Chris Hatchett

My wife Stacie and I have been married since 1988 and have three children: Karlie (married to Josh Duke), Colby (married to Makenlee), and Caleb. We also have one grandson, Sawyer. I was raised in a home with a mom who was a faithful Christian and a father who attended church once a year. My mom was influential in my my faith story. It was her faithfulness in taking me to church by herself that allowed me to meet the youth minister at our church. This minister, Scott Talley, became my spiritual father. I was baptized when I was 14, yet it was through some tough situations in college that I truly owned my faith and began living my life for Christ. My relationship with my dad has been instrumental in my faith journey. I often struggled to accept God’s unconditional love and forgiveness because it wasn’t modeled by my earthly father. I became a youth minister so I could stand in the gap for teenagers the way Scott had for me. Ultimately, I had the great opportunity to baptize my father in 2007. God’s faithfulness in this situation has allowed me to truly understand I have a good, good Father!

My favorite Bible verse is 1 Corinthians 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. God never promises us we won’t be tempted. However, he promises that when we are – he will provide a way out of that situation. My prayer is for strength to choose the way out.

I came to The Hills in 1993 as the high school youth minister and youth ministry coordinator. In 2006, I shifted over to begin working in adult spiritual formation. I hope we will continue to be a church that reaches the lost, plants churches and sends missionaries to reach the lost in areas outside of our own reach – and that grows followers to look more and more like Jesus.