Pastor Dave Greiner - Board Member since May, 2008	Pastor Dave Greiner Brief Bio: Dave and his wife Maureen have been married for 37 years, and have two children and five grandchildren.  Dave has been on the pastoral staff of Chatham Bible Church, in Hazelwood, for 18 years.  Before that time, he served with Youth for Christ, Worldteam Mission, and International Students here in St. Louis.  Before moving to the St. Louis area in 1982, Dave and Maureen also lived in Colorado Springs, CO., San Antonio, TX, Peoria, Il., and Schaumburg, Il. Experience in the life arena: Over the past seven years, I’ve had the privilege of coordinating the North County Pastors for Life.  Besides seeking to mobilize our own congregations to strive to be life-affirming, we’ve also coordinated an annual Sanctity of Life service every January since 2002 gathering together to celebrate victories, to become better informed, and to intercede for God’s intervention to save precious lives.  A courageous team of folks from our church (ChathamBibleChurch) has continued to minister at the Hope Clinic in Granite City, Il., entreating parents not to abort their children there.  Of course, I count it a biblical commission and responsibility to preach about the sanctity of life, and against the grievous sin of abortion.  Why serve through Churches for Life?  When I heard that there was another like-minded pastor as myself, Doug Merkey, who at the time was on the pastoral staff of Twin Oaks Presbyterian Church,  I was grateful to meet him and become dear friends.  We’ve spent many hours together discussing how to motivate and mobilize the body of Christ to be salt and light, in obedience to the gospel.  I am convinced that Churches for Life is a result of the sovereign leading of the Lord, and represents a vital ministry for such a time as this.  I consider it a great privilege to serve alongside Doug on the board, and look forward to seeing how God uses the ministry of Churches for Life to impact the church of Jesus Christ, our community, and even the world for His glory!
Mrs. Pam Cunningham - Board Member since May, 2008	Pam Cunningham Brief Bio:  Pam grew up in western Kansas, north of Hays/I-70 and met her husband in college. Pam and her husband, Rod have been married 30 years and have three daughters and one granddaughter.  Pam was a licensed practical nurse, then a mother and babysitter in their home for 15 years.  She has been active in her church, Twin Oaks Presbyterian, in the areas of Evangelism Explosion, Bible study, (a discussion leader), Life team, Summer Bible Camp teacher, music and nursery. Experience in the life arena:  In 1982 my heart was broken when I learned of the humanity of unborn life and the horror of abortion through Francis Schaeffer's video, "Whatever Happened to the Human Race?" . Soon afterward, I started volunteering to answer "hotline" calls.  God continued to mature my heart and mind as I worked as a sidewalk counselor in front of an abortion clinic , as a Life Team leader  and other areas of service, including implementing seminars related to the sanctity of human life.  For the last 10 years I have been a client advocate at the Pregnancy Resource Centers where I am able to have first-hand interaction with women in crisis pregnancies.   It's an honor to talk with them about how God knit them together in their mother's womb and about the gospel of Jesus Christ and sometimes I am privileged to walk with them through their pregnancy and beyond.   Why serve through Churches for Life?  I'm anxious to see the synergy of churches and agencies combining their efforts to educate, activate and enable people to complete life-affirming works.  I look forward to seeing more people come to a saving knowledge of our Savior and Lord.  I have high hopes that many more mothers and babies will be protected and nurtured as a result of churches and agencies having mutual actions and goals.  I want to contribute in the ways the Lord enables me, hopefully above and beyond my knowledge and experience.

 

Mr. Jay Westra - Board Member since May, 2009	Jay Westra   Brief Bio: Lori and I were married in November 2008.  We have a daughter, Leila, who is a fantastic little addition to our family.  We live in Glen Carbon, IL in the STL Metro East area.  I work at Newsong Fellowship as Family Pastor striving to see our families flourish and grow in the gospel and God’s provision for life.  My wife is a nurse and works with moms and babies all the time.   Our baseball allegiances belong to the Cardinals, we enjoy the city of St. Louis and the community where we live just to the east.   Experience in the life arena: I lived through high school and college. I think that qualifies us all as having experience in the life arena—the relationships, cultural opinions and pressures, issues of sexuality, hormones, etc. I still am in that journey. Now I work with high school kids who are rapidly developing their own path in regards to all these things. That generation is flooded and enticed with all types of messages in the life arena, and I’m trying to help them navigate well these years as God and others helped me when I was younger. Why serve through Churches for Life?  In general, the stakes in the life arena are huge for our families and for our nation. The decisions we humans make in these areas are the biggest ones we will face. In particular, Churches for Life holds that the gospel story of Jesus is the most powerful and lasting truth and transformational message the world has and will ever know. This foundation speaks into and sets the bar for issues of life, sex, relationships, babies, care for people and a commitment to love the people with whom we interact as we live in this world. Churches for Life seeks to affect the environment of America in the life arena through working with local churches all over St. Louis and hopefully much further.
