Steve Ranney:  

After graduation I attend Wheaton College for one year then transferred to Northwestern College (now University) in Roseville, Minn. to play football. Unlike my time at NC, we captured two conference championships. After graduating from Northwestern, I married Denise Bowley and became a youth director in a Baptist church in Sibley, Iowa. It was here that my son John was born. Three years later I enrolled in Denver Seminary. While there, my son Tim was born. Because I needed to provide for my family and pay for school, I had a variety of jobs including managing a Wendy's Restaurant and driving a Semi. It was in Seminary that I began to realize the truth of John 3:16 that God LOVED the world and was not angry with us. As I let go of the legalism and Phariseeism of my youth, I was drawn to the Presbyterian Church and was ordain as a minister in 1991. My first call was to Grace Presbyterian in Centennial, CO where I served for fifteen years as an Associate Pastor. During that time I led nine mission trips to the Sonoran state of Mexico, where we meet, worked with and worshiped with Mexican Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Having those experiences broadened my understanding of God's love for all humankind. It was also during these years that Denise found someone else and divorced me. It was a time of excruciating emotional pain. The gift of it was that in my darkest moments God was there for me. (If we ever get to see each other again, ask me about "He had me at I know.") It was the amazing family of God at Grace that walked with me through the dark days and helped me to heal. It was then that God brought Kim Skilling into my life (she is also a PCUSA Minister). Both of our congregations celebrated our wedding on one of the hottest August days in Denver. It was a small gathering of about 700. Along with Kim came Chaney, her daughter, Chaney, that she had adopted fr...Expand for more