Jim King - Oversight Elder
As one of the Elders since 2006, I help shepherd and strengthen the people of our church, help supervise the general affairs of our church, help define the policies of our church and its ministries, and help decide board-level decisions.
I've been part of Trinity Fellowship since moving here in 1992 and I became a member in November 1999.
The Holy Spirit drew me into a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ at age 18. He has blessed me with a few significant-growth points and several steady-growth times, along with many ups and downs. Laurie & I vowed "I do" in 1983, we live our "I do" in many specific ways, and we have 2 adult daughters and 1 granddaughter. I provided and taught Respiratory Care and basic and advanced life support for many years until I was retired in 2019 by vision impairment disability. I am learning to adapt and find joy, even in what I don't enjoy, and I love helping others to thrive and find joy within their own journey.
Dwight Bull - Elder
Bio Coming Soon...
Bill Routley - Oversight Elder
I, my six brothers and three sisters were born in Big Rapids and lived here all my life. 6 brothers and 3 sisters. I have lived here all my life teaching at FSU for 33 years, 5 years at a high school in this area and in Singapore 1 year. My wife, Sharon, and I have been together through it all for over 58 years. We have three grown children.
I accepted Christ and was baptized at age 13. Since I was not in a Christian family and received no encouragement, I did not pursue a Christian lifestyle until getting married to Sharon and having 2 children. We committed our lives to Christ together and have grown in our faith ever since.
I believe my gifts are in the areas of helps and compassion. I tend to thrive on helping others and being involved in missions in our immediate area and around the world. I also like the opportunity to pray with people and counsel during times of grief.
We have been attending since 1994 and became members shortly afterward.
I watch NASCAR whenever I can and spend time with our grandchildren. Sharon and I walk and travel a LOT. We have great spiritual conversations and do various Bible oriented studies and read good books. I also enjoy working on vehicles!
Dennis Chitwood - Oversight Elder
I was born in Detroit, Michigan, and moved a total of 28 times from birth through graduation from high school. My father left us when I was 6 months old and my mother raised me in Central Indiana. Through a number of circumstances during my childhood I learned not to trust and therefore I sought and tested out genuineness in both relationships and my religion. Soon after my mother began attending the same church that I was attending, I rejected Christ as I wanted nothing to do with what I perceived as hypocrisy.
Making destruction out of my life, I came face to face with the claims of Christ and became a believer and Christ-follower at 17. Were it not for His work in my life, it is very safe to assume that I would be dead, continuing and leaving a legacy of despair. But, because of Christ I have purpose and gifts unspeakable that I do not deserve! There are three major influences in my life that have shaped me into who I am.
First and foremost is my relationship with Jesus Christ in whom I am indebted for all that I am and have. He has blessed me through relationships and opportunities that I never would have dreamed possible. Second, he has blessed me with my wonderful wife, Ingrid, as we have marked over 30 years of our exciting journey together. My children are also a great blessing as in a large sense God has gifted me with a family that I never experienced through childhood. Third is a career in the military that God used to shape my passion and world view. Recently I retired my service, even though I continue to have a great passion and opportunity for military ministry.
Through all of these influences in my life I have learned that it is not simply about what I do in ministry or work, rather it is simply about my relationship with Christ and how this spurs me on to love my brothers and sisters and to have a passion for the lost. God has blessed me to be able to enjoy what I do full-time as I have partnered with Steve Wheeler, a fellow elder, in my own work counseling high-risk youth and their families. I also enjoy camping, traveling and spending time together with my family in God’s creation.
Joe Gardner - Oversight Elder
Been around since late 1986, early 1987. Feel free to say "hi." I am the only one at church who wears a green traveler's vest which looks suspiciously like a photographer's or a fishing vest.
Scott Landstra - Oversight Elder
Elder currently leading the Senior Pastor Transition Process. I have been a member at Trinity since 2018 and an Elder since 2020. I have been married to my wife Jane since 1978. We have four boys with six grandchildren. In addition to serving as an Elder, I am a Small Group Leader and serve on the Missions Committee. I enjoy lake life and am an active golfer.
Steve Wheeler - Elder
I was born in Seattle, Washington, and spent the first 25 years of my life there. With my parents, older brother and sister, I attended an Evangelical Covenant Church where I became a Christ follower at age 10 or 11. While helping my parents clean the church my family attended, I became overwhelmingly aware of my utter sinfulness and the complete holiness of God. The power of that contrast brought me to pray for the forgiveness of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. I had an immediate visceral confirmation of the application of the righteousness of God (i.e. I felt great relief from the burden of my unrighteousness before God). As often is the case, I was unaware of the true impact of that event until later.
My adolescence and young adulthood was a mixed bag of vacillating between a true commitment to the teachings of Christ and doing "my own thing". I never went through the typical "rebellion" but it was more just simple selfishness – I wanted to run my own life and not necessarily with reference to God’s Word or His will. There were a number of events in my life that reconfirmed Jesus’ love and grace towards me but also my need to follow Him. Their combined effect was to launch me both into adulthood and a growing maturity in Christ.
Drawn together by our mutual love of the outdoors, traveling and creating adventures, I married Vicky in 1979. After a 3 year stint employed as a forester and 3 years at seminary, we came to Trinity Fellowship in 1984. Through the gifts of encouragement and discernment demonstrated by others at Trinity, I was led by God to become an elder in the 1980's. Since then I have been able to pursue my passion for creating contexts where people grow and are changed for their good and God’s glory. This includes my ministries within Trinity but also my business (with another elder, Dennis Chitwood) as a mental health therapist/counselor.
I find great joy watching others learning and overcoming obstacles in their lives and becoming all they were meant to be in Christ.
Rodney Fredrick - Elder
Bio Coming Soon...
Paul Cole - Elder
Bio coming soon...
Tyler O'Dell - Elder
I grew up in Southeast Michigan where my family had been called to plant a church. I gave my life to Christ at an early age and was baptized at 13. I was blessed to grow up in a Christ-centered home and it was made clear to me from an early age that church is not a place to gather on Sundays, but rather a family in which we are called to serve. I have been blessed to be serving within the church in various ways from the time I was middle school. I met my wife, Karen, in college while we were part of InterVarsity campus ministries and we married a few months after graduation while I was attending graduate school in Washington state. While studying chemistry in Washington, God made it clear to me that my opportunity to serve people would be in education and He provided a unique program that allowed me to transition from research to the classroom. I spent several years teaching in the inner city in Louisville, Kentucky; an environment wrought with personal and professional challenges, not the least of which was the isolation we experienced being in an unfamiliar community. As uncomfortable as we were, it is clear that God used that circumstance to grow and challenge us. Having subsequently returned to Michigan and having found community here in Big Rapids, I reflect with gratitude on the challenging seasons of growth that I have experienced. God has faithfully shown grace to me and my family in every challenge. I hope that in seasons of discomfort and struggle, that reminders of God’s faithfulness come quickly, and that I am able to respond to changing circumstances with faith and trust. As an elder, I desire that for my church family as well. I want to help people connect, serve and grow so that we can become the church God would have us be, exemplifying His love in the way we serve one another and demonstrating His peace by our faith in Christ.