Jeff Kunkel was born and raised near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father was a salesman, his mother a nurse, and his nearby relatives were farmers, teachers, and business people - many of them fine storytellers. Jeff was brought up in the Evangelical United Brethren Church. As soon as he was confirmed, he happily quit church. God was not real to him and church was for old people!

Jeff studied History and English at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee and was hoping to attend law school, but an unexpected spiritual awakening made God real to him and changed his direction. He attended Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, where he encountered the true breadth and depth of the Christian scriptures and tradition. After graduating, he joined the California-Nevada Annual Conference and served a number churches as pastor.

His accomplishments include building a multiracial community of faith; funding, designing, and building a new worship center; and managing staff and church growth as a senior pastor. In 1984, he married Mary Elyn Bahlert and supported her as she attended Pacific School of Religion. Jeff and Mary Elyn twice served as co-pastors. They agree that twice is enough.

Jeff took a year-long sabbatical in 1991. He returned to writing, and took classes in drawing and painting at California College of the Arts. He developed and taught Story Art to children all over the country and served as Director of Music and Children's Ministry at a church. He and Mary Elyn have no kids of their own, but both love kids and are loved by many kids. Jeff is the editor of four children's picture books, author of two collections of short stories, two books of history, many articles, and curator of several museum and art exhibitions.

In 1999, Jeff was ready to return to parish leadership, but in a new way. He completed training as a Transition-Interim Ministry Specialist (TIMS) - the first in our Conference. Such ministry is new to our tradition. He has since served as Interim Pastor at three United Methodist parishes and has just completed 32 months as Interim Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Livermore.

His interim work has included helping congregations move through such difficult transitions as: letting go of a beloved pastor of 38 years, reckoning with pastoral sexual misconduct, and working through longstanding conflict.

Jeff meets all of his interim leadership challenges with a sense of humor, a seasoned faith, a surprising creativity, a focus on process rather than outcome, thought-provoking preaching, and solid pastoral care. He is most eager to begin his work at Morgan Hill.

Jeff and Mary Elyn live in Oakland, in an old Arts and Crafts bungalow and recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. Mary Elyn is in her eleventh year of pastoring at Lake Merritt UMC in Oakland. In addition to his parish work, Jeff maintains a studio where he writes, paints, and studies. His current projects include a novel and two children's books.

What is an Interim Pastor?

An interim pastor is appointed to a church that has special transitional needs, such as following a pastor who had served a church for a long time. The interim appointment is for a specified length of time, and is arranged in consultation with the church's staff-parish relations committee, the district superintendent, and the interim pastor.

For more information, see this description from the Methodist Church's General Board of Higher Education & Ministry.