Reverend John Michael KRech, Pastor

The Reverend John Michael Krech began serving as pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, Bartlett, Tennessee, on September 9, 2012.  Mike was born and raised in Memphis.  He is a graduate of Rhodes College and Memphis Theological Seminary.  Mike’s previous pastorates include serving as pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Somerville, Tennessee; co-pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, Bartlett, Tennessee, and pastor of Raleigh Presbyterian Church, Memphis; Brookhaven Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Nashville, Tennessee; Hillview Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, and Morning Sun Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Cordova, Tennessee.

Mike and his wife Patsy have two grown children and three grandchildren.

Mike’s great satisfactions in ministry come from the traditional role of a pastor in the Presbyterian tradition – preaching, leading worship, teaching, pastoral care, and witness and involvement in the community.  Mike loves the great hymns of the church and believes strongly in the power of our historic Presbyterian worship in Word and Sacrament to bring believers into God’s presence with reverence and awe.  Week by week Mike finds it a privilege and a challenge to bring the truth of Scripture to bear on the lives we live in the present time.  Presbyterians have long valued education, and Mike believes that a growing faith is always in conversation with the arts and sciences.  He loves teaching and learning together as well as putting what we learn to practice for the good of the community.  Mike has served the Presbytery of the Mid South as moderator of the presbytery, chair of the Committee on Ministry, chair of Presbytery council, and commissioner to the 2003 General Assembly of the PCUSA in Denver, Colorado. 

As much as Mike believes in and loves the church, he also loves “sabbath rest,” that is, activities which renew the mind, body and spirit.  Among Mike’s interests are baseball, tennis, travel, trivia, table games, and astronomy.  Mike has journeyed to see six total eclipses of the sun.