Works of Art Investing in Works of Art.
“For we are God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance.”
— Ephesians 2:10
Inspire Family Fellowship was born with a vision to reach people in the Bismarck/Mandan area with the life changing story of Jesus Christ. Inspire especially feels called to reach struggling families; recognizing that many forces in the world are pulling families apart and away from God. One of our highest values is to provide worship experiences that the whole family can relate to, grow from, and enjoy.
At Inspire we take the use of the arts in worship seriously, and passionately seek to use every creative tool to help people experience the power and hope of Jesus anew in their lives. We feel the story of Jesus is worth every effort to communicate it clearly. We believe in doing life together within an honest and authentic community of imperfect people journeying together with a perfect God. We believe that in an ever-changing world, the unchanging Word of God still points to the true source of life – Jesus Christ.
If you are someone seeking more out of life, or have a family whose compass is spinning and haunted by the idea that you should be living a better story, then come be a part of the Inspire movement.
We don’t expect you to have it all figured out. At Inspire you can belong while you learn to believe and as you believe you will experience the joy of becoming a new person with new meaning in life. Join us!
BELONG | BELIEVE | BECOME
Randy Upgren
Senior Pastor
Inspire's Senior Pastor, Randy Upgren, has been in full-time ministry since 1991 – first building Charity Lutheran’s (Bismarck ND) youth ministry for 13 years and then serving as Teaching and Preaching Pastor. He has his Bachelors of Music from Minnesota State University (Moorhead) and his Master’s of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California – one of the largest and most respected Evangelical seminaries in the world.
Randy is also the author of three books, The End is the Beginning, Becoming Dangerous in All the Right Ways, and Catechism 2.0. Randy is native to Bismarck and has served the community in various capacities. He speaks for various groups on leadership, God, life and faith. He and his wife, Pam, also run a nonprofit ministry from their ranch called Providence Ranch Ministries – where they serve, free of charge, at-risk youth using their horses. Randy and Pam have two boys Josh and Jordan and a grandson, Lucas.
Ernie Hockett
Community Care Pastor
Ernie Hockett has been involved in ministry for 39 years as a pastor, youth leader, worship leader, and counselor. He wears many hats around Inspire as our Community Care Pastor. He also has been hanging out with our senior high group on Wednesday evenings.
When he isn't at Inspire he is with his lovely wife Kris and his kids Naomi, Nate, and Nick. He can't help himself, he loves people and will become your best friend after meeting you for 3 minutes. Don't worry, he's mostly harmless.
Tim Peske
Ministry Coordinator
Tim is a founding member of Inspire who has been serving Jesus for most of his life. If he is not at Inspire, he is with his wife Beth, and his daughter Piper who is growing up much faster than her father is prepared for. Tim is an active member of the worship band at Inspire as well as several local bands in Bismarck. He decided to follow Jesus in junior high at a worship service that was created by Pastor Randy. Before he was the Ministry Coordinator he was a teacher at Century High School in Bismarck for four years. As the Ministry Coordinator, he gets to work with staff and volunteers who are passionate about serving Jesus and expanding the impact that Inspire has on the local community. He loves working at Inspire because of all of the great people he sees and works with every day.
CAROLE JACOBSEN
Director of Curriculum & Team Building
Carole has loved working with our kids and youth since opening. She loves each and every kid and teen at Inspire. She is originally from Williston, ND, and graduated from UND with a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. She has been working with kids and teens for many years in a wide variety of experiences, such as preschools, clinic settings, elementary schools, and running a home daycare/preschool. We love having Carole as our Director of Curriculum and Team Building! She is a mother of two amazing and busy kids; Joycee and Jettler, and a fur baby Zuri, a half border collie/husky.
KATE LITTLE
Director of Children and Youth
Kate Little graduated in May of 2021 from Minot State University with a degree in social work. She is currently working here at Inspire Family Fellowship full-time with all of you amazing people while studying to take her licensing exam for social work. She loves playing yard games, board games, sports, etc. She will play pretty much any and every game put in front of her! She loves hanging out with her friends, going exploring outside, and lake days where she enjoys kayaking, paddle boarding, tubing, surfing, and swimming. She also LOVES going to concerts. She has seen over 100 people in concert! Kate is in charge of executing the mission of Inspire Children and Youth. She is busy teaching on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings here at Inspire. She can't wait to meet all of our kids and parents!
SUPPORTING STAFF
BOB PESKE
Sunday Worship Leader
NAOMI VETTER
Worship Specialist
TY FARNSWORTH
Wednesday Worship Leader
JEROME BAUER
Facility Maintenance
LAURIE MARTIN
Janitorial
INSPIRE BOARD
Click here to review the 2023-24 Budget
- Amanda Godfread
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Marshall Luidahl
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Scot Leingang
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Dean Dienstmann
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Jesse Sailer
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Chris Nyhus
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Randy Upgren
Inspire Family Fellowship is a Lutheran Congregation on Mission for Christ (LCMC) Church.
Click here to see past Board Minutes