how God worked through my wife and a bunch of great folks who hardly knew each other.”
Jim talks fondly of being part of GCI. “I love the commitment of GCI and its leadership to truth. The huge sacrifices made for new covenant truth in 1995 testify to this, as well as constant growth in new directions of grace, such as Trinitarian theology. I really respect the humility of Joe and the leadership.”
When asked when he feels closest to God, Jim responded, “Other than when I am alone in the wilderness, I think it’s in the pulpit. I think about what I’m doing and wonder who am I to do this and how awesome it is to be a mouthpiece for Jesus and just sense his power and presence.”
Phillip Hopwood, GCI Australia pastor in Hobart, Tasmania was born and raised in Launceston, Tasmania. Phil said he had a “simple but positive upbringing attending church and Sunday school and Scouts every week. We had no Scout leader for several years, so my dad and those of us who were older ran the troop, which provided lots of leadership experience, fun and adventure.” When Phil was 16, his father was killed in a tragic accident while on a Scout activity.
Motorbikes were a highlight of Phil’s young adult life. “At one stage I had 13 motorbikes in various stages of repair, including Harley Davidsons and Triumphs. I entered a 1938 Harley with a sidecar in a race to help get sidecar racing re-established in Tasmania around 1970—lots of fun!”
Phil was brought up Methodist, “but was looking for answers about God at a time when most churches were liberal and the God is Dead movement was at its peak.” In 1965 he heard The World Tomorrow program and became interested. “I sought help regarding conscientious objection status from the church during the Vietnam War, and ended up with my first visit from a WCG minister.” This led to Phil attending church services in 1971 and being baptized a few months later “in a very cold river near Launceston. It was so cold my lungs partially collapsed, which gave a heightened sense of meaning even as I was under the water.”
Phil spent 1972-3 in the UK and Europe working and travelling. “I thought it might be the last chance to see Europe before the end time!” Phil made his base near the Ambassador College campus in Bricket Wood so he was able to attend services and Bible studies there regularly.
Returning to Tasmania in 1973, Phil attended and served in WCG local churches in northern Tasmania during the rest of the 70’s before going to Ambassador College in Pasadena in 1980-83. “My college years were among the best of my life. At one point I was head usher at the Auditorium and I loved attending the concerts. It was a great feeling having the keys to such a magnificent building in my pocket.” During his senior year of college, Phil worked in Personal Correspondence answering letters, which he calls “a great experience.”
After college, Phil was hired as a ministerial trainee in Vancouver, BC, Canada. “I spent 7 years pastoring in Alberta before returning with a family to Newcastle, NSW in late 1991 and then home to pastor the three Tasmanian churches in 1997.”
Phil shares that one of his toughest times was going through a divorce. “It was a very difficult experience to find a way through. I was helped greatly by close friends and family.” He says that it can be challenging being a single pastor especially in a small island state with limited social opportunities. “Thankfully God is merciful and gracious.”
What Phil enjoys most about being a pastor is the camaraderie and “having friends around the world who share a common theology and Christian journey. I enjoy the fellowship of members and fellow pastors.” Phil said he loves to watch people learn and grow in their understanding of what it means to be free, to live in peace, to be loved and to be embraced by the Father. “Preparing sermons and teaching about who God is, and who we are because of who he is” is something Phil holds dear to his heart. One of the highlights of his year is the annual Tasmanian church camp where “we spend a week in a beautiful seaside location studying through one of the books of the Bible.”
At the present time, Phil pastors part time due to limited local income. To supplement his income, he runs a small computer business and serves as a lecturer/evaluator for Ambassador College of Christian Ministry (ACCM). Phil sums up his life by saying, “what a journey it has been!”
Phil’s passion is engaging with others and sharing good theology. “I love the heart and wisdom of Karl Barth’s writings, as well as many others. I share my sermons on line, and recently helped put together the new GCI Australia website (at http://www.gci.org.au) to share more of the gospel with our increasingly secular nation. I believe it is important that we continue to use our denominational gifts of teaching and publishing to spread the gospel through modern media.”
When asked about his most memorable moment, Phil said, “I relish the time of helping members through the changes in the 90’s, including engaging with many locally who were personally emotionally impacted. I also enjoyed developing and overseeing the internet forums to help answer people’s questions, with help from Ted Johnston and technical help from Bret Miller.”
Phil said he feels closest to God “when reading a profound scripture or inspiring statement from a theologian, particularly if I am sitting outdoors in a sunny and inspiring location.”
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.”
Don Marson has been serving as the pastor of GCI’s church in Anchorage, Alaska since 2008. He has been Married to Anne Marie for 49 years and together they have three children (Andrew, Bradley and Lynn) and seven grandchildren.
Don knows the blessings of being a senior citizen in Anchorage. “Every year we’re given dozens of delectable, fresh-caught salmon.” One of Don’s hobbies is to marinade, smoke, vacuum-seal and then to share these delectable fish with others.
Don grew up in Seattle, Washington and graduated from high school in 1955. He served in the U.S. Air Force, including a year in Africa. It was back in Seattle in 1959 that his older brother introduced Don to the Radio Church of God. Knowing Don had a fascination with science fiction; Don’s brother gave him the booklet, 1975 in Prophecy. The booklet piqued Don’s interest. “I then began to study the Bible and became a Christian and WCG member. Don was baptized in August 1960 by Jim Friddle, Seattle’s pastor.
