Pastor Bart Scharrer
Executive Pastor
Involvements:
I grew up in Port Edwards, a small town in central Wisconsin (not too far from the great city of Marshfield). I actually didn't mind growing up in the small town. I had great friends and we always seemed to find plenty of things to do. One of my favorite memories was playing kickball out in the middle of the street in front of my house with all the neighbor kids! (It’s probably a favorite memory because no one ever got run over!)
The summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school, my parents forced me to go to camp with the youth group at the new church we were attending. I had grown up in a very traditional church, and the idea of an altar call—of someone inviting me to come up front to meet Jesus—was entirely foreign. I responded to the altar call, asked Jesus to be a part of my life, and I suddenly felt this freedom. I knew that God had created a change in me. But for the rest of my high school years, God was not really a priority.
After high school, I studied civil engineering at Concordia College north of Milwaukee, WI. From there, I transferred to the University of Minnesota to continue the engineering degree. I really started gaining traction with my faith during my second year of college as I changed my priorities and began actively pursuing my relationship with Christ. It was at that time that God completely changed the trajectory of my life by calling me into ministry. I transferred to and graduated from North Central University with a Pastoral degree and Youth Minor. I did eventually go back to school to pursue a Master’s degree. I got a MA in Organizational Leadership from Bethel University, and life will be great when my last payment is made!
After graduating from North Central, I spent a little less than a year on staff in northern Wisconsin as a youth pastor. From there I spent nearly 6 years working at Rawhide Boys Ranch, a Christian juvenile delinquent facility (these were great years of God really showing me how effective relational evangelism is...super challenging but awesome!) After Rawhide I moved to Eau Claire, WI to work at Harvestime Church as a Youth Pastor. My wife and I lived there nearly 12 years and loved it. I spent the first 8 years in a Student Ministry and Associate Pastor role. For my last couple of years I moved into an Exec/Co-Pastor role. From there I worked at North Heights Church in Arden Hills, MN for a couple of years as the Pastor of the Emerging Generation (0-college) and Pastor of the Heights worship service.
I've known Peter and Carolyn for many years, going all the way back to their Marshfield days (we used to bring our youth group to some of their events). It was an absolute answer to prayer when I got the call from Peter asking if we would consider working on the Substance Team. Dreams do come true!
At Substance, I am officially an Assistant and Campus Pastor, and I oversee Children's and Student Ministries. I love investing relationally in people, especially the younger generation leaders. We (my wife and I) come alive when we get to be part of the life change process. I have been blessed with many great mentors in my life and now I've found it to be life-giving playing that role with others!
I am super passionate about being part of a healthy church that is fun, exciting, and engaging. My wife and I feel called to live missionally, intentionally building relationships with those outside the faith. I also love investing in the younger generations so I care deeply about the Children, Student and Family Ministries. I have absolutely loved being a pastor and feel completely blessed that God has called my wife and I to serve together in the church.
I've been married to Amy for about 13 years. We are absolutely best friends and love being together! We actually met at a wedding where we stood up together. The couple getting married was my brother and Amy's sister...so brothers married sisters!
We have two daughters, Allyson and Brooklynn. We love to be together as a family. Our kids love anything adventurous and active so we do everything from biking and tubing on the lake to roller coasters and water slides.
Spending time with my family is my favorite "activity." We just love to be together, so most of my free time is spent with them. I am also working on getting my family hooked on following my Wisconsin teams ... Packers, Badgers, and Brewers!