ANDREW MIDDLEKAUFF | LEAD PASTOR

My name is Andrew Middlekauff, and I grew up in a half-Christian and half-atheist home.  My mother became a believer and follower of Christ when I was young and she faithfully brought me, my sister, and brother to church.  My father became an atheist when he was at college and thought God was a crutch.  When I was six, my mom explained the Gospel to the best of her ability to a six-year-old. What I understood about Christ, I believed and prayed to receive Him and his forgiveness.  When I was eight, my family moved to a small town in southern Oregon called Roseburg.  For most of my life leading up to young adulthood, I had a strong conviction that God was real, that Jesus was his Son and our Savior.  But unfortunately, I did not grow as a Christian.  I still wanted to be in charge of my own life and had no idea how to have a relationship with God.  Thankfully, during my first year of college at Concordia College in Portland, OR, I read the Bible on my own for the first time and knew in my heart that it was true, thought I realized I didn’t understand much of it.  I also heard the Gospel three nights a week at three skateboard ministries in Portland and in Vancouver, WA. I finally realized how sinful I was, how wonderful God was, and how much I needed Christ’s atonement and resurrection.  I repented and turned to the Lord for forgiveness and eternal life. I am happy to say that the Lord has been faithful to me all these years and has given me a growing love for him as well as a trust in his goodness, wisdom, and sovereignty through the ups and downs of life.  

My wife, Edith, and I went to different high schools but went to the same church in Roseburg, Redeemer’s Fellowship.  I noticed right away that she was a genuine follower of Christ and that she took her faith in him seriously.  Through high school we were acquaintances, but in college, things changed. Though she went to Cedarville College in Ohio, and I transferred to Multnomah Bible College in Portland, I saw her over holidays and summer vacations in Roseburg.  When I became interested in her, I was smart enough to ask her to help me lead the jr. high youth group over the summer.  She agreed to do so, and the rest is history!  

After getting married in Roseburg in 1998, we moved to Portland for four years, where I went to school at Western Seminary, and Edith went to graduate school at Concordia.  After seminary, I learned about a church in Bakersfield, CA from a friend who attended there, and I became an associate pastor there for five years.  Then, the Lord called me to pastor a church in Roseburg, OR, where I was the lead pastor for six years.  Once again, the Lord brought us back to the same church in Bakersfield, CA, where I was an associate pastor again for over nine years.  Then in April 2025 the Lord and Lake Tapps Community Church (LTCC) in Lake Tapps, WA called me to be the lead pastor. I began serving as lead pastor of LTCC in July of 2025. The Lord opened the door for Edith to work as a 6 th grade teacher at Cascade Christian School and she started in September of 2025.

The Lord has blessed me and Edith with four precious kids.  Grant is at George Fox University in Newberg, OR in the nursing program.  Ruthanne is at Cal Baptist University in Riverside, CA in the biology program.  John is in high school at Cascade Christian School.  Joy is in jr. high at Cascade Christian School.  Edith and I are so blessed to see our kids trusting in Christ and growing in a relationship with him.