About Mike Bethune
Mike Bethune is a man of faith, a servant at heart, and a voice of encouragement for those navigating life’s toughest seasons. With well over a few decades of ministry and service to others, as well as eight years of honorable U.S. military service (including a 6-month hostile deployment), Mike’s life calling and mission has been rooted in helping others find strength, healing, and purpose in and through the word of God from its inception. Much of his ministry work & writing over the years has been intentionally centered on those that have been most often overlooked & misunderstood; the homeless, teens & young adults aging out of foster care, fellow veterans, individuals battling substance abuse & addiction, and women overcoming domestic violence, to name a few. Mike is known for compassionately meeting people where they are, and walking alongside them on their journey towards healing, restoration, & redirection.
Over the years Mike has served in multiple church & non-profit organization leadership roles, the longest being 20 years at Calvary Baptist Church (Morristown, NJ) under the leadership of its senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Jerry M. Carter, Jr. During this tenure Mike served primarily as Associate Minister & Wellspring Counselor (Wellspring is Calvary’s “whole person” counseling ministry, which Mike helped to establish & launch.) He also served for over a decade as a chapel speaker to NFL teams, primarily the New York Giants, sharing messages of salvation, faith and resilience at the highest level of competition.
Through his biblically-based life coaching & mentoring services, the books he’s written & published (3), his music (Strength for the Journey Album), his social media pages (Facebook & YouTube), and through weekly online preaching & teaching, Mike draws from the word of God and the wisdom gleaned from his own personal trials , including his journey as a veteran who needed help finding his way back-both in life itself and in the civilian world, after returning home from military service. He also draws on the experience and information that he gained from the loss of his brother to suicide in 2014, which helps him to offer real, relatable help and hope to others. At his core, Mike is simply a man who believes that no matter where you’ve been or what you’ve faced in life, with God’s help, you can get still rise above it, learn from it, move forward, and live with more purpose & power as a result of the wisdom & experience gained from it all!
Mike Bethune holds a BA in Biblical Counseling/Psychology from Trinity College (Newburg IN) & an M.Div. in Theology/Pastoral Care & Counseling (Drew Theological Seminary, Madison NJ).
He is married to Tanya, and they currently reside in the Greater Chicago area.
Strength for the Journey!
Helping others find strength, healing, and purpose in and through the word of God
