Meet Pastor Chris

Chris has deep roots in Wyoming. His kids are now the fifth generation of their family to call it home. Chris serves as Lead Pastor of Buck Creek Community Church, where he leads a Gospel-centered congregation in the heart of a blue-collar, working-class neighborhood where he grew up.

Path to ministry

Chris didn't take the usual road into ministry. He started out in Lansing running political campaigns, then spent four years as the lobbyist for the Home Builders Association before serving as Executive Director of Green Built Michigan. A move to Habitat for Humanity of Kent County was the turning point. While there, he planted Elevation Church, and for the next decade-plus he pastored bivocationally, leading Elevation while working in affordable housing at ICCF Community Homes. In 2021, still at ICCF, he began the work that would become Buck Creek Community Church. He continues to serve the city on Wyoming's Planning Commission.

Ministry beyond Buck Creek

Chris co-founded Plant 616, a mission outpost for adventurous leaders across greater Grand Rapids. Plant 616 develops and mobilizes leaders and churches to make disciples and step into places of need, with the goal of making Jesus famous on every block of the 616. He also serves as an Evangel Dean with World Impact, training urban church planters. He's ordained through the Kingdom Network and serves as Pastoral Advisor to AnchorPoint Christian School. He holds a BA in Public Administration from Western Michigan University and is a two-time seminary dropout.

Books

Preach the Gospel Story: A Field Guide to Gospel-Centered Sermons is Chris's practical handbook for preachers who want every sermon to land on Jesus. It walks through how to trace the storyline of Scripture, from creation to fall to redemption to reconciliation, so that any text preaches the Gospel and not just good advice.

Chris is also a contributing author to the Church REVIVE Manual (World Impact Press), edited by Rev. Jordan King and Rev. Ted Smith. The manual is World Impact's equipping resource for pastors and teams working to restart, revitalize, or relaunch struggling churches, drawing on the same principle-based approach used to train hundreds of church plant teams.

Read more from Chris

Chris writes regularly on faith, culture, and life in the neighborhood. You can find his latest posts on the Buck Creek blog.

At home

Chris and Jenni are Wyoming Park High School sweethearts and have been married since 1996. Together they have four children and have been blessed by foster care and adoption. Can't forget the dog. Kylo the Good Boy claims Chris as "Dad". When he's not preaching or in a meeting, he's at a WMU game, working on his 100-year-old Craftsman home, attempting to play guitar, reading a book, or chasing down ice cream with the rest of Team Hall.

Let's get coffee

My treat. Seriously. Hit me up. We can meet up at The Stray.