The Board of Directors of Good News is pleased to announce the appointment of the Rev. Tom Lambrecht as Vice President and General Manager of the 45-year-old evangelical renewal ministry within the United Methodist Church.

Lambrecht has been the senior pastor of Faith Community United Methodist Church in Greenville, Wisconsin since 1999. He has been a United Methodist minister within the Wisconsin Annual Conference since 1982. The Board of Ordained Ministry of the Wisconsin Annual Conference has approved the Rev. Lambrecht to serve in extension ministry at Good News, and Bishop Linda Lee made the appointment.

“Tom’s keen intellect, his long history as a leader in the cause of renewal, his administrative gifts and his passion for the Gospel will enhance all that Good News does to reform and renew the church,” said the Rev. Rob Renfroe, President and Publisher of Good News. “We are thrilled that he is coming on board.”

Lambrecht most recently served as the counsel for the United Methodist Church in a June 21-23 trial involving the Rev. Amy DeLong, a clergywoman who performed a same-sex union, an action that is prohibited for United Methodist clergypersons (see page 18). He successfully argued twice before the Judicial Council on matters related to annual conferences challenging the United Methodist stance on homosexuality and same-sex unions.

Since 1992, Lambrecht has worked with Good News as a part of their legislative team at five General Conferences and as a member of the board. He served as the chair of the Good News board for four years, and is currently coordinator for the Renewal and Reform Coalition General Conference effort. The Rev. Lambrecht has been instrumental in the cause of evangelical renewal within the Wisconsin Conference since 1983, helping to establish the Wisconsin Association of Confessing United Methodists (WACUM) in 1996, the first conference-level Confessing Movement organization, and serving as its first president. Currently, he serves as the North Central Jurisdictional Coordinator for the Confessing Movement.

“I am excited to have Tom Lambrecht join the executive staff of Good News.  Tom brings seasoned skills developed through years of laboring in the trenches,” says the Rev. Keith Boyette, chairperson of the Good News Board of Directors and pastor of Wilderness United Methodist Church in Spotsylvania, Virginia. “He knows what local churches face as they seek to be faithful to the cause of Christ against the backdrop of a denomination that often seems to have lost its way. He is passionate about the cause of renewal and reform in the United Methodist Church. We are fortunate to have his wisdom and insight as we tackle the challenging issues currently faced by the church.”

Throughout his ministerial career in Wisconsin, Lambrecht has served as the chair of the District Council on Ministries, member of the Conference Board of Church and Society, chair of the Hunger Task Force, registrar of the Board of Ordained Ministry, member of the Conference Evangelism Committee, vice-chair of the Conference Board of Discipleship, and Rules Committee chair.

Tom’s wife, Mary, is a licensed marriage and family therapist at a Christian counseling clinic and a family consultant at a Native American drug and alcohol treatment facility. They have two married daughters and a third daughter attending graduate school.

Good News Media Service