Jack Glupker
Guest Preacher
Jack Glupker serves as our temporary preaching pastor during this pastoral transition.
He will preach on Sundays until the end of this year (2025).
He will preach on Sundays until the end of this year (2025).
Born and raised in Holland, Michigan, I was the third of four children in our family. We lived about a mile from Lake Michigan and loved to go there and enjoy the outdoors. Our family faithfully attended a local Baptist Church so we grew up going to Sunday School and worship services (morning and evening). I made a commitment to Christ at age 12 and was baptized shortly after.
During high school my life was focused on athletics which involved basketball and baseball. Classes and academics were a means for remaining eligible. We lost our father to leukemia during my sophomore year which had a significant impact on all of us.
After graduating I attended Western Michigan University where I met the Navigators and fully surrendered my life to Christ and serving Him. My involvement included memorizing scripture, leading Bible studies, sharing Christ with students, and leading an area of campus. This also gave me my first opportunity to speak to small and large groups and receiving positive feedback about my communication skills.
Upon graduation (BA Business, major in management) the Lord provided a job in Kalamazoo with a mid – sized manufacturing firm. My role was customer service, sales correspondent, and being in charge of trade shows. It didn’t take very long to realize that this wouldn’t be long – term as it wasn’t challenging enough and didn’t utilize my strengths. Concurrently, I was asked to teach a class at the church I was attending and I really enjoyed doing that. The pastor suggested that I should consider seminary but I wasn’t interested and felt that I was “in ministry” now. Besides teaching, I was sharing my faith, discipling others, and leading the young professionals group.
After four years, continued prodding from my pastor and church leaders, and a job change, I decided to attend Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. This was the first time in my life that I went to school to “learn”. My goal was to understand the scriptures and to teach them effectively. A degree or a future position wasn’t important to me. During my first semester I met Jane (she was the Resident Director of a girl’s dorm at the adjacent Cornerstone University) and we were married the following summer.
Seminary was a great experience and we felt led to pursue Church planting. The Lord directed and guided us to an opportunity in British Columbia, just outside of Vancouver. A group of 20 with the support of a “mother church” supported this effort under the guidance of the denomination, Fellowship Baptists of Canada. With a toddler (Katie) and all of our belongings in a rental truck, we moved to Abbotsford, B.C. and gave ourselves fully to see what the Lord would do. During the following seven and a half years we saw many come to Christ, land purchased, a congregation of over 200, a full – time staff member, and building plans in place. Immanuel (Fellowship Baptist) Church continues today and we’re thankful for the part we could have in developing this ministry. Our daughter, Kelly, and our son, Jeff, were both born in Abbotsford and all three of our children have dual citizenship.
The Lord led us further west to beautiful Vancouver Island and Saanich Baptist Church, in the city and provincial capital of Victoria. Having recently built their first facility their interim pastor (served three years) contacted me and felt that I would be a great fit for the next phase of ministry for Saanich Baptist. Victoria is a beautiful city and we enjoyed six years of fruitful ministry there. During these years we saw significant growth, many conversions and baptisms, additional staff and ministry leaders, facility expansion (youth and children’s ministry), and multiple services. When leaders expressed “We don’t want to be a church of more than 600” it confirmed to us that it was time to leave rather than enter into “maintenance mode”. Thankfully, after we left the church realized that this mindset was not appropriate and that God is the one who causes the growth. My associate became the senior pastor and led them for over 20 years.
With a desire to return to the U.S. and to be closer to family, an opportunity in Ann Arbor was of interest to us. A university community, a good facility, large property (38 acres), no debt, and a desire to change were key factors to consider. They had been in decline for over 25 years (from 700 to 200) and must have been desperate to invite us to come join them. The Lord was gracious and did some amazing things during our ten years at Grace Bible Church. We saw significant growth, many coming to faith and baptized, facility upgrades and expansion, multiple staff, and renewed vision. Just last year the church finished a 30,000 square foot expansion, doubling the size of the facility.
After leaving Grace for an opportunity in the corporate setting (just “weary in well doing” and tired) I served as VP of Contracting and Payer Relations at Forest Health Services, who own multiple Bariatric Hospitals. My role was focused on overseeing and managing contracts with the major insurance companies as well as speaking at conferences and seminars about morbid obesity and bariatric surgery.
