On May 21st, Pastor Steve Mickel announced his upcoming transition to become the next District Supervisor for the Northwest District of the Foursquare Church. Starting July 1st, Pastor Steve will oversee more than 280 churches in the District, which includes Westside Church, a Foursquare church planted in Bend, Oregon in the 1950s. On June 25th, Foursquare will install Evan Earwicker and Ben Fleming as the senior pastors of Westside Church. Ben and Evan have been serving faithfully as senior pastors alongside Steve since 2021, and will continue to serve as senior pastors after Steve’s transition. While we were unaware of the timing of Steve’s transition, God was preparing Westside for this moment through this model of shared leadership.
Steve makes this transition with the support and confidence of the Leadership Team, and the appointment of Evan and Ben to continue as senior pastors is affirmed by Foursquare, Westside’s Church Council, and Westside’s Leadership Team. Like the Apostle Paul did with the church in Antioch, Steve and Suzanne will make Westside their home church—they will continue to live in Central Oregon—and continue to participate in the community as Steve’s home base from which he leads and serves the District. Evan and Ben will continue to be mentored by Steve, and Steve will provide oversight and accountability for their leadership in his official capacity as District Supervisor.
A video of Steve’s announcement to the church from Sunday is embedded below.