Dear Friends of Converge MSC,

Solomon wrote, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

On August 1, 1998, I was hired by Rev. Bernard Tanis and the Executive Board of the Midwest Baptist Conference to be the Executive Director of Church Planting. The decision to leave our church was not taken lightly, and to take this step of faith was life-altering for our family. Little did we know how it would change our fellowship of churches that was started in Rock Island, IL, in 1852.

When we came aboard, the Midwest Baptist Conference consisted of 86 churches in 4 states. During the next twelve years, through Bernie’s vision and the Board’s generosity, Converge MidAmerica (our new name as of 2007) became a significant player in church planting across Converge. We grew over 32% by the end of the decade to 125 churches, expanding into seven states. Then in November of 2008, Rev. Tanis asked me privately if I would be interested in succeeding him. Mary and I were seeking the Lord’s direction; at the same time, I was working part-time for the National office as their National Director of Church Planting, and they were seeking for me to go full-time with them. After a few months of agonizing prayer, we decided it would be best to submit ourselves to the Board’s interview process and allow them to decide if it would be best for us to stay and succeed Rev. Tanis or for us to consider moving on to the national church planting position. Through a rigorous interview process, the Executive Board decided in June of 2009 to nominate me for the office of the President of Converge MidAmerica at our October Biennial meeting at Heartland Church in Fishers, IN, where the Delegates voted and approved the Board’s motion with a 99% affirmation. After a three-month sabbatical, I started my Presidency on March 1, 2010.

During this time, Rev. Tanis and I were together working on a merger negotiation with the Converge Michigan Region, and on June 1, 2010, we celebrated the merger between these two regions. An additional 50 churches, staff, and a 180-acre camp in Central Michigan became part of the Converge MidAmerica family.

Many say the smooth succession plan is why the merger went through without a hitch and propelled us to a 76% growth during the decade of 2010 (taking us to 511 churches by 2020 with the merger of Converge Southeast/Caribbean). Currently, Converge MSC consists of 711 partner churches as we continue to ride the wave from the well-thought-out succession plan devised by Rev. Tanis and the Executive Board back in 2009.

Feeling a great responsibility to do the same, I have followed the playbook they handed me and encouraged the board to do the same, trusting God for the same extraordinary results — a Spirit-led, Spirit-filled succession plan that will honor God and ensure continued fulfillment of our mission of starting and strengthening churches.

Eighteen months ago, I had a private conversation with Danny Parmelee, our VP of Church Planting, about his interest in succeeding me as President. His response was perfect; he was surprised, humbled, and, over time, excited about the possibilities. I asked him and his family to pray for the next six months and get back to me. He came back within three months excited as the Lord was warming his heart to the idea. A year ago, in September, I brought this succession plan to our Board and told them that it is now their duty to vet and interview Danny and make sure they can unanimously nominate him to the churches for this position. After a rigorous vetting and interview process, I am proud to announce that at our last Board meeting on September 28, 2023, Danny Parmelee was unanimously nominated for the next President of Converge MSC and to be presented for a vote by our members at our next Business Meeting scheduled for October 24-25, 2024, at our Connect Conference.

Over the next months, you will receive several communications about this transition from the Executive Board, Danny, and myself. Beginning in January, Danny and I will crisscross the region from the northern reaches of Michigan all the way down through parts of the Caribbean. We will be hosting in-person meetings to provide deeper insights into the transition. We eagerly anticipate your presence at one of these gatherings, where we will share our vision and join together in prayer, asking for God’s continued guidance in advancing His mission through Converge MSC.

On a personal note, I look forward to answering any questions you may have about this succession plan, so please do not hesitate to call or email.

It has been an honor over these last 25 years,

To God be the Glory, Gary Rohrmayer President of Converge MidAmerica

Dear Friends of Converge MSC,

Solomon wrote, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

On August 1, 1998, I was hired by Rev. Bernard Tanis and the Executive Board of the Midwest Baptist Conference to be the Executive Director of Church Planting. The decision to leave our church was not taken lightly, and to take this step of faith was life-altering for our family. Little did we know how it would change our fellowship of churches that was started in Rock Island, IL, in 1852.

