Mike served as pastor for congregations in Iowa, North Carolina, and Texas. He has served nearly two decades as bishop of the Gulf Coast Synod, ELCA. He has experience with strategic planning, stewardship campaigns, capital fund appeals, crisis management, and conflict transformation. He is a graduate of Valparaiso University (Bachelor of Music), Trinity Lutheran Seminary (Master of Divinity), and the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago (Doctor of Ministry). He has been trained in conflict transformation (Mediation Skills Training Institute) by the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, has taken Fundamentals of Transitional Ministry: The Work of the Leader with the Interim Ministry Network, and is completing the Executive Certificate in Religious Fundraising with the Lake Institute. He served as board chair for Global Refuge and is currently on the Texas Lutheran University Corporation Board. He and his wife Susan live in Montgomery, Texas.