*ABOUT US*







 

Our Story...

Okay, our story isn't that interesting, but it's a bit more exciting than reading an encyclopedia.  It all started 17 years ago.  A group of our "pioneers" had been born again, baptized, filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit and they were looking for a place that their beliefs could be accepted and encouraged. 

On September 5, 1990, the Lord established Trinity Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational congregation located in Stanley, WI.  The "pioneers" were able to rent the First Presbyterian Church of Stanley, WI with an option to buy (they exercised that option in April of 1991). 

The first pastor to serve TCF was Pastor John Allstaedt.  Pastor Allstaedt had served in the Stanley/Thorp area for the previous two years and continued at TCF from September 1990 until mid-November of 1991.  This first year was a time of solid biblical instruction and a lot of relationship forming!  The key phrase for this season of our story was "spiritual growth."

As Pastor Allstaedt transitioned into another season of his ministry, the Lord was speaking to our next pastor-to-be: Pastor Brent Miller.  Pastor Brent and his wife Maria came from Indiana with their two children in April of 1992.  We were blessed to have them as a part of our "local" family from 1992 until 1998 (we say "local" because Pastor Brent is still closely connected to us and serves as a spiritual father to our congregation).  While his family was with us, we experienced strong church growth and were financially able to pay off the building that we had purchased just 3 years earlier!  It was in the heart of our congregation to eventually purchase land and build a new facility, but we were blessed to have paid off this first location!  The key phrase for this seasons of our story was "still growing." 

After Pastor Brent and Maria transitioned to The Father's House, we were blessed to have this "really old guy" named Ric Gorden serve as interim pastor.  He's actually not a really old guy, but it's been reported that teenagers tell him he is.  At any rate, he helped tremendously and still visits us at least once a year. 

On April 12, 1999, Pastor DeWayne DeBrouse and his wife Becky came from Iowa to serve at TCF.  They immediately began to work and helped towards acquiring a van for 'van ministry' and moving closer to building our new facility.  The vision was there, we just needed to find the land and build.  That brings us to October of 1999.  What do you know.  We found 23.23 acres just outside of Stanley, WI on County Highway X.  Two years later, we had enough of our partially completed building to host our first wedding (three cheers for John & Lana Ciolkosz!).  The building was quickly winterized and furnished, and we were blessed to hold our first official worship gathering on January 20, 2002!  We still have a vision to finish a sanctuary, since our current sanctuary is to one day be our gym, as well as building an education wing for our children's ministries.  However, we are blessed with our "first phase" of the building project and thank the Lord for His provision! 

On August 25, 2002, after three years of serving TCF, Pastor DeBrouse and his family moved back to Iowa.  Once again we were in transition.  Thankfully we were blessed to have the Lord's favor.  At the time, one of our past Elders, Harvey Mohr, served as the "interim" pastor.  However, we don't like to look at it as an "interim" period.  Pastor Harvey did a wonderful job and spent approximately two years teaching, pastoring, officiating weddings, and farming all at the same time! 

A little over two years later, on September 26 of 2004, Pastor Jim Capets, and his wife Becky, moved from Pennsylvania to serve as our pastor.  Pastor Jim was a vibrant speaker and excited about reaching people in our community.  Jim's labor did much to help us take one more step forward and we were challenged to view our community as a great "missions field." 

After nearly two and a half years, Pastor Jim and his family sensed the Lord calling them back to Pennsylvania.  It was a difficult time for everyone, as we were all sad to see him go, yet we were excited about his next calling (True Heart Ministry) and still excited about our future. 

Previously, around January of 2005, Luke and Dawn Geraty had begun to attend TCF.  Luke was in full-time ministry with the Chippewa Valley Int'l House of Prayer.  Since the ministry wasn't an actual "church," he and his wife had made TCF their place of fellowship and joined our community. 

When Pastor Jim had sensed that the Lord may be calling him away from TCF, he had begun to talk to Luke about the possibility of serving TCF as a pastor.  At first, Luke wasn't too open to the idea, but then the Lord began to change his heart (thankfully).  By the time that Jim transitioned back to PA (May 28, 2006), Luke transitioned into the role of "teaching pastor," meaning he was not the Lead Pastor, but not quite an interim.  This was by far the best transition we have experienced, and a great opportunity for us to better define what we wanted for our leadership. 

On December 10, 2006, Luke was officially affirmed as our Lead Pastor.  Pastor Luke brings a hunger for God and a love for people.  Since then, our congregation has been experiencing steady growth and is excited about what the future looks like.  Wouldn't you like to be a part of our story?  Join us and you are...