Our Pastors
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7 (NKJV)
Pastor Steve LoVellette
EFCGV Senior Pastor
Raised in Oklahoma, I was in line to be a third-generation-in-a-row dentist in Tulsa, but God had other plans. Through a youth pastor in high school, I became serious about the Christian faith and went to Wheaton College, Moody Bible Institute and Dallas Seminary to prepare for the ministry. Later I completed a doctorate at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. A career in ministry has included a multi-racial internship at Circle Church, in downtown Chicago as well as an internship at Fellowship Bible Church of Park Cities, in suburban Dallas. After seminary, I’ve served the First Evangelical Free Church of Wichita, Kansas, Faith Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and since 2012, have been Senior Pastor here in Green Valley. Barbara and I have been married forty years and have three grown sons and eight grandchildren. Barbara enjoys teaching women’s Bible studies at the church and joins me in leading small groups within our home.
After 35+ years in the business world, God called me into the ministry. I left the business world the end of 2010 and started in the ministry in February 2011. I attended Moody Bible Institute, on-line, to get my master’s degree. Jean and I have been married since June 1977, and we have two married sons, Matt, an architect, with two children, and Todd, in the army, with two children. Todd after 12 years in the army is now in seminary to become a Chaplin in the army. I am Pastor Steve’s main backup when it comes to preaching sermons, attending meetings and the like. I also head up the PODS Small Group ministry and lead the Sunday night service. Jean has helped lead the social ministry and also the mental health group, Fresh Hope.
Pastor Jack Capen
EFCGV Assistant Pastor
Pastor Bruce Van Sickle
EFCGV Associate Pastor
was born and raised in Longview, Washington. He began church time in the nursery and never stopped going. “I became a Christian when I understood that I did things that were wrong and needed to be forgiven at the ripe old age of 5 through Child Evangelism Fellowship. Even at a young age I shared my faith with others.” A Bi-Centennial graduate of high school, Pastor Bruce ventured off to Seattle Pacific University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education K-12 and a Master of Arts in Church Music and Worship. He met his wife, Karen, at Seattle Pacific and have three children and 5 grandchildren. They have lived in Washington, Oregon, Kansas and now Arizona in their 41 years of marriage and ministry together. Karen serves the church with her passion for playing piano and teaching. Pastor Bruce oversees Worship and Church Planting ministries and part of the Touch Local outreach here at EFC Green Valley.
We are Ron and Pat Jacobson originally from Wisconsin. We have been in pastoral ministry since 1972. During such time I (Ron) have been a youth pastor, senior pastor, seminary faculty, chaplain, mission coordinator for Converge World Wide In Brazil, where we invested our time in a church plant, children’s ministry, and preaching throughout Niteroi, Brazil. One of my personal highlights was to preach at First Baptist Church Niteroi from the same pulpit as Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Louis Palu as examples. More recently I was invited to join Samaritan’s Purse to be part of the chaplaincy departments worldwide. My wife Pat has been my ministry partner all these years and a valuable inspiration to the ministries God has called us to. We have two children, five grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. A life verse is from Psalm 27:4 The one thing I ask of the Lord, the one thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Pastor Ron Jacobson
EFCGV Assistant Visitation Pastor
Pastor Jack Retzer
EFCGV Visitation Pastor
Beulah and I have known each other since we were three years old. We lived in a rural valley with 6 other families. We attended the same church and grew up under the guidance of loving parents and a loving church. At the age of 20 we married and at the age of 25 we adopted a 5-year-old boy and 2 years later, a baby girl. Regarding church, three evangelical pastors guided our lives to faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ in the 40 years we attended there. Our lives changed drastically when I sold out completely to Jesus. The roller coaster was at its highest peak when we became officers in the church. Beulah leading children’s Sunday School and youth groups. Mine with several years as a deacon and then as an elder. In the early 1970’s Beulah was working with Stonecroft ministries as a leader, and we were also doing “Lay Renewal” with various teams encouraging churches to work together to strengthen their fellowship and reach out with the Gospel to their community.
God was working on me to sell our small farm and go into full-time ministry. In contacting the leadership of Village Missions, they suggested that we go to a Bible College, which we did, moving from western Pennsylvania to Sask. Canada. Many things fell into place in 1976. We moved to Sask. Canada and enrolled in Miller College of the Bible. While there I had the opportunity to pastor an Associated Gospel Church, for the 3 years that we were there. Upon completion of our time in Canada, Village Missions assigned us to a church in South Dakota which led to 28 years of ministry in rural communities with no other church. In retirement God guided us to the community of Green Valley and the Evangelical Free Church where we have been happily serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ since the first Sunday when Nita Sharpley interrogated us in the church foyer and led us to Pastor Phil Anderson
Pastor Bill and his wife, Megan, married in 2001. They served in CO (2002-2008) and IL (2008-2019) before being called by the Lord to plant a church here in AZ. Bill’s passion is sharing the hope of Jesus, partnering with parents, and equipping people to use their gifts for God’s glory. He received a BA in Bible & Theology in 2002 and completed a MA in Spiritual Formation in 2016. Bill loves being with people, but get’s recharged by being alone in God’s creation. He enjoys hiking in the mountains, hunting big game, nature photography, and going on drives with his family to look for wildlife. A favorite passage from the Bible, amongst many, is 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.
Pastor Bill White
Madera Church Pastor