JSM Board Profiles

Greg Scharf (chair): Greg, chair of the Pastoral Theology Department and associate professor of Pastoral Theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Deerfield, Ill., became JSM board chair in January 2008. Having met John Stott while a student at TEDS, Greg was one of the first pastoral interns at All Souls Church, Langham Place, in London, England. After that one-year internship, he was asked to join the staff of All Souls as chaplain to university students, a position he held for two years. During that time, he met and married Ruth, and together they moved to Toronto, Ontario, where they worked with students at Knox Church. This was followed by a 19-year sojourn in Fargo, N.D., where Greg was the first full-time pastor of Salem Evangelical Free Church. In 1999 he joined the faculty of TEDS. In addition to his teaching responsibilities at TEDS, Greg also helps facilitate preaching seminars with Langham Preaching, having served in Poland, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Kenya. He has served on the JSM board since 2005. He is author of Prepared to Preach (Christian Focus, 2005). The Scharfs have three grown sons.

Tim Stafford (vice chair): Tim is best known as a writer of more than 20 books and many magazine articles. He serves as senior writer for Christianity Today magazine. Tim grew up in Fresno, Calif. He attended Stanford University, majoring in English/creative writing. He served as an editor at Campus Life magazine, where he worked alongside such notable writers as Philip Yancey and Steven Lawhead. In Nairobi, Kenya, Tim helped to found a new Christian youth magazine, Step. Today, Tim and his wife Popie reside in Santa Rosa, Calif. He is an elder at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Rosa, where his wife also serves as counselor-in-residence. They have three grown children. He enjoys backpacking, running and reading.

Ken Perez (president): Ken served on the JSM and Foundation for Advanced Christian Training (FACT) boards for eight years — serving both as the JSM board chair and vice chair — before becoming JSM president in December 2007. Previously, Ken was the vice president of marketing for Jacent Technologies. Before joining Jacent, Ken served as vice president of marketing for Omnicell and CyberCash, and prior to that, Ken had an eleven-year career with Hewlett-Packard. Ken also serves on the boards of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, Jesus Institute, and the Lincoln Heights Tutorial Program.
Ken holds a B.A. in international relations from Stanford University and an M.B.A. in finance and accounting from UCLA Anderson. Ken and his wife Janet live in Menlo Park, Calif., and have three children.

Jack Swanson (secretary/treasurer): A longtime friend of John Stott, Jack has served on the JSM board since 1982 and as volunteer secretary/treasurer since 1995. Jack graduated from Wheaton College. Following a career in education administration, Jack and his family spent a year as missionaries in the Philippines and have been actively involved in inner-city missions in Chicago. Jack has three children and six grandchildren.