When we came aboard, the Midwest Baptist Conference consisted of 86 churches in 4 states. During the next twelve years, through Bernie’s vision and the Board’s generosity, Converge MidAmerica (our new name as of 2007) became a significant player in church planting across Converge. We grew over 32% by the end of the decade to 125 churches, expanding into seven states. Then in November of 2008, Rev. Tanis asked me privately if I would be interested in succeeding him. Mary and I were seeking the Lord’s direction; at the same time, I was working part-time for the National office as their National Director of Church Planting, and they were seeking for me to go full-time with them. After a few months of agonizing prayer, we decided it would be best to submit ourselves to the Board’s interview process and allow them to decide if it would be best for us to stay and succeed Rev. Tanis or for us to consider moving on to the national church planting position. Through a rigorous interview process, the Executive Board decided in June of 2009 to nominate me for the office of the President of Converge MidAmerica at our October Biennial meeting at Heartland Church in Fishers, IN, where the Delegates voted and approved the Board’s motion with a 99% affirmation. After a three-month sabbatical, I started my Presidency on March 1, 2010.

During this time, Rev. Tanis and I were together working on a merger negotiation with the Converge Michigan Region, and on June 1, 2010, we celebrated the merger between these two regions. An additional 50 churches, staff, and a 180-acre camp in Central Michigan became part of the Converge MidAmerica family.

Many say the smooth succession plan is why the merger went through without a hitch and propelled us to a 76% growth during the decade of 2010 (taking us to 511 churches by 2020 with the merger of Converge Southeast/Caribbean). Currently, Converge MSC consists of 711 partner churches as we continue to ride the wave from the well-thought-out succession plan devised by Rev. Tanis and the Executive Board back in 2009.

Feeling a great responsibility to do the same, I have followed the playbook they handed me and encouraged the board to do the same, trusting God for the same extraordinary results — a Spirit-led, Spirit-filled succession plan that will honor God and ensure continued fulfillment of our mission of starting and strengthening churches.

Eighteen months ago, I had a private conversation with Danny Parmelee, our VP of Church Planting, about his interest in succeeding me as President. His response was perfect; he was surprised, humbled, and, over time, excited about the possibilities. I asked him and his family to pray for the next six months and get back to me. He came back within three months excited as the Lord was warming his heart to the idea. A year ago, in September, I brought this succession plan to our Board and told them that it is now their duty to vet and interview Danny and make sure they can unanimously nominate him to the churches for this position. After a rigorous vetting and interview process, I am proud to announce that at our last Board meeting on September 28, 2023, Danny Parmelee was unanimously nominated for the next President of Converge MSC and to be presented for a vote by our members at our next Business Meeting scheduled for October 24-25, 2024, at our Connect Conference.

Over the next months, you will receive several communications about this transition from the Executive Board, Danny, and myself. Beginning in January, Danny and I will crisscross the region from the northern reaches of Michigan all the way down through parts of the Caribbean. We will be hosting in-person meetings to provide deeper insights into the transition. We eagerly anticipate your presence at one of these gatherings, where we will share our vision and join together in prayer, asking for God’s continued guidance in advancing His mission through Converge MSC.

On a personal note, I look forward to answering any questions you may have about this succession plan, so please do not hesitate to call or email.

It has been an honor over these last 25 years,

To God be the Glory, Gary Rohrmayer President of Converge MidAmerica

Dear Converge MSC Churches,

On September 28, 2023, the Board of Overseers of Converge Mid-America, Southeast & Caribbean (Converge MSC) unanimously, and enthusiastically, endorsed Danny Parmelee to succeed Gary Rohrmayer as our future president. 

We thank Gary for his faithful service, excellent stewardship and wise leadership over the past two and a half decades of significant impact and incredible growth. The unity and strength of our district have been directly impacted by Gary’s leadership, and we have seen great results as we’ve worked to start and strengthen churches together.

