Pastor Jim was born and raised in Salinas, California, an agricultural town 15 miles off the Central Coast.  He attended UCLA and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Latin American Studies. Following college, he spent 14 months in Mexico and Honduras with Latin America Mission. He began his seminary studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity near Chicago and completed a Master of Divinity at McCormick Theological Seminary.

            After Seminary, Pastor Jim received a call to be the Pastor to the Hispanic congregation of a General Assembly funded Redevelopment Project at Faith United Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.   During the four and a half years in LA he worked with at-risk youth, pastored the Hispanic Congregation, helped develop a non-profit, and chaired the Mission Committee of the San Gabriel Presbytery.

           Following his time in LA, he moved back up to central California when he received a call to be the Associate Pastor for Youth and Christian Education at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollister, California (about 30 miles from his hometown of Salinas).  Sensing a call to military Chaplaincy, Pastor Jim and his wife Wendy packed up the then three children, left Hollister, and moved to Okinawa, Japan. (They were blessed with a fourth child while in Okinawa.)

            Pastor Jim spent over 27 years on Active Duty as a Chaplain in the Navy. He was based in Okinawa, Japan (twice), San Diego, CA (twice), Norfolk, VA, Newport, RI, Tampa, FL, and was in Hawaii from December 2019 through November 2023. He served on two ships, spent about 12 years in Marine Corps Commands, served about 7 years with Naval Special Warfare or Special Operations Forces, and concluded his Navy career at a Joint 4 Star Headquarters, the U.S.  Indo-Pacific Command.   During that time he had combat tours of different lengths in Iraq on five separate occasions, and Afghanistan once. He visited over 22 different countries all around the world. He left the Navy last November with the rank of Captain (with his official retirement date being March 1, 2024).

            Throughout his career, he provided worship opportunities to service members (and sometimes families) in the field, on ship, and in chapels. He provided pastoral counseling to the most junior enlisted and to Admirals and Generals. He provided that counseling in the office, in the field, underway on ships, in people’s homes, and in combat situations. Early on in his career he realized he needed more training in counseling especially concerning couples and families. He pursued a Doctor of Ministry degree in Marriage and Family Counseling and received his doctorate in 2012 from Denver Seminary. He has led couples retreats and workshops and continues to provide counseling support to couples.

               Pastor Jim started at First Presbyterian Church on December 1, 2023. He and Wendy love it here in Battle Creek and feel blessed by God and loved by the members of the First Presbyterian Church of Battle Creek. They have four children and four granddaughters who all live in California.

Lisa has served as the church's secretary and treasurer since 2009. She is a Battle Creek native. She and her husband Mike are members of First Presbyterian Church. They enjoy country living and caring for their family.