About

To book Michael for speaking engagements, please email: pastormcraft@gmail.com.

Michael Craft is a Christian, a husband, a dad, a ‘papa’ (grandpa), a friend, a lover of the marginalized, a counselor, and a teacher. He has pastored since 1989. Michael has a sincere passion for God, a passion for people, and a passion for creating a platform to bring the two together. His preaching style has been described as; “dynamic”, “easy-to-understand”, and “extremely influential”. He has a unique way of taking God’s Word and making it applicable to the brand-new believer as well as the seasoned Christian! To bring God’s Word to life in a fun and intelligent way is a defining feature of Michael’s teaching style.

Michael grew up as a pastor’s kid and felt a call on his life to be a pastor at an early age. He attended Vanguard University (then called Southern California College) and met Kelli in a study group while attending there. They quickly fell in love. He dropped out of college for a short season, lived on a tour bus and played bass guitar for the Christian Rock group, Destiny. He married Kelli Dotson in August of 1990. Michael earned his undergraduate degree in pastoral studies/theology at a small Bible College in Central Oregon. He was a radical youth pastor for eight years and then started a church just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. Michael continued his education, working towards his Master’s degree, at a Messianic Jewish Institute in Kansas City where he learned to love, read, and teach the Bible in new and transformative ways. The church he pastored grew bigger than he could have ever imagined (approximately 1200 per weekend) and began making a loud noise for the cause of Christ in the small suburb.

As the church grew, Michael felt his passions for people and helping them come to walk in genuine relationship with God and others come alive. These years were a highlight. Michael’s wife then became very sick, and after a brain-surgery, multiple trips out of state to specialist doctors, and a rough season of on-and-off hospital stays, Michael needed to resign his position and move his family to a different climate for his wife’s benefit and on doctor’s orders. Michael and Kelli moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2013, where Michael was hired to serve on the staff of Calvary Worship Center, as an Equipping/Executive Pastor, overseeing: missions, children’s ministries, youth, young adults, a satellite campus, benevolence, and the counseling department.

After over five years ministering in Colorado Springs, Michael was then invited to be the Lead Pastor at The Alpine Chapel in the beautiful town of Telluride, Colorado. For the next five years the church experienced incredible growth and became known for their love of God, their community, and the in-depth, passionate, verse-by-verse teaching Michael did each and every week. Michael became a regular on KDVW radio and could be heard across the western slope of Colorado twice a day. Michael was a special speaker at various marriage seminars, men’s retreats, and pastor’s conferences and sat on the board, as a guest pastor, of the Colorado Baptists.

Michael and Kelli then moved to Pennsylvania for a 16 month period of teaching and pastoring, then moved to Mountain Home, Idaho to spend a short season seeking the Lord and what He would have for them next in life, then they lived back in Colorado Springs, Colorado for one summer season. Now, finally, Michael has landed in the state of Washington where he joyfully pastors a small church in Ryderwood, called, Ryderwood Community Church. Kelli continues to work remotely for Christian Camp and Conference Association and loves her job!

Michael and Kelli have three sons (Conor, Kolten, and Caleb), two daughters (Michaela and Merci),  three daughters-in-law (Amy, Diana, and Jocelyn), one son-in-law (Jonah), five granddaughters (Lovely, Ember, Luna, Posie, and Elah), and nine grandsons (Ki, Honor, Zadok, River, Israel, Shepherd, Asa, Manny, and Ezra). Michael and Kelli’s oldest son, Conor, is on staff as the Next Generation Pastor at The Alpine Chapel and is the area director for YoungLife. Their second son, Kolten, is an incredible website-designer and owns his own company in Kansas City, MO. And their third son, Caleb, is in full-time ministry as the Youth and Discipleship Pastor at Valley Church in Nooksack, WA. Michael and Kelli’s oldest daughter, Michaela, is a wonderful full-time mama and married to Jonah Hoe who is the Young Adults Pastor at Calvary Chapel Mountain Home. Michael and Kelli’s youngest daughter, Merci, adopted from Haiti, is currently in her junior year at Lancaster Bible College, where she is leader in her dorm and planning her wedding in June of 2026 to Bronson Coburn.

While all of this is factually true, it somehow misses describing an actual person. Michael lives for Jesus first, and for his awesome wife and family second. He loves to give hugs, watch old movies, scream during NFL football (“Go Chiefs!”), listen to classic Christian rock, grill outdoors, eat gummy bears, hang out with family and friends… and much more. He has a few Scripture tattoos, a ssssslight ssssslur, is kinda losing his hair, and as a child of the 70’s and 80’s uses the expressions “dude” and “awesome” a bit too much.