Since my time at Forest Health I’ve served in two churches as an interim pastor. The first was in Monroe and the second one in Ann Arbor. We enjoy spending time with our children (Katie lives in Ann Arbor, Kelly and Andy and granddaughter, Olivia just outside of Ann Arbor, and Jeff is in San Francisco), traveling, golf, and riding my motorcycle. Jane is busy with MOPS, Ladies Bible Study, and Children’s Ministry at Grace.
During high school my life was focused on athletics which involved basketball and baseball. Classes and academics were a means for remaining eligible. We lost our father to leukemia during my sophomore year which had a significant impact on all of us.
After graduating I attended Western Michigan University where I met the Navigators and fully surrendered my life to Christ and serving Him. My involvement included memorizing scripture, leading Bible studies, sharing Christ with students, and leading an area of campus. This also gave me my first opportunity to speak to small and large groups and receiving positive feedback about my communication skills.
Upon graduation (BA Business, major in management) the Lord provided a job in Kalamazoo with a mid – sized manufacturing firm. My role was customer service, sales correspondent, and being in charge of trade shows. It didn’t take very long to realize that this wouldn’t be long – term as it wasn’t challenging enough and didn’t utilize my strengths. Concurrently, I was asked to teach a class at the church I was attending and I really enjoyed doing that. The pastor suggested that I should consider seminary but I wasn’t interested and felt that I was “in ministry” now. Besides teaching, I was sharing my faith, discipling others, and leading the young professionals group.
After four years, continued prodding from my pastor and church leaders, and a job change, I decided to attend Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. This was the first time in my life that I went to school to “learn”. My goal was to understand the scriptures and to teach them effectively. A degree or a future position wasn’t important to me. During my first semester I met Jane (she was the Resident Director of a girl’s dorm at the adjacent Cornerstone University) and we were married the following summer.
Seminary was a great experience and we felt led to pursue Church planting. The Lord directed and guided us to an opportunity in British Columbia, just outside of Vancouver. A group of 20 with the support of a “mother church” supported this effort under the guidance of the denomination, Fellowship Baptists of Canada. With a toddler (Katie) and all of our belongings in a rental truck, we moved to Abbotsford, B.C. and gave ourselves fully to see what the Lord would do. During the following seven and a half years we saw many come to Christ, land purchased, a congregation of over 200, a full – time staff member, and building plans in place. Immanuel (Fellowship Baptist) Church continues today and we’re thankful for the part we could have in developing this ministry. Our daughter, Kelly, and our son, Jeff, were both born in Abbotsford and all three of our children have dual citizenship.
The Lord led us further west to beautiful Vancouver Island and Saanich Baptist Church, in the city and provincial capital of Victoria. Having recently built their first facility their interim pastor (served three years) contacted me and felt that I would be a great fit for the next phase of ministry for Saanich Baptist. Victoria is a beautiful city and we enjoyed six years of fruitful ministry there. During these years we saw significant growth, many conversions and baptisms, additional staff and ministry leaders, facility expansion (youth and children’s ministry), and multiple services. When leaders expressed “We don’t want to be a church of more than 600” it confirmed to us that it was time to leave rather than enter into “maintenance mode”. Thankfully, after we left the church realized that this mindset was not appropriate and that God is the one who causes the growth. My associate became the senior pastor and led them for over 20 years.
With a desire to return to the U.S. and to be closer to family, an opportunity in Ann Arbor was of interest to us. A university community, a good facility, large property (38 acres), no debt, and a desire to change were key factors to consider. They had been in decline for over 25 years (from 700 to 200) and must have been desperate to invite us to come join them. The Lord was gracious and did some amazing things during our ten years at Grace Bible Church. We saw significant growth, many coming to faith and baptized, facility upgrades and expansion, multiple staff, and renewed vision. Just last year the church finished a 30,000 square foot expansion, doubling the size of the facility.
After leaving Grace for an opportunity in the corporate setting (just “weary in well doing” and tired) I served as VP of Contracting and Payer Relations at Forest Health Services, who own multiple Bariatric Hospitals. My role was focused on overseeing and managing contracts with the major insurance companies as well as speaking at conferences and seminars about morbid obesity and bariatric surgery.
Since my time at Forest Health I’ve served in two churches as an interim pastor. The first was in Monroe and the second one in Ann Arbor. We enjoy spending time with our children (Katie lives in Ann Arbor, Kelly and Andy and granddaughter, Olivia just outside of Ann Arbor, and Jeff is in San Francisco), traveling, golf, and riding my motorcycle. Jane is busy with MOPS, Ladies Bible Study, and Children’s Ministry at Grace.
