Leadership

Christine Schlegel moved to Colorado from Wisconsin in 1996, and is currently the owner of Heaven and Earth Therapeutic Massage, where she has been providing massage therapy to clients for over two decades.
In January 2016, she felt led to begin working with the Children’s Ministry at GracePoint Community Church as a volunteer, and she is looking forward to opening an in-home Christian day care in the near future to teach children about God’s love, care, protection, and provision as well as the 9 fruits of the spirit, and how to hear God’s voice through His Word, Prayer, and attending church so they can receive His guidance.
She enjoys being in nature, travel, spending time with family, friends, and her pets (Lily, Mr. Spock, and Frannie), as well as, skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, bike riding, sailing, swimming, paddle boarding, movies, reading, putting jigsaw puzzles together, gardening, basketball, volleyball, bowling, arcade games, ping pong, serving others in her community, and visiting hot springs, historical sites, state and national parks, zoos, amusement parks, and state fair parks.

David is also a Denver native. With a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Colorado, David was commissioned into the Air Force in 1971 and served as a pharmacist for 21 years, returning to Littleton and joining GracePoint in 1992. He was a medical editor with a nationally recognized drug information publishing company as well as a community pharmacist over another 20 years before finally retiring in 2014. David has been honored to serve multiple terms as an Elder. He and his wife Mary enjoy skiing and bicycling, visiting grandsons in California and the beaches in the Carolinas and Hawaii.

Clark Rheem was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Colorado State University in 1966. After graduation he served in the United States Navy from 1966 until 1971. After returning from Viet Nam, he became a manufacturer’s representative in the construction industry. He retired from his business in 2004. He and his wife Ann have been happily married for 45 years. They have five children and 13 grandchildren.

Senior Pastor Fred Lian

Yes, those photos are the present me and “back in the day” me. You can see that I really haven’t changed much.

Let me introduce myself to you. I am a renegade New Yorker who moved to Colorado in 1975 to attend Denver Seminary. I graduated with a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and directed a Christian counseling center for six years. I went back to the seminary to take additional coursework to be ordained in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) and was called to GracePoint in 1986. After six years of classes, research and typing my thesis, I completed my Doctor of Ministry degree in 2001. What all that means is: I’ve been around for awhile.

The GracePoint congregation is a blessing from God. The people are a pastor’s joy to minister to, as well as alongside. And the staff I get to work with is pure delight. I am grateful and humbled that God would grant me His favor in placing me here.

In the photo to the right you will notice major evidence of God’s grace to me. Kerrie and I have been married since 1977. She has her own graphic design business, as well as drawing sketches of people’s beloved animals. Our daughter, Madison, is also a graduate of Denver Seminary having completed her MDiv degree in 2018. She is married and her husband, Elliot, is a Youth Pastor at a metro Denver church, and where she oversees the Alpha Ministry. What you don’t see is our other “child” – an Old English Sheepdog, Aslan, who believes he runs the house.

My hobbies include running. I identify with Chariots of Fire‘s Eric Liddell, who said, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” I’m not a world-class runner like he was, but I’ve run my share of races and marathons, including Denver, Chicago, New York and Boston.

I spend time on the missions field, having taught for five Februarys at a Bible school in Romania, and more recently, the past 11 years ministering in Kazakhstan.

Pleasure reading and good dark chocolate (one of the proofs of the existence of God) also provide refreshment.

I’m one of the few people I know who wakes up in the morning and looks forward, not only to what God has planned, but also to what I get to do — ministry for the kingdom’s sake. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Williams James wrote, “The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” With God’s help I’m striving for that finish line.

I can be reached at fredlian@gracepointcc.us.