After 8 years of youth ministry in Eugene, Oregon, God called Joe and Laina to pastor Life Center in Spokane, WA in 1978. They started with a group of 40 and Joe quickly took it down to almost nothing! Since then, the church has grown to several thousand and given birth to 30 daughter/granddaughter churches, all but one in the Spokane area. Joe and Laina have 5 grown children, and 11 brilliant and beautiful grandchildren. Joe is a lifelong learner who completed a Masters in Theology at age 60 at Whitworth University. In 2014, he took a long overdue sabbatical and rode his motorcycle around the perimeter of the US. In 2021, Joe passed the lead pastor role to his son, Michael, and now works for him as “Founding Pastor” (meaning I can do whatever I want). Joe’s Big Deals: love God, love people, make disciples, have fun!