Gordon E. Penfold

Gordon Penfold (ThM, Dallas Seminary, DMin, Talbot Theological Seminary) worked initially as a structural engineer (1973-1980). He and began to serve as a pastor in 1980. He recently stepped down as lead pastor of First Baptist Church, a multi-ethnic church in Holyoke, Colorado. He served four churches and two interim pastorates over the span of thirty seven years.

In 2006 he became the director of Fresh Start Ministries. Fresh Start focuses on bringing health and vitality to plateaued, declining, and conflicted congregations. He also engages in church consulting and leadership development with pastors and denominations in the US, Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Africa, and Eastern Asia. He continues to serve in the role as Fresh Start Director.

Most recently he and Gary McIntosh have developed Turnaround Pastor Boot Camps to equip struggling pastors with tools needed to bring about the transformation of stagnant churches. He also teamed with Aubrey Malphurs to complete a book on transformational pastoral leadership: Re:Vision--The Key to Transforming Your Church (Baker Books, October 2014).

Gordon, Gary Westra and Laverne Brown continue to lead Turnaround Pastor Boot Camp (c) as well as work on groundbreaking research into effective pastoral ministry practices. The three colleagues formed Turnaround Pastor, Inc. to help further their research and to continue to help pastors grow in their effectiveness in ministry. Their efforts led to the production of Pastor Unique--Becoming a Turnaround Leader (Westbow Press, August 2016).