Tom McKnight - Board Member since June, 2010	Tom McKnight Brief Bio: My wife Kim and I have been married for 26 years. For the first eight years of our marriage I was a licenced minister with the Evangelical Free Church of America. In the early 1990's I transitioned in to sales and marketing, and now work as a Market Development Manager for medical device company. We have five wonderful children and two very spoiled dogs. In past years I have coached baseball and soccer, but now I attend softball games to cheer for my youngest daughter.   Our family also enjoys playing and listening to good music, picking berries in the summer and snuggling up with good books in the winter. In my free time (now what is that?) I enjoy working out, reading and playing an occasional round of golf.    Experience in the life arena: I have served as a Life Team leader in my church for nine years. I have also spoken in churches and pregnancy center fundraising banquets concerning the bible’s mandate for Christians to have a life affirming presence in our culture. From 2002-04 I partnered with the St. Louis Area PRC ministry to deliver a weekend seminar, Making Abortion Unthinkable, in area churches.   Why serve through Churches for Life? I see CFL as a strategic and needed ministry in our community. Most evangelical churches would consider themselves life affirming, but few have the resources to have a staff person devoted to addressing to moral life issues that are facing our culture. CFL can partner with church leaders to develop balanced, gospel-driven life teams. I have seen the impact of CFL in my own church and want to help this ministry expand and grow in the St. Louis area.
Tracy Flori - Board member since June, 2010	Tracy Flori Brief Bio: My husband David and I have been married for 23 years. God has blessed us with two wonderful young adult children who continue to fill my days with laughter and surprise. Our family is active members of First Evangelical Free Church. Being a licensed professional counselor for the past 20 years, I have been blessed to minister to individuals and couples in a variety of settings during this time. A passion my husband and I share is to facilitate a Marriage Rebuilding ministry in our church.   Experience in the life arena: Twenty years ago God brought me to a training seminar with a local crisis pregnancy center to be a volunteer client counselor. I volunteered in the early days of this ministry sharing the hope of Christ and the gift of life with the beautiful young ladies God brought. Some time later, God allowed me to serve as Regional Manger of a local Pregnancy Resource Center. It was my privilege to equip others to continue sharing this same message of hope and life. In addition, I currently serve as a member of the Life Team of First Free.   Why serve through Churches for Life?  In John 10:10 Jesus states, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. At the pregnancy resource center, we were addressing the unborn life, as well as, the lives of the parents. These were often lives of desperation, abuse, sexual promiscuity, and hopelessness. We learned that the answer to such brokenness can only be found in the truth and love that is Jesus Christ and His church. Churches for Life desires to rescue those whose life is in peril by equipping and nourishing the body of Christ, His church, to respond in truth and love in the life arena. This is a unique ministry through which God is doing extraordinary things. I count it an extreme privilege to serve alongside Doug Merkey and the Board in this important work.
Mike Smith - Board member since March, 2012	Mike Smith Brief Bio: Mike and his wife Della are both St. Louis area natives and have been married for 47 years. They have been blessed with two wonderful children and three incredible grandchildren. In 2011, Mike retired from a full-time position of leading the marketing effort for TALX, an HR services business unit of Equifax. Mike and Della have been members of Chatham Bible Church since 1986 and since 1990 Mike has been a part of the church leadership team by serving as a deacon and several terms as an elder. Mike also enjoys music and plays drums regularly with the praise band at Chatham.   Experience in the Life Arena: Until recently, my active efforts in the “life Arena” have been unfocused and sporadic. Over the last year I have felt a growing burden in two critical, closely related areas of life: lack of ethics and truth as well as the disregard for the sanctity of life. God’s truth is underscored to me when I center on the respect for and protection of human life.     Why Serve Through Churches for Life: I attended the 2011 fall CFL banquet and I was excited to hear about the broad reach of the newly designated “Life-Affirming” premise of CFL. I have been encouraged by CFL’s relationship approach and sensitivity to the general public’s perception in order to win them to God’s truth. I believe that local churches want to be engaged in their community about life issues but they need help in knowing how to go about it. I want to help serve so that more people will be engaged and know they are well equipped.
Dr. Steven Ottolini - Board Member since April, 2012	Dr. Steven Ottolini Steven J. Ottolini is 57 years old and has been in full time service to Our Savior for 32 years. He has a Masters of Theology from Covenant Theological Seminary and holds a PhD from Trinity Seminary in Newburgh Indiana.  Steve and his wife Molly studied in the UK for 2 years, Pastored a Church plant in San Diego, Ca. for 5 years and now resides in St. Louis,Mo. as President of Covenant Leadership Training Institute.  Convinced of the truth of John 10:10, Steve is committed to the born and the unborn experiencing this truth.  Desiring to serve in a life affirming ministry, Steve became a board member in April,2012.