Pastor Jim was appointed by the ELCA Division for Outreach as Good ShepherdÕs mission developer in 1997. He was called by the congregation to serve as its pastor in 1998, following Good Shepherd's recognition as an official congregation of the ELCA. Pastor Jim received a BA in Psychology from Michigan State University in 1973, and in 1991 received a Masters Degree in Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Before entering ordained ministry, he worked as a counselor in the Muskegon County Jail Rehabilitation Program, as a probation officer with the Muskegon County Juvenile Court, and as the founding, chief executive officer of the Muskegon Community Alternative Program, a halfway house for adult, nonviolent, felony offenders. He is married to Sandy Foster, and they are the parents of two sons, Ben and Jared.

In his own words, "I entered ministry because I was sick to death of locking people up, because I felt called instead to set people free -- and I could think of nothing more freeing than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was that particular sense of calling that eventually led me to become a mission developer, the hope that some day I might help birth a community of faith that really tried to practice the kind of radical hospitality that Jesus preached. That's always been my vision for Good Shepherd: to be that safe place where all are welcome, where people are free to become the kind of people God intended them to be."