Due to a series of job changes, Don moved his family from Seattle to Portland, Oregon in the 1970s and then up to Anchorage in 1984. Don retired in 2004; at least he thought he did. He was serving as an associate pastor in Anchorage when he and Anne Marie were asked to attend the new pastors’ training at the GCI home office in Glendora, California. This was in 2006.
The conference changed Don in a powerful way. “I experienced what I believe was a second conversion, evidenced by the Holy Spirit’s work in my life since.” Don said he and Anne Marie were curious as to why they were asked to go to the conference. After all, Anchorage had a pastor. But it all made sense in 2008 when the Anchorage pastor resigned and Don was installed as senior pastor.
Don may have retired from his previous employment in 2004, but he is anything but retired in ministry. “I regularly participate with other local evangelicals in an Anchorage Evangelical Pastors Fellowship, encouraging and praying together. In addition, I enjoy breakfasting with similar ‘Old Geezer Pastors,’ weekly at a nearby restaurant. And, my wife and I are involved in volunteer work with the Anchorage Love, INC (In the Name of Christ) organization, serving neighbors in need. Love, INC is one of the missions that our congregation supports along with the Bengali Evangelical Association.”
Don said he loves serving and leading “our small, harmonious congregation together in Jesus’ love, peace and joy.” Further he loves the community he serves, with “its unique people and fantastically beautiful State of Alaska.”
When asked what Don enjoys about being part of GCI, he said, “The realistic and absolute assurance that God is peacefully, faithfully and lovingly leading me and others along his positive journey towards eternal life with full conviction of assured, promised salvation.” This ties in with his passion “to faithfully follow God with firm conviction wherever he leads, and encouraging others as well.”
Don then listed some of his small congregation’s blessings—already in 2012 they have had one baptism, two new members join and the commissioning of a new ministry leader. “Praise God and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit,” Don said.
Don’s most memorable moments as a pastor have to do with receiving God’s affirmation. “I frequently experience the unplanned alignment of my sermon with the message of a Speaking of Life video or a worship song presented in the church service that day. Things like this reassure me that God is leading, and that’s exciting, to say the least!”
Don and Anne Marie feel blessed to be serving God’s beloved in Alaska. He loves his job, his community, his congregation, his beautiful state, and his relationship with God. Don said he feels closest to God while in the Word and in prayer. “In particular, when studying carefully and being deeply inspired by his Word from various sources. He is so real, so encouraging and gentle.”
David Gibbs, pastor of GCI’s Birmingham, England church and his wife, Alberta, attended the same school as they grew up. David was a year ahead and in the same class as Alberta’s sister. But Alberta won his heart and in November 2011 they celebrated their 25th anniversary.
David and Alberta have a passion for children. Not only do they have two children, Sarah and Michael, but also for the past five years, they have served as Foster Carers (Parents) looking after very young children until the children are adopted or go back to their birth parents. They’ve had their share of tragedies along the way. “Some of the hardest times in our lives were suffering four miscarriages, two before Sarah was born, and two more before Michael.”
Though both of David’s parents are Jamaican, David was born and raised in the same town he now serves as pastor. Still, his Jamaican heritage was a major influence in his life, often encouraged by his grandparents. “One of my rich experiences growing up was having my paternal grandparents live with us for many years.”
David did well in school, but preferred sports to study. He did well enough to go through college and to this day David still loves to learn. And he has always enjoyed reading.
David’s family started attending WCG when he was about 13 years old. The family had attended a Baptist church and several Pentecostal churches. “Then my Dad started to search and was given some WCG booklets to read, and the rest is history some 37 years later.” David considers his WCG background as a teenager a major influence in his life. “Through my church experience, I have had the opportunity to travel and attend Ambassador College, making friends from all around the world.”
David was ordained shortly after GCI’s doctrinal changes took place. “Because of my college experience, natural leadership abilities and support of the congregation I was ordained an elder. Now I serve as one of three members of the pastoral council.” David is thankful for this council. For many years he carried the responsibility for the congregation pretty much alone. “I am grateful that we now have a council to look after our local church affairs.”
When asked what he enjoys most about being a pastor, David said, “I enjoy helping people. I enjoy preaching. I enjoy good fellowship—mutually encouraging each other with the good news. I enjoy the privilege of people opening their heart to you, and not just within my own congregation.”
David loves being a part of GCI. He has served on the UK board of trustees for a period of time and he loves “the connectedness of people all around the world.” Because of the years in Ambassador College, David and Alberta feel like the United States is their second home. And they love Africa. “We have a close affinity with Malawi especially since Alberta went on a mission project there in 2010 to teach in a school. My best friend was the person who encouraged her to go.”
Working on a gospel radio show was one of David’s most memorable experiences. “I was greatly encouraged by the comments of many listeners who stated what a difference it made. One person said that when I preach it is like my voice and the word blend together. It is so humbling that God has blessed me with so much and given me the opportunity to touch so many lives.” David was also nominated as pastor of the year because of his community work. “I didn’t win,” he adds.
David’s passion is that people know God. “As I draw older my view of a number of things has changed but my constant prayer remains that we will find favor with God and man. Everything we do is influenced by our faith and eagerness to see others do well, whether part of our church community or not, especially to have a relationship with Jesus.”
When asked when he feels closest to God, David said, “When I’m reminded of God’s great love for me and the whole of humanity, I’m encouraged. I mess up on a regular basis but I am forgiven. When I look at God’s people each week and realize that he has called me to pastor them and others outside of the flock, I am in awe and am grateful.”
