What does Greg Finke bring to the party?

• Greg had been a senior pastor leading and growing congregations for 22 years before founding and becoming the executive director of Dwelling 1:14.
• He was the senior pastor of Messiah in Midland, Michigan, which God grew from 52 in worship to 1200 in worship under Greg’s leadership.  Greg then went to Gloria Dei in Houston, Texas as senior pastor to lead the process of transitioning a large, program-based congregation to a missional, discipling-based congregation.
• He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri and is ordained in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
• He is widely recognized as being a pioneer in thinking and practice in discipling, missional living, and multiplying missional communities.  (see the Endorsements page for examples)
• Greg continues to live the missional life with his wife, Susan, and three daughters.  They oversee a growing network of missional communities in the Houston area.

A Leading Practicioner, Teacher and Mentor

• Greg realized he needed to shift from reading about missional movements to being a part of one.  This happened when Greg and Susan (his wife) simply began to put into practice basic biblical teachings in the context of their neighborhood (see Luke 10)
• What started with them personally living a missional lifestyle has progressed over the years to multiplying missional leaders and missional communities.
• Greg has mentored pastors since 2003, and has taught and trained leaders through conferences and workshops since 2000.
• In his teaching and training, Greg is known for his insights, inspiration, humor, and ability to make biblical truths very practical.
• He has been sited in two recent Leadership Network articles: “Taking Your Church Missional: What Does It Cost the Leader?” and “The New Metrics: How Do They Look in Your Church?”
• As a member of the Board of Directors for the Pastoral Leadership Institue, Greg helped transition the organization to a vision of multiplying missional leaders.

In addition to his formal education, Greg has received the following specialized training:

• With Reggie McNeal in a two-year Missional Renaissance Leadership Community
• With Will Mancini during a one-year vision frame process
• With Mike Breen beginning at the 2006 Sheffield, England conference and now through 3DM
• Completed training through the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership
• Completed training through the Pastoral Leadership Institute (PLI)
• Completed training through PLI- GET (Governance and Executive Training)