This Call Team was first put together in 2022. Over the past 21 months, we are excited to say that, through God’s provision, and lots of prayer, our commitment to finding the right person for this moment in the life of our church has paid off as we unanimously bring forward the candidate Pastor Jake Roberts.

Our team spent a significant amount of time working with Pastor Tara Beth and then as a team to define and refine specifically what Good Shepherd needed in order to move forward toward our vision as a Church. We defined three areas of focus Culture – Gifts – Theology. Within these areas, we developed specific areas of focus and then developed questions to assess each candidate related to these areas. Good Shepherd is a church that is for all people, and the Associate Pastor will play a crucial role in living out that part of our mission.

We interviewed ten total candidates, a majority of whom were submitted by the Synod. During this process, it became extremely clear to the team that Pastor Jake was the one candidate above all others aligned with all of our areas of focus.

As we have gotten to know Jake over the past few weeks it has become very clear that God is calling him home to the Midwest for ministry and family. His wife Barbara’s parents live about 20 minutes from Good Shepherd and his 4-year-old is heading into school next year and his 14-month-old daughter will soon be entering preschool. His parents and siblings live in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

The team is so excited and thankful to God for bringing such a gifted, experienced, and humble leader to Good Shepherd.

-On Behalf of Kevin Wynard and the Associate Pastor Call Team

Jake Roberts’ Bio:

Over the past decade, Pastor Jake has served churches in Illinois, Oregon, Nebraska, and Maryland in student ministries and in Executive Leadership. He has earned degrees from Olivet Nazarene (BA, Pastoral Ministry), Mount Vernon Nazarene (Master of Business Administration), and Fuller Theological Seminary (Master of Theology).

Jake is married to Barbara and they have two girls, Emilia age 4, and Elliana who is 15 months old. 

Jake loves to hike, read, participate in CrossFit, argue about sports, spend way too much time making coffee, and he enjoys watching his daughter Emilia participate in Ballet and Gymnastics. 

Jake’s passion for ministry is helping churches move towards financial health, helping people grow in faith and leadership, identifying and empowering leaders to use their gifts, and building processes that help churches streamline their ministries to better help people experience new life in Christ.