New Pastor Joins Staff to
Focus on Youth, Family

Fully Alive is pleased to welcome Mike Crook as the Pastor for Youth and Families. Mike and his family are returning to California after several years of ministry in Oklahoma, and are “excited to be joining the team at Fully Alive.”

Mike has been working with teenagers since 1980 and sees his ministry as a network where, “we care about the individual and work with everyone who’s there,” whether the group is one kid or 300. “I enjoy encouraging people and trying new things,” says Mike, and sees his new role at Fully Alive as “a fun opportunity.”

“Fully Alive is a strong community that encourages each other.” Mike extends this philosophy to “helping parents find the best for their children within the context of the family.” This includes getting families together to help each other through challenging periods, like the senior year in high school.

Mike’s ministry for the past few years has been transitioning churches from their old routines. “We helped them move from legalism to a relationship with God for direction, and a basis for loving each other.”

A favorite verse for Mike is John 11:35, “Jesus wept.” It describes Jesus’ reaction to the death of His friend Lazarus and the pain his family was experiencing. Mike explains that he likes this verse because, “Everyone from children to adults can memorize it, and this reaction to Lazarus’ death showed Jesus’ humanness; that He felt people’s real pain and understood where they were coming from. Yet He showed us something amazing by bringing Lazarus back to life; He showed us that He has an answer for everything.”

Mike, his wife Jeri, daughter Regan, and son Alex found Redwood Shores an “open and friendly community. When we walked each morning during our last visit everyone said ‘Hi’ and made us feel welcome already. We’re looking forward to being a positive part of the community.”

Scott Owens, Lead Pastor, is excited that, “Fully Alive is taking on a whole new area of ministry (family ministry) and making an aggressive push into a growing need in our Redwood Shores community (students) and solidifying one of our core strengths too (Kids' World). I’m extremely excited we got Mike to join us.”

Mike and his family are joining Fully Alive this month. Stop by and get to know them and their vision for bringing students and families together in an encouraging environment to celebrate life with Jesus. And be sure to ask him about his grandfather, a man who found he almost couldn’t take a walk without starting a new church. There’s got to be some great stories there!

Send an eMail to Mike to welcome him to the Fully Alive family!

Also read Mike's staff bio to learn more.

Article written by Lorene Campbell and featured in The Pilot, March 2004