We are excited to welcome Pastor Stephen Lien to membership in the Alliance of Renewal Churches. Steve is located in Southern California and writes the following:

“I was brought me up in a devout Christian home; my father was an evangelical Lutheran pastor.  But my faith life was upended when we moved from New York City to a small town in Minnesota when I was fourteen years old.  That’s when I was invited to be part of a Youth for Christ ministry and singing group that God used in a wonderful way to call me into a more personal relationship with Him; my faith moved from my head to my heart and consumed my life!  I discovered a new joy and intimacy that has never left.

After High School I attended Lutheran Bible Institute in Seattle, Washington for a year, then traveled with a Youth for Christ International singing team in Southeast Asia.   I graduated from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, and from Luther Seminary in St. Paul.  I landed in Watertown, South Dakota for my first call as a Lutheran pastor.  Since then I’ve served congregations in South Dakota, Texas, Iowa and California.  I presently serve Ascension Lutheran Church in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

I met my wife, Joanne, when I was the pastor’s kid in New York.  The Arthur Hall family, who were serving as medical missionaries in South Africa, were supported by the congregation my father served.  When the Hall’s came to the US on furlough, they visited us in New York.  The Lien and Hall families became friends and, many years later, after getting acquainted as adults at LBI and again at Augsburg College, Joanne and I were married in 1975.

Joanne is a Registered Nurse who has served most of her career in long-term and hospice care.  She is currently the Director of Patient Care Services at Hospice Partners of Southern California, based in Santa Monica. Joanne and I have three grown and married children and are the proud grandparents of seven grandchildren, six of whom are four and under!

I’ve chosen to join ARC partly because of the lives and witness of two close friends, Jon Anderson and Nathan Hoff who are both ARC members.  I’ve been drawn to and blessed by these men’s vital faith and witness.  But the more compelling reason for joining is that God is doing something new in my life, calling me to greater boldness and unequivocal witness for Him, a renewal if you will.  Joining ARC feels like I’m coming home to the strong, Biblical, Evangelical roots that have so informed and shaped my life and ministry.  I feel like a rather extended sojourn in the wilderness is ending. I eagerly anticipate the rich fellowship and camaraderie enjoyed among God’s people and look forward to getting acquainted with others of like mind.”

Welcome to the ARC, Stephen!