Mike (Mookie) was born in Akron, Ohio but was raised in Columbus, Ohio (specifically a suburb called Gahanna). He attended Mount Vernon Nazarene University and graduated with a Communications degree in 2001. He is currently studying Biblical Leadership at Phoenix Seminary.

Mike met his beautiful wife, Holly, in college during their junior year and they have been married since 2002. They adopted their youngest son, Amike, before he turned 2 years old in 2016. A year after moving to Florida in 2022 they adopted his four biological siblings (Tiyan, Chiko, Yami, TK) and reunited the family. They also have two awesome furry children, a Havapoo named Coto and Bernadoodle named Milo.

Mike became a follower of Jesus towards the end of his junior year of high school. He always felt led to be a teacher or mentor to young people. After becoming a Christian, he had numerous people encourage him to consider being a youth pastor. After a few years of being in denial, and numerous experiences of serving in student ministry, he accepted the call into full time ministry. Mike has served for 20 years as a Youth Pastor and Christian Camp Director at churches and camps in Indiana, Arizona, South Carolina and most recently beautiful San Diego, California. Mike and his family moved to Venice in 2021 and started serving and attending The Bridge before he joined the staff in 2024.