Jeff Wright

I'm a hard-headed and tender-hearted missiologist trying to follow the way of Jesus in a "post-everything" world. My life's work has been that of a preacher-teacher, community organizer, and missional strategist. In 2022, I'm on an adventure in living and serving on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. I continue to serve as a nonprofit executive with ViaShalom, a small shop consultancy focused on incubating experiments in new church development (Urban Expression North America), faith-based community development (CommonGood), and inter-faith dialogue (ViaGlobal). I also work with a cohort of churches and nonprofits in California as a leadership minister with Mosaic Mennonite Conference, an association of churches and nonprofits with a global reach and 300 years of history. Finally, I serve as the intentional interim pastor at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church, a historic Anabaptist congregation near Perkasie, Pennsylvania.

I'm also serving in the wider church and local community in several volunteer and advisory roles. I am a member of the Board of Directors at Hesston College, a Mennonite undergraduate school located in central Kansas. I also serve as a Commissioner on the Human Relations Commission of the City of Riverside, California. I'm a member of Crest Community Church – a wonderful collection of Jesus-followers in Riverside, and I serve as Assistant Chair of the Pacific Conference Brethren-in-Christ Board of Directors.

I earned my B.A. from Tabor College ('81) and my M.Div. from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary ('86). I have also earned the MBA degree (church management, '95) from the Graduate Theological Foundation, and I have a Post-graduate Diploma in Applied Theology from Spurgeon's College in London ('07).

I married my best friend Debbie, way back in 1981. We have two very grown-up children who also married their best friends. We've got five grandsons, and our dog-gone good friend and companion, a middle-aged beagle-terrier mix, Maddie Meatball, is currently on a gap year and lives with our daughter and her family, while we split our time between our long-term home in Riverside, California and a short-term residence in Souderton, Pennsylvania.

• (background photo by Dark Sevier, licensed under Creative Content)