Strategic thinker, experienced leader and asker of good questions, Chris is the Minister of Ministry Team Development at Westside Church, a large ministry based in the heart of downtown Vancouver, Canada. He coordinates large teams of volunteers made up of people from diverse professional and personal backgrounds. He’s passionate about teams working effectively together, and equipping and enabling others to lead. Using the Working Genius model, he’s built over 20 teams where volunteers feel empowered to serve the church in ways that align with their own unique gifts, abilities and working style.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chris used his considerable strategic thinking and logistical skills to lead the church’s crisis management and pandemic response. Churches were deeply affected during the pandemic, as church programs and events function primarily in person. Chris developed strategies and detailed plans that allowed the church to continue operating, while complying with the health guidelines set by the Provincial Government and local health authority. He helped develop safety protocols, communications to the congregation, made sure that people were informed and cared for and guidelines were followed while the church was navigating a very challenging time.

Westside is located in the downtown core of the city of Vancouver, and as a church in a large urban centre there are many challenges to navigate from dealing with building logistics and parking to serving the local homeless population. Chris has specialized skills in de-escalation and calmly managing tense situations which can arise occasionally with people battling things like drug addiction who are a part of the neighbourhood. He oversees the churches Safety team and has brought in expert training and developed key safety measures that help keep both churchgoers and members of the local community safe.

Chris has a firm grasp of both technology systems and communication best practices having served as the IT administrator and interim communications manager for the church. He helped to implement a new church management software that helps to organize and schedule over 120 volunteers each week. He’s helped teams use automations and streamline processes, and he negotiated the contracts and worked directly with the vendor to develop solutions that would work for the organization and teams.

This past year, Chris, along with a team of key leaders, launched a new ministry he’s very passionate about called Marketplace Mornings. Marketplace Mornings is a quarterly breakfast meeting that seeks the good of the city by resourcing, connecting, and challenging Christian business people. Chris helps to project manage and facilitate the events, which are hosted at Westside Church.

Outside of work, Chris spends his time with his wife Tiffany and two rambunctious children, Teo and Cohen. They live together in Vancouver, a city which they love.