About Mike Leiter

 

Mike is the founding and lead pastor of the Vineyard Church in Freeland, Michigan. He holds a Masters of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and an Advanced Certificate of Biblical Leadership from the Vineyard Institute. Mike has been involved in front-line kingdom-oriented ministry for nearly 30 years and he desires to raise up the next generation of "kingdom" ambassadors for the sake of the King of kings, Jesus.

Mike also serves his community as a part-time as a Hospice Chaplain. Mike spent many years working and managing in the tech industry and also hosted a bi-weekly television segment on WJRT (ABC-12) called "Tech Thursdays".

Mike was born into a musically oriented family with music and singing being a normal part of family gatherings. Mike's paternal grandfather toured the Midwest as part of a popular bluegrass act in the 1950's and his maternal grandmother was inducted into the Michigan Country Music Hall of Fame in 1987. Mike has written over 100 songs and his album, Never Alone (released in 2003), was featured on local Christian radio. Mike has also served as a worship leader in several churches and continues to enjoys leading congregations into the anointed and manifest presence of God through worship.

Mike was raised with some Christian background with his family occasionally taking him to church. It wasn't until March 20th, 1994 at the age of 19 when Mike discovered a personal faith in Christ. Mike served in the Wesleyan Church, serving as an assistant pastor from 1998-2000 and as a senior pastor from 2001-2006. However, previously in 1996 after reading John Wimber's Power Evangelism, Mike began to take interest in the Vineyard movement from a distance. In late 1996, at a church service in Nicholasville, Kentucky, Mike experienced the filling of the Holy Spirit and the gift of tongues began to flow into his life. At the time, Mike was coached to keep this gift hidden since Wesleyans at the time did not approve of this expression of the gift. Ten years later, and after serving as a pastor in two Wesleyan Churches, Mike finally joined the Vineyard movement at a church in Midland, Michigan. To this day, the subject of spiritual gifts remains important to Mike, although he is less dogmatic about them as he once was. Mike says, "God surprises us with wonderful gifts but we should never take pride in them or use them as a source of division. I'm more interested in spiritual fruit these days. Yet, I will continue to focus on Christ and the gospel of the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom, and the fruit and the gifts will come."

From 2010-2018, Mike suffered from debilitating back pain due to four herniated discs in his lower back. Spending years (and thousands of dollars) on treatment, Mike ended up on disability on three different occasions (6 months each) and had gained a significant amount of weight, which further complicated his back issues. Mike was offered long-term disability in 2018, after the first of his two surgeries. Mike declined stating, "I felt that God was telling me that he had another path for me." In 2018, at the worst of his pain, he began to explore the history of the Christian faith and marveled to discover many key truths. Mike began to integrate these discoveries into his daily rhythms of faith (including many Anglican and Orthodox practices). After Mike's second surgery, in November of 2018, he awoke with no pain and has been pain free ever since. Even his physical therapist was shocked at his speedy recovery from surgery. Mike credits God for his miraculous recovery and views it as a symbol of how God uses both responsible medicine and miracles to bring healing to our bodies.

Mike has been married to his wife, Tiffany, since 1995 and they have three adult boys. In his spare time, Mike enjoys road trips, singing/songwriting and occasionally playing video games with his sons.

You can follow Mike on social media on: Facebook, Instagram & Twitter

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