About Pastor Mike

Pastor Mike is currently Senior Pastor at Van Lear Brethren in Christ Church in Williamsport MD.  He has served previously as a youth pastor, associate pastor, interim pastor, and senior pastor at churches ranging from 35 to 200 in average Sunday attendance.

Pastor Mike is an ordained minister in the United Brethren in Christ Church (www.ub.org) Although relatively small, the denomination has the distinction of being the first one formed in the United States.  Although each denomination has its own distinctives and histories, most churches with the name Brethren in them have some sort of German heritage and are usually conservative in nature.   This being the case, Pastor Mike dropped the “United” part in 2011 when he began working with the Brethren in Christ Church but he still currently maintains his credentials through the United Brethren church.

Pastor Mike holds a B.S. in Bible from Lancaster Bible College.  (www.lbc.edu)  Bible colleges differ from regular Christian colleges in that they are usually more Bible intensive.  Most of LBC’s degrees are ministry related but regardless of one’s chosen major, they also major in Bible studies.  Pastor Mike majored in Christian Education.

Pastor Mike also has MAR and MRE degrees from Liberty University.  (www.liberty.edu)  An MAR is a master of arts in religion and MRE is a master in religious education.  Although both degrees do not total the number of graduate credits as an MDiv (masters of divinity) that degree is designed specifically for those with a bachelor’s degree in something Bible related.  As it stands, Pastor Mike has nearly 160 credits in Bible related courses.  (This certainly isn’t bragging, just clearing up some common confusion about the degree.)

In addition to pastoring and operating Spreading Light Ministries, Pastor Mike worked part time as an online adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University.  There he taught courses on the both the Old and New Testaments.  He’s currently using that knowledge to teach his own courses online at the Online School of Theology.

Pastor Mike has written multiple books which are available on Amazon.  You can find his author’s page with all of his available books here.

Pastor Mike was married in July 2009 to his wife Merissa.  They met in 2006 while Mike was an interim pastor at her church.  They live with their two dogs and three cats.

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