New Addition to LCMC Staff - Welcome Christian Huntley!
I am delighted to announce a new addition to our LCMC association staff. I have invited Pastor Christian Huntley to join my team in the role of Coordinator for Leadership and Pastoral Development. In this position Christian will help us focus on some points of emphasis for our LCMC 3.0 strategic plan such as the implementation of The LeaderCare Initiative, a series of retreats designed to help love, connect, and care for leaders in our association. In addition, he will work alongside Julie Smith and myself, our Board of Trustees, Ministry Board, and District and Fellowship Coordinators to implement strategies for leadership development for our association. This will include, but not be limited to, strategies to help us deal with a clergy shortage that is being experienced across denominations, the equipping, encouragement, and mentoring of leaders for our smaller congregations, and next-gen leadership development.
Christian comes to us from the staff of Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church (SOV) in Afton, MN where he most recently served as Pastor of Discipleship and Care at SOV. He shares a passion for loving, connecting, and caring for leaders, and for the church being the tangible loving expression of Jesus on earth. He sees his calling from Ephesians 4:11-13; the calling of the Church from John 13:34-35; for the sake of all people in Matthew 28:18-20.
Christian is husband to Jenna and father to Vera (6) and Georgiana (3). He was raised in the Des Moines, Iowa area before moving to Minnesota to pursue his degree. He enjoys being outside, preferably hunting, golfing, or around a bonfire. He writes, “If I can be with people, I’ll try about anything as I am always on the lookout for a good conversation. Christian loves stories. He believes we all have a story to tell that shapes our experience and how we understand God. He enjoys hearing how God is at work in people’s lives and loves learning.
As Service Coordinator, I am very excited about what Christian is going to add to our team in terms of his skills, experience, passions, and who he is as a person. I’m looking forward to having him join our staff on February 13th. Welcome aboard, Christian!
Author
Mike brings 40 plus years of leadership and ministry experience, having served in Lutheran congregations in Nebraska (Christ Lutheran Church) and South Dakota (Trinity Lutheran Church) as a youth pastor, worship leader, associate pastor, and senior pastor. He also served as President for The Master’s Institute Seminary for ten years and most recently, as Director for the Alliance of Renewal Churches (ARC). Mike is passionate about helping leaders and congregations create an atmosphere that is a safe place for developing healthy leaders and disciples in the church, and equipping God’s people for lives of effective witness and ministry in the world. He is the author of the book, Being a Safe Place for the Dangerous Kind, in which he articulates the essential connection between solid theology and healthy practice in mission and ministry.
Mike enjoys sports of all kinds, having served as a high school basketball and baseball coach while serving Trinity Lutheran Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. He and his wife of forty-two years, Debi, enjoy reading, hiking, and swimming, and Mike enjoys the occasional golf outing. They have five adult children – Andrew Michael, Joseph Ross, Rachel Christine, Stephen Daniel and Benjamin John, and three grandsons – Michael, Isaac, and Lucas. Mike and Debi live in Gilbert, Arizona with their three-year old white Labrador, Maggie Mae.
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