Pastor Kurt grew up in Wausau, Wisconsin, where his parents were active members of the Wausau Bible Church. Jesus was central to their family life, and training in the Bible began at home. Kurt’s parents were very active in the church, his father serving on the church board, his mother leading the various youth programs, and both teaching adult Sunday School Bible study classes! Kurt gave his life to Christ at a very young age. His formative years occurred during the cultural upheaval of the late 60s through the middle 70s. He attended Wausau East High School, where he was heavily involved in sports and in their choral programs. He graduated in 1974,and immediately enrolled in the Grand Rapids School of the Bible and Music, Grand Rapids, Michigan where he had earned a vocal scholarship. There, in his first year Kurt met his wife-to-be, Karen, in a choral group at the school. As it turned out, Karen was a foreign student from Denmark. She graduated in the spring of 1975 while Kurt transferred to Bethel College (a Christian college), in St. Paul, Minnesota. They became engaged,andweremarriedin1976. While a married student at Bethel, Kurt also toured professionally as a vocalist with a contemporary Christian music group. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Science degree in Biblical Studies at Bethel, graduating in 1980.It was here, after Kurt’s graduation, that Karen and Kurt welcomed their first child into the world–a son. In the fall of 1980,Kurt accepted the call to pastor a start-up church (Baptist General Conference/ Converge) in Mondovi, WI. There, another son was born, and tragically lost 3 ½ months later. They served in that city from 1980-1983. Later in 1983, they accepted the call to a struggling non-affiliated church in Marathon, WI, where Kurt served 6 years, until 1989. He presiding over the church’s first building program, and lead the church to affiliate with the Evangelical Free Church of America (ECFA). In1984, their third son was born. In 1989, after 6 years, Kurt resigned at the Marathon church and began working on a construction crew in Wausau. On the weekends he provided pulpit supply and/or weekend interim pastorate ministry at various churches in need around central and northern Wisconsin. Kurt also used his musical gifts to share Jesus at numerous churches on multiple occasions around central Wisconsin. In the Fall of 1992, Bethany EFC asked Kurt to begin an interim pastoral ministry with their church in Clintonville, WI. After 9 months, this assignment was extended into a call to take up full-time pastoral duties there. The Hettinga’s could not move immediately, however, as Karen was finishing up her final year of schooling in Wausau to become a dental hygienist. So, Kurt commuted the 1 ¼ hour drive to Clintonville for 3 days a week, plus Sundays, during the first nine months of his new role. After Karen graduated that year (1993), the family bought and moved into a home in Clintonville. The Hettinga’s have loved serving Jesus and the people of Bethany for over 30 years. Kurt’s main passions are preaching, leading the worship team, small group discipleship, and enjoying friendship with the people of Bethany. Kurt has completed a few Bethel Seminary In-Ministry on-line courses. He graduated from the three-year CECL program (Center for Excellence in Congregational Leadership) held at the Green Lake conference grounds, Green Lake, WI. He loves gardening, hunting and fishing, his back-yard maple syrup operation, writing on various book projects, writing music, and staying fit through biking and running/walking. Karen has served in multiple leadership roles in children’s ministry and women’s ministry. She retired from her work in dental hygiene in 2020, and now fills her days maintaining a beautiful perennial garden, reading, walking to stay fit, and skyping with her grandchildren who she dotes on at every opportunity. She leads the Women’s Ministries Team that oversees many essential ministry efforts in the church, leads an adult Sunday School class for women, and has a weekly discipleship ministry to women who are new converts to Christ. She also frequently joins Kurt in counseling. Over the years, Karen and Kurt have seen the multiple benefits of long-term ministry in one place as they have been at Bethany long enough to have participated in three successive generations of Bethany families.