Our Pastors

I was born and raised in Iowa in a Christian family.  After accepting Christ as Savior as a young child, I then felt the definite call of God to full-time ministry when I was a junior in High School.  I attended Bible College in Rochester, MN and then Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where I earned Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Counseling degrees.  I have pastored several churches in South Dakota, moving to Spearfish in 2002.  I pioneered Grace Fellowship in the Summer of 2009.  Witnessing the incredible blessing of God upon Grace Fellowship has been one of my greatest joys.  I love the Lord and love His church, and have a burning passion to preach the Word of God in a way that is engaging and understandable.  I have been married to my college sweetheart, Shelly, since 1987.  Together we have three sons: Joshua, Caleb and Joseph.

I have prayerfully made this my life’s purpose: “My life’s purpose is to bring glory to Jesus Christ by living in joyful response to His grace to me through walking in obedience to His word and encouraging others to do the same. I seek to use my gifts of encouragement, teaching and shepherding to edify the body of Christ. I yearn to model authenticity and integrity. I desire to place my wife and children as my 1st place of ministry. I will do all I can, serve with all my energy, to help those who are far from God to draw near to Him. I will daily seek to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, knowing that ‘it’s not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty.’”

Hi! My name is JC and I am the Associate Pastor at Grace Fellowship. My wife, two kids and I have lived in Spearfish for about 9 years. The majority of my time is spent with college and young adults, providing outreach opportunities for the church, teaching, counseling, and various other duties. I enjoy hiking, 4-wheeling, biking (the motorized kind), watching movies and cheering the Vikings on as they lose!

I come from a family of 4 from North Dakota. Crop farming is in my bloodline and has been for the past several generations. I attended college at Northwestern in Orange City Iowa and graduated in the spring of 2010 with a Religion major and a Youth Ministry minor. It was my sophomore year in college when God called me into ministry, and since then He has shown his leading to be true. Christ is my life!