Intentional Interim Pastors

Director, Intentional Interim Pastor Division

Dave Miles

Dave Miles is the founder of VitalChurch Ministry. Dave loves the church and enjoys the challenge of working with churches in transition. It has been something he’s done, to one degree or another, since 1994. He is particularly passionate about helping churches understand what Christianity is and why it makes sense. He has pastored churches in New York, California, Hawaii, Washington, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota. He likes to surf, run marathons, play golf, and read books. Dave has a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Dave and his wife, Jan, have been married since June 1980. Together they have three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Associate Director, Intentional Interim Pastor Division

Tom Wilkens

Tom Wilkens has enjoyed serving as a pastor, medical/counseling clinic director, and university professor. Tom now serves as Associate Director, Intentional Interim Pastor Division of VitalChurch Ministry. He earned a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary in Pastoral Ministries and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver. Tom’s passion is to see marriages, teams, churches, and organizations develop and grow well—with a special interest in leadership. Tom has been married to his best friend, Jan, since 1982. They have two married daughters.

Associate

Rob Acker

Rob Acker pastored for 42 years in Southern California until 2023. As a pastor he loves all the aspects of the local church, especially the mobilization of people, equipping of leaders, and the multiplication of ministry and churches. His heart is to help enrich the lives of pastors and equip churches for health and vitality. Rob was an economics major at UCLA, heading for business, when God prompted his heart to attend seminary. He has degrees from Western Baptist and Fuller Seminaries. Kathleen, his wife since 1981, is from Seattle and they have four married kids and thirteen grandkids. Reading and golf are both fun past-times.

Associate

Geoff Bohleen

Geoff Bohleen graduated from Bethel Seminary with his M.Div. and Fuller Seminary with his D.Min. and has served in a variety of leadership roles in churches ranging in size from 150 – 8,000. Geoff has a strong desire to help churches flourish in their ministry, and he believes there is no limit to what God can do through a local church, especially when it has the courage to face its challenges and leverage its strengths for God-honoring life and service.

Geoff and his wife, Joni, met on a blind date and have been married since 1984. They have three married, adult children and several grandchildren. In their spare time, they enjoy time with their family, good friends, road trips, good books and movies, and the North Carolina beach.

Associate

Rick Foster

Rick Foster served as a “permanent” pastor for 25 years before making the transition to an interim pastor. Since 2012, he has served as an intentional interim pastor in widely divergent churches, literally from coast to coast. Rick has a B.A. from Wheaton College and a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary. Rick and his wife, Lucy, have three grown children and six grandchildren. Rick enjoys both road and mountain biking, hiking, and good coffee.

Associate

Pat Hand

Pat Hand retired from his long-time role of lead pastor in 2022. Pat has over 45 years of experience in local church work serving as lead pastor and as staff pastor in the area of executive leadership, missions, and assimilation. Pat has a real burden to see churches be the best version of themselves that God would have them to be.

Pat and his wife Carol were high school sweethearts and have served together through the years. They have two married sons and five grandkids. Pat and Carol have a 42 foot fifth-wheel RV that allows them to serve with VitalChurch Ministry just about anywhere in North America. Pat and Carol are dual citizens of the United States and Canada. They love to travel, scuba dive, fish, and enjoy all things outdoors.

Associate

Wayne Harris

Wayne Harris has served the Church in local churches ranging in size from 50 to 4,500. He has also served in denominational roles, as well as with an international mission organization, and most recently as a church consultant and intentional interim pastor. Through these wide-ranging experiences, God has developed in him a deep passion for His Church and leaders. By leading churches down pathways of spiritual discovery, Wayne equips, empowers, and encourages leaders to hear from God as they clarify their focus and align themselves and ministries with His heart and passion resulting in greater Kingdom impact.

Wayne is married to his college sweetheart, Carey. Together they enjoy hanging out with their two adult children and spouses, as well as their five grandchildren. Wayne enjoys the out of doors, whether it is a round of golf, hanging out on the beach, or the occasional road trip with Carey—especially when it involves camping.

Associate

Nathan Kimbrough

After two decades of helping churches throughout the world navigate their struggles, structure their systems, and heal their hurts, Nathan is excited to bring his experience to the VitalChurch Ministry team. Nathan has also served as pastor and transitional pastor for both small and megachurches. Nathan has his bachelor’s from Missouri State University (Mass Media Communication) and his master’s from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Church Leadership). Nathan and his wife, Jennie, have been married since 2006 and enjoy traveling, theatre, hiking, art, and being all-around foodies.

Associate

Craig Ray

Craig Ray’s lifelong passion is to come alongside churches in transition and raise them up into spiritual maturity and vitality so they will be poised to reach people for Christ. Craig draws from years of varied ministry and leadership experiences, such as church planting, revitalization, youth ministry, overseas missions, and most recently, a six-year pastorate in central Vermont that culminated in transitioning two churches into one. In 2017, Craig began volunteering with VitalChurch as part of the diagnostic division before moving into a full-time associate role with the team. Craig has a B.Min. from the Antioch School of Church Planting and Leadership Development and is currently completing an M.A. in Leadership. Craig and his wife, Brianna, have three sons. He enjoys coaching, playing, and watching baseball.

Associate

Rich Schoenert

Rich Schoenert served as a senior pastor for 43 years before moving into interim pastor ministry. The last 24 of those years were spent at Calvary Church, Roseville, Minnesota, a multi-site congregation. Since “retirement,” he has served numerous churches as an intentional interim pastor. Rich also continues to train and equip pastors and other church leaders in Ukraine, something he’s done for over 30 years. Rich graduated from Gordon-Conwell Seminary with both the M.Div. and D.Min. degrees. He and his wife have three adult children and many grandchildren.

Associate

Carl Sutter

Carl Sutter recently joined the VitalChurch team after serving for 12 years as the founding pastor of a non-denominational church in northern Colorado. Prior to that, Carl served as an associate pastor for three years and Senior Pastor for 18 years at three other churches. Carl has a wide breadth of experience serving congregations of several hundred people to several thousand in small town America, the suburbs, and the inner city of a large metropolitan area.

Carl believes in the church, as in life, that healthy things grow. The challenge of the church is to submit with the Spirit to become a healthy and vibrant organization. Healthy and dynamic churches lead to transformational growth in the lives of individuals, families, and in the community. Carl is passionate and optimistic about the power of the body of Christ and the incredible impact and hope it brings to the world! Carl and his wife, Vicki, live in Loveland, Colorado and enjoy family time and the beauty of the Rocky Mountains!

Associate

Daniel (Dan) Werthman

Dan Werthman is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA), a licensed attorney, and a Certified Christian Conciliator with the Institute for Christian Conciliation. After serving for 15 years as a senior pastor in three EFCA churches, Dan felt a calling to use his experience and abilities to help churches navigate conflict and change through intentional interim pastoral ministry. Dan earned his M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and his J.D. at Hamline University School of Law. Dan has also served as a military attorney (Judge Advocate) in the United States Air Force. Dan and his wife, Cindy, have three grown sons. Dan enjoys grilling and barbecuing, and is slowly section-hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Associate

Dave Young

Dave Young has been pastoring churches since 1996, serving in America, Europe, and Asia. He has degrees in Bible and Counseling, and a D.Min. from George Fox Evangelical Seminary. His doctoral dissertation focused on moving churches from an oasis paradigm to missional thought, community, and practice. Dave is an advocate of being changed and bringing change – knowing that God is always deepening our dependency on Him and encouraging our experience of Him during times of transition. Dave and his wife, Maryanne, have been married since 1987. They have two adult daughters.