Rev. Jack Starr has been in ministry for most of his life. Growing up in the church he watched his parents dedicate much of their time and energy into serving their friends and neighbors in the fellowship. So he followed in their steps. Early on he led Sunday school classes and youth groups but ultimately found himself to be very happy as a church pastor. He’s been serving the Wisconsin Conference of the United Methodist Church for the last 30 years – all of them in the Northwest part of the state. Now he’s retired, living in the Twin Cities.

He has known them since he was a kid, but his love for stories from the Bible only grew as he learned more about their background, their meaning and the cultural setting in which they were first shared. He has a passion for telling his own stories and for the way storytelling can get to the truth of the Biblical message.

Jack has been a Jesus follower for most of his life and can’t imagine a life without a conviction of God’s presence and he’s always happy to share what that mean for him.

Jack has always been an artist and a lover of the arts, working for many years in the theatre as a director, playwright, actor, designer and producer.  He’s loves to talk about just how much one can learn about faith and life in the spirit from the theatre world.

Jack lives in White Bear Lake but he’ll be spending a couple of days in Phillips each week in addition to staying in touch through the internet. He is married to Cheryl who is a retired professor from the UW system. She is a quilter and crafter, and a committed volunteer at the Gammelgarten open-air Museum in Scandia, MN. They have 2 adult kids, Henry, who lives in Chicago and produces and performs comedy, music and theatre. Leah is married to Kieran and lives in Tacoma, WA where she is a teacher, theatre director and dog trainer.

Jack is excited to be in Phillips and to be a part of our work for the next few months of discovering how God wants to lead us into the future.