Staff Members
Ken Sande is the President of Peacemaker Ministries. He is an engineer and attorney who, since 1982, has used biblical peacemaking principles to help resolve thousands of conflicts, including business, employment, and family disputes; church divisions; and complex lawsuits. He is a member of the national panel of arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and has served on the board of directors of the Christian Legal Society and the Dispute Resolution Committee of the State Bar of Montana. He presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation in Philadelphia. Ken is a Certified Christian Conciliator and is the author of numerous resources on conflict resolution, including The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, (Baker Books, 2nd ed. 1997) and Peacemaking for Families (Tyndale, 2002).
Gary Friesen is an attorney who serves as the Executive Vice President of Peacemaker Ministries and oversees the day-to-day ministry activities. He has a background in the private practice of law and has represented a variety of for-profit and nonprofit corporations. Gary is a Certified Christian Conciliator and has advised numerous churches, schools and foundations on how to respond to legal conflicts and develop conflict resolution systems that incorporate both biblical and legal safeguards. As the former director of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, Gary oversaw the development of the ICC advanced training programs, including the Certification Program for Certified Christian Conciliators.
Rick Friesen serves Peacemaker Ministries as Director of the Ministry Relations division, which works with churches and Christian organizations to provide them with resources, training, consulting/risk management services, and church interventions. Rick has extensive experience in human resources, marketing, and business management. He has also has experience in lobbying both at the state as well as on the national level. His leadership service on church elder boards and boards of directors of nonprofit organizations contribute to his practical understanding of the conflict management needs of churches and Christian organizations.
Chip Zimmer serves as our Director of International Ministries. In this role, he oversees and coordinates the work of Peacemaker Ministries in countries outside the United States. Chip is the former Executive Director of the Christian Conciliation Service of Puget Sound in Seattle, a position he held for 6 years, and has broad experience as a mediator and a trainer. Most recently, he served with the U.S. State Department as a diplomat in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Madagascar and Ethiopia, as well as in Washington, D.C. Chip is a lawyer by training and began his international work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal during the 1970s.
Eric Foley is the Director of Communication for Peacemaker Ministries. He has been a pastor for sixteen years, with much of his work devoted to large-scale event development for Christian non-profit organizations. His efforts include Promise Keepers' 1997 Million Man Gathering in Washington, D.C.; The Los Angeles Mission's 1998 Great Day of Thanksgiving (which drew nearly 10,000 LA residents and homeless individuals to Skid Row, where they worked shoulder to shoulder to prepare, serve, and eat Thanksgiving dinner around a common table set with linen, fine China, and real turkey); and the LA Dream Center's 1999 "Adopt-A-Block 500", the largest one day Christian volunteer outreach event in LA history, which yielded 6,000 new converts to Christ as 4,000 volunteers from churches across America delivered Christmas packages door to door to 45,000 inner city L.A. homes on 500 blocks on one day.
David D. Schlachter serves as the Director for the Institute For Christian Conciliation, overseeing the delivery of mediation and arbitration services for the resolution of conflicts and disputes, and the delivery of advanced conciliator training through the Certification Program. A Certified Christian Conciliator and University of Denver Law School graduate, David practiced law for 26 years in Denver, Colorado, specializing in business, real estate, and commercial litigation, before joining the Peacemaker Ministries staff. He has taught biblical peacemaking in his church, for Peacemaker Ministries, and internationally in Cambodia and Tanzania. David has served as a mediator and arbitrator in numerous cases through the Institute for Christian Conciliation, and has served on numerous Boards of Directors for other non-profit organizations and ministries.
Johnny Johnson serves as Peacemaker Ministries' Senior Ministry Consultant with special focus on Baptist churches and denominational agencies. After receiving his Masters of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1978, Johnny served for more than 20 years as a pastor. Before coming to Peacemaker Ministries, Johnny also provided counsel to pastors and churches while serving as the Director of Missions for Beauregard and Vernon Baptist Associations in the Louisiana Baptist Convention. As a Southern Baptist Convention Director of Missions with a background in helping conflicted churches, Johnny speaks from experience on how to build a Culture of Peace in the local church. His international work and intercessory prayer ministries give him a heart and far-reaching vision for sharing the gospel of The Kingdom of Jesus Christ with the globe.
David V. Edling is an attorney and seminary graduate who served on the pastoral staff of a church for seven years prior to joining the staff of Peacemaker Ministries. Dave has practiced law in both federal and state courts representing the US Coast Guard, as well as several corporations and nonprofit organizations. He serves Peacemaker Ministries as a Senior Ministry Consultant. Dave is a Certified Christian Conciliator, a certified teacher/trainer with Evangelism Explosion, and is the author of PeaceSowers®, an innovative peacemaking discipleship course.
Annette Friesen is the Christian and Home School Advisor as well as the Host for Peacemaker Ministries. She and her husband Rick, who is the Director of Ministry Relations for Peacemaker Ministries, began homeschooling their children in 1984 and graduated their youngest from homeschooling in 2000. They have both served as support group leaders, convention coordinators, Legislative Day coordinators and on three state homeschooling boards. Annette speaks to Christian school teachers, homeschool conferences and retreats. She has contributed articles to Crosswalk.com, Lifeway.com, and various homeschool publications.
Lynn Pace serves as Certification Program Manager, overseeing the delivery of advanced conciliator training and the Certification Program. A Certified Christian Conciliator and Harvard Law School graduate, Lynn practiced law with Baker & McKenzie (Washington, D.C. ) and in solo practice in North Carolina, before joining the Peacemaker Ministries staff. She has taught ethics at Appalachian State University, conflict management at Philadelphia Biblical University Graduate School, and biblical peacemaking as mentor and adjunct instructor for Peacemaker Ministries. In 1998, Lynn received the Christian Reconciliation Award from the Christian Legal Society for her contributions to the field of reconciliation and mediation services.
Governance - Board of Directors
Peacemaker Ministries is organized as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of Montana and has been granted §501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The ministry is governed by a nine-person Board of Directors, which does not include any members of the ministry's staff.
Other Staff
More than 20 full or part time staff ably support the work of Peacemaker Ministries at its headquarters in Billings, Montana. A recent photo of the staff is shown below.

Row 1 (L to R): Fred Barthel (Communication Coordinator), Jerry Wall (Peacemaker Church Coordinator), Mark Zagel (Resource Department Coordinator), Johnny Johnson (Senior Ministry Consultant)
Row 2: Nancy Brook (Resource Asst), Eric Foley (Director of Communication), Gary Brook (Controller), Ken Sande (President), Chip Zimmer (Director of International Ministries), Dave Edling (Senior Ministry Consultant), Jonathan Boll (Supervisor Seminar Events), Hannah Holden (Reconciler Training Event Coordinator)
Row 3: Kris Hart (Asst to President and Exec VP), Doreen Morton (ICC Assisstant), Melodie McDermott (Conciliation Network Coordinator), Kathy Zagel (Host), Gene Walth (Resources Manager), Annette Friesen (Christian and Home School Advisor, Host) , Melinda McCool (ICC Case Manager), Tricia Feralio (Ministry Relations Assistant)
Row 4: Brian Erickson (Human Resources Administrator), Sharon Thornburg (Accounting Asst), Gary Friesen (Executive VP), David Schlachter (Director of ICC), Rick Friesen (Director of Ministry Relations), Molly Routson (International Ministry), Lynn Pace (Certification Program Manager)
Not Pictured: Bob and Susan Barrett (International Ministry Consultants)
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