Married August 17, 1975 in Kalamazoo, MI, we spent the first few months of our marriage at Southern where Mike finished College then on to Michigan for the Seminary.
Finished there in March of 1978 and on to Troy, MI where we spent one year pastoring. From there we moved to Mt. Pleasant, MI, where we pastored two churches for the next three years (1979-82.)
Our next stop was 16 miles from where Gail’s parent’s lived, which was great because by then both DJ and Amy had been born. DJ on August 18 of 1977, just before we left the seminary, and Amy on November 25, 1979, when we first moved to Mt. Pleasant. So moving to Gobles from 1982-85 and being able to be near Grandma and Grandpa Tozer for 3 years was a blast for our family.
In May of 1985 my ministry would take a direction that would shape it forever in a new way when God used Dwight Nelson to call me to be the Youth Pastor of the Pioneer Memorial Church. And I have been doing youth ministry in one form or another ever since. While we were there Gail began to be involved in young adult and women’s prayer ministry. It would be a sign of things to come. DJ and Amy also began Elementary School at Ruth Murdoch there.
After four very fulfilling years there the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference called me to be the Director of Youth Ministries for this conference in August of 1989.
After seven years of that ministry, which I loved dearly, the time came to stay home more. DJ and Amy were now in their junior and freshman years at Madison Academy and wouldn’t be home much longer before going off to co
While all that was going on Gail was at my side with a ministry of her own, leading the women of the Conference to “Know and Show Jesus.” She is a pastor in her own right, having been asked by the conference to pastor the Franklin, TN, church when they were in need and she did so with great skill and care. She is a gifted speaker, teacher, leader, writer, artist, decorator, and I am blessed to be her husband.llege. And more importantly Stephen, our youngest who had been born on August 30, 1990, just after we moved to Nashville was now 6 and I had been on the road much of his life. So when the Madison Campus Church called me to be their Youth Pastor I readily said yes. Ten years in that role, six years as an associate when Pastor Lynn became ill totaled 16 wonderful years, all in preparation for the job of a lifetime, the White House!
DJ is married to Windi and they are the proud parents of two daughters, Allie, 8, and Riley, 5. We are blessed to live just three miles from them since DJ is on the staff at Madison Academy. We are grateful to be able to see our granddaughters often, sometimes it seems everyday!
Amy is married to Rory Hight and they live in Walla Walla, WA. As of yet they have no children. Rory works for an office supply company in sales and also works for Walla Walla University in the Security Department. They live next to Rory’s mom which great for them but a long ways away for us. Thank goodness for unlimited talk and text and Skype!
Stephen is our social butterfly. He is a special boy given to us by God for a special purpose. He loves people and loves getting to know them. He has a gift for making people feel special. And we are proud of him for that.
We are grateful to be a part of this church and we look forward to what God is going to do in and through this wonderful church family in the coming years.