Wes Granberg-Michaelson

Wes Granberg-Michaelson served as general secretary of the Reformed Church in America for 17 years, from 1994 to 2011. Previously, he held the position of Director of Church and Society at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. Earlier in his career, he served as Executive and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield (1968-1976) and then as the Associate Editor of Sojourners magazine when it was founded. He is currently a contributing editor to Sojourners where he previously served as Board Chair. He played a leading role in establishing Christian Churches Together in the USA and presently helps guide the development of the Global Christian Forum. Over the course of his ministry, his ecumenical work has taken him to all corners of the world. His forthcoming book is The Soulwork of Justice: Four Movements of Contemplative Action. His other books including Without Oars: Casting Off into a Life of Pilgrimage, From Times Square to Timbuktu: The Post-Christian West Meets the Non-Western Church, and Future Faith: Ten Challenges for Reshaping Christianity in the 21st Century. In the fall of 2012, Granberg-Michaelson was appointed as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress. While there he researched and wrote the book From Times Square to Timbuktu. The book deals with the effects of the shift in world Christianity to the Global South and impact of global migration on congregational life and society in the Global North. It was selected to be part of the 2013 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Granberg-Michaelson is a graduate of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary, both in Holland, Michigan, and was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church in America in 1984. He currently serves on the governing boards of Church Innovations and the Global Christian Forum. His wife, Kaarin Granberg-Michaelson, is an ordained minister in the Reformed Church in America, and they have two children. He and Kaarin live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.