Grow with Catch The Fire

Michael was born in San Francisco, raised by counterculture parents, and became a hippie and spiritual seeker as a teenager. He was radically converted to Christ in the 70s while hitch-hiking and living among the Blackfeet Indians in Montana and soon began preaching the gospel on the streets in San Francisco. He was one of the founders of SOS Ministries, an evangelistic ministry that still sponsors outreaches in the Bay Area. In the early days of his ministry he was part of a Christian house ministry in San Francisco, ministering to street people and drug addicts. In the 80s he joined in with the Vineyard movement and planted a Vineyard church in San Francisco which became the largest evangelical church in San Francisco in a generation, and eventually was overseeing over 20 Vineyard churches throughout Northern California.

Early in his pastoral ministry Michael developed a passion to see believers equipped and released into the specific ministry for which God has designed them. This passion led him to develop materials and a process for leadership development that he used to help hundreds of people to move forward into their destiny and calling. That material, refined by over thirty years of ministry, eventually became the Destiny Finder system. Destiny Finder launched the first destinyfinder.com website in 2010, and it now serves thousands of people around the world, helping individuals discover and develop their calling in the Lord.

Michael was awarded a D. Div. from Grace Bible College in Gurgaon, India. He served as Director of the Culture Project for Jesus Culture from 2009-2013. He currently teaches at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry (BSSM) in Redding, California, and works with Global Legacy, Bethel Church’s association of churches, overseeing churches and creating discipleship programs for the next generation. Michael increasingly began working with leaders around the globe and saw more and more need for solid practical biblical and Spirit-led training for churches and especially for pastors and leaders.

Michael coaches pastors and leaders around the USA and internationally, bringing his passion for mobilizing the church for kingdom ministry to many. Michael is one of the foremost strategic thinkers (and doers) of church ministry, helping leaders throughout the body of Christ to move forward into all that God has for them. Michael lives with his wife Diane in Redding, California. He plays guitar, loves the Beatles, and is fascinated by fives.