When Gary approached us about beginning the succession process, the board, with Gary’s support, began an extensive vetting process. Although we all knew Danny well and had worked with him for several years in his role as VP of Church Planting, we wanted to take a deeper look into his qualifications for becoming the new point leader for Converge MSC. A subcommittee of the Board of Overseers conducted a series of interviews covering almost every area of organizational leadership and future vision. We also contracted Jerry Dahl and Stephen Dahl of Strategic Team-Makers to do an exhaustive 360 review and personality profile. The results of our extensive interviews, along with the 360 review and personality profile, served to show us what we knew in our hearts. Danny Parmelee is, without a doubt, the man God has for us to lead Converge MSC into the future. As a Board, we look forward to supporting Danny as he takes the helm.

Having the privilege to serve as a board member of Converge MSC for several years, and as chairman for the past several years, I’ve had a front-row seat to many of the struggles and challenges, along with many of the opportunities and strategic decisions that God has allowed to come our way. Bathed in prayer and with a heart for unity and impact, the Board has supported our president and our churches, and God willing, we will continue to do so as Danny takes the helm. Our desire, as one of ten regions in Converge, is to honor Jesus in everything we do within our region and throughout the world as we work together to strengthen our churches to make disciple-makers who, in turn, plant strong, healthy churches while sending out others to do the same.

We sincerely hope that you will be able to attend one of the many gatherings that Gary & Danny will be hosting throughout our region in the months to come. We also hope you will be able to join us at one of the Celebration Banquets in Chicago on April 18 or in Orlando on April 25 to celebrate Gary’s 25 years of service to Converge. We truly have much to celebrate!

We wish Gary the very best in his retirement from leadership in Converge MSC and we pray for continued impact in his other endeavors. We look forward with great anticipation as Danny steps into his new role as President, upon the vote of the churches at the Connect Conference in October 2024.

I was first introduced to Converge when I was only 19 years old. I was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and had recently surrendered my life to Christ. With my newfound faith, I knew it was important to plug into a local church. In God’s sovereignty, I ended up at Oshkosh Community church. This church plant was not only evangelistically growing, but it was also actively involved in planting churches. Steve Johnson, the lead pastor, was one of the key leaders in Converge’s church planting movement. Steve played a pivotal role in identifying and fostering my gifts and call to plant a church.

After college, Emili and I got married and moved to Minneapolis so that I could attend Bethel Seminary. After completing my Master of Divinity at Bethel Seminary, I was sent to Converge’s Church Planting Assessment Center, where I was recommended to plant a church. In 2004, through prayer and discernment, Emili and I felt called to move to Milwaukee, WI to plant Epikos Church. What started as a small group bible study in our living room grew to a multi-campus, multi-ethnic church of over 2,000 people. It was a front-row seat to see God do amazing things.

Early on in my church planting journey, I met Gary Rohrmayer. It’s crazy to think that we’ve known each other for 20 years already! Over the years, we collaborated on church planting initiatives and at times talked about me serving Converge MidAmerica with their church planting movement. In 2017, I made the difficult decision to leave my church plant to serve as the Vice President of Converge MidAmerica. While it was difficult to leave all that God had done and was doing, I sensed a clear call to this next season of ministry and was also confident that Epikos would continue to be in good hands with the staff and leadership.

Since taking on this role, I’ve been dedicated to recruiting, deploying, and training church planters; we’ve been able to deploy 68 church planters and campus launches. In addition to my responsibilities of church planting, I’ve worked closely with Gary and the rest of the executive team to grow and strengthen Converge MSC. I was surprised when Gary approached me and asked me to pray about succeeding him as President. I probably looked like a deer in headlights when he asked; I didn’t even verbally respond as so many thoughts were spinning through my mind. I think part of my initial hesitation stemmed from the misconception that this shift in roles would mean moving away from something I’m truly passionate about, which is supporting church planters. The more I prayed about it, I realized it’s not a departure at all, but instead, it’s using my leadership in a greater capacity to serve our planters, pastors, and churches.

I’m honored to be considered as the candidate for the next President of Converge MSC. Converge has been my family for over 20 years; we have such an amazing group of planters, pastors, and churches, and I’m excited to use my gifts and abilities to relentlessly serve to help them make a difference in their communities. Our movement is already strong and growing thanks to Gary, the Board, and our partner churches. I see this transition as a mandate to fan the flame and galvanize our mission of starting and strengthening churches to become a catalytic movement of reproducing churches.