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About Executive Pastor On-DemandPhil aims to make real what is symbolized in the logo: "a triple-braided cord is not easily broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Phil comes alongside the pastor and church or ministry leaders to form an interconnected three-way partnership. Their church or organization would love to have an executive pastor or director, but it is too young, small, or financially-stretched to have a permanent COO-type staff leader. Phil offers churches and ministries deep and affordable management and operations expertise when needed, complementing existing employees on special projects or a virtual part-time long-term role.
Phil lives in the St. Louis (MO) area and has been married to his wife Becky for 48 years. They have two adult children and four grandchildren, all living nearby.
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Phil VanValkenburg has an extraordinary blend and balance of church, business, consulting, and Christian ministry leadership experience. He has been a church and ministry operations executive for >25 years. Most recently, Phil served as the Chief Operating Officer in the global office of the EPC (Evangelical Presbyterian Church) in Orlando. Prior to that, he served as the Executive Administrator at The Kirk, a large PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) church and school in west St. Louis County (MO). He has been ordained as a Ruling Elder in an EPC church plant and in large and small EPC and PCA churches. As a PCA Ruling Elder, Phil was elected by the General Assembly to serve for four years as a member (including two years as chairman) of the Administrative Committee (AC), chaired the local committee hosting the 2021 PCA General Assembly in St. Louis, and is a 2nd term Moderator of the Missouri Presbytery. Immediately after college, Phil joined the para-church ministry Cru, raised his own support, and served for five years in donor relations and personnel/training management roles.
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Phil is a seasoned MBA / business executive who worked for 25 years with major and startup companies, including in these roles:
Click for examples of EPC achievements (pages 4-5 of Stated Clerk’s annual report) Click for LinkedIn profile. |
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Phil filled a huge gap. There were lots of things we didn’t know we didn’t know. We were able to fill those gaps and make sure we were on the right track. To have that help on board, with someone who’s done it before, was extremely valuable to us.
Justus Bacott, Ruling Elder / Treasurer Highlands Church (EPC) Chesterfield, MO Church planting is a team effort. No one, no matter how gifted and committed, is able to start a new church by himself. There is such a wide range of seemingly endless things to do from fundraising, to evangelism and gathering, to preaching and discipleship, to ministry management and more. Therefore, one of the most important things a planter must do is build a quality team. That’s where someone like Phil VanValkenburg and his executive ministry services are so helpful. Phil has so much experience in ministry management and expertise drawn from the business world. He gets the life and challenges of a church planter and has a passion for the gospel of Christ. He’s the real deal. I highly commend him as an invaluable member of a church planting team. Ted Powers, Director Midwest Alliance (PCA) |
Phil’s contributions to the EPC have been immense. He led nearly every major project involving the operations of the Office of the General Assembly over six years. Among these were the relocation of the office and staff from Detroit to Orlando, conversion of the EPC’s communications and technology infrastructure systems, and restructure of our legal entities to significantly reduce exposure to risk.
Rev. Dr. Jeff Jeremiah EPC Stated Clerk Emeritus / CEO (upon Phil's retirement) Phil enabled me as a new pastor of a large multi-staff church to focus on my own calling and ministry because I could trust him to provide feedback and foresight into what our church was facing and would face in the years to come. He was able to identify needs before they become crises and formulate a plan with logical easy-to-follow steps for implementation.
Rev. Mark Kuiper, Pastor (PCA) Former Pastor of The Kirk in St. Louis, MO If you are responsible for the finances at your church and you’ve not been a CFO, you need Phil. My only regret in working with Phil is that I did not call him sooner. With Phil in my corner now, I feel more confident being responsible for our church finances. He worked so closely with us on cash management strategies that it feels like he is on our team and understands our needs. His combination of financial expertise, church leadership experience, and professionalism make him an asset that I will continue to tap. Jim Beaty, Director of Operations The Crossing (EPC) Columbia, MO |