Nice to meet you
Church Fuel is a professional development community focused on helping you strengthen the daily business of your church so that you can embrace the roots of your calling. Our team members come from diverse backgrounds, but we all share one thing in common—a commitment to giving you practical tools and coaching that you can put to use right away.
Church Fuel is a part of Thrivent.
Michael Lukaszewski
Founder
Former youth pastor, church planter, senior pastor, and church consultant, you could say Michael’s lived nine lives—and he’s still going. Today, he writes books and articles and helps create courses for church leaders. Michael’s a graduate of Florida State University and did post-graduate work at Liberty University. Husband to Jennie and father to three kids, you can find him smoking ribs or grilling steaks on the Big Green Egg on the weekends.
Erin Gerrits
Chief Operating Officer
Finance leader extraordinaire, Erin joins us from Thrivent, where she worked in the Church Solutions Division. She’s a Jane-of-all-trades, combining her skills in finance, business strategy, and graphic design to make Church Fuel run as smoothly—and beautifully—as possible. When she’s not at work, Erin enjoys running around the lakes in Minnesota, going to college football games, snowboarding, or hanging out with her husband and two kiddos.
Bobby Williams
Community Manager
Bobby’s our pastor to pastors—and he’s ready to serve you. When he’s not overseeing coaching and the community forum here at Church Fuel, Bobby also serves as pastor of The Ridge Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a church committed to reaching unchurched people with the Gospel.
Shannon Whitehead
Content Director
Shannon’s all about words (both reading and writing them). She takes that passion and applies it to managing content for our members and blog. A North Carolina native and graduate of East Carolina University, Shannon’s background combines church communications, digital marketing, and a brief stint in the fashion industry. After work, you can find her spending time with friends, with her head in a good book, or at a new restaurant.
Sophie Shoults
Marketing Specialist
Marketing Specialist … or resident mastermind? Sophie does it all. More specifically, she creates, maintains and adjusts marketing campaigns and product deliverability alongside Sales and Marketing here at Church Fuel. She graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and is a recent transplant to the Atlanta area. She’s known around town as a worship leader, business owner, coffee drinker, dog mom, and rock climber.
Whitney Law
Customer Care Director
Have a question? An issue with your membership? Just ask Whitney, our customer care expert. She’s a graduate of Kennesaw State University, where she met her husband of six years, Kurt. You can find her outdoors, reading, playing with her beloved pup Jax, or tending to her fiddle-leaf fig tree.
Jess Gerber
UX Designer & Strategist
Jess is a bit of a magician—she crafts customer experiences and helps bring them to life through prototyping, testing, and UX research. She graduated from the University of St. Thomas and currently lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Blake. When she’s not at work, you can find her taking photos or teaching herself how to paint.
Ashley Thomas
Content Specialist
Ashley brings energy and spreads compliments everywhere she goes. An Illinois native and graduate of Northern Illinois University, she continues to boast in all things “Chicago”. Her hobbies include working out, learning wrestling from her husband, and real estate window shopping.
Jill Andersen
Instructional Designer
Jill’s background is in educational content development. She graduated from Clemson University (go Tigers!) and her happy place is with her husband and two young adult children. She also enjoys time with friends, taking morning walks, and her daily chocolate fix.
Katrina Hawley
Instructional Designer
Katrina creates, curates, revises, and reviews content for Church Fuel bundles and products. A farm girl from the middle of Minnesota, Katrina now lives in Minneapolis with her two wonderful and precocious daughters. When not thinking through content campaigns, she likes to paint, read, and coax green things to life.