Launching May 20, 2025!
During the Summer of 2024, a group of energized clergy invited Pinnacle’s founder, Mark Tidsworth. to a gathering in the Colorado mountains for learning and dialogue. While engaging these gifted pastors, Mark recognized their potential for giving to the larger church beyond their local contexts. Through dialogue, prayer, discernment, and training, Pinnacle West has emerged as a new resource focused on the needs and aspirations of pastors, leaders, churches, and denominations in the Western United States. If new here, you are invited to get acquainted with the Pinnacle West Team, along with the services and events described below. By subscribing to the bi-monthly e-newsletter, you will receive helpful articles and videos on ministry, church, and leadership. Please reach out to explore possibilities when curious. Welcome to Pinnacle West!
The Pinnacle West Team
Jay Gamelin
jay.gamelin@gmail.com | 303.949.7933
Jay Gamelin has been transforming ministries for more than 30 years as a musician, speaker, student ministry leader, campus pastor, and Family Pastor. He has toured the country and internationally speaking at synods, conferences, districts, and ministeriums sharing his reflection of proclaiming the gospel in a post-Christendom age. Jay was the transformation pastor of Jacob’s Porch, a campus ministry at The Ohio State University that continues to be a model for ministry relating to young adults. He was also the closing preacher of the 2006 ELCA Youth Gathering. Jay’s passion is to see the transformative power of the gospel come alive in people and organizations as they explore the mission God is calling them to today. Jay is the Pastor for Family Life at Abiding Hope Church, Littleton, Colorado. He is proud of his amazing wife and four wonderful kids.
Jane Jebsen
Jane wants to live in a world filled with innovative faith, pets that don’t shed, and where ice cream and Diet Dr Pepper are health foods! In the meantime, with over 37 years of diverse ministry experience, ranging from small intimate settings to large congregations, Jane has learned the power of embracing how each person has been created uniquely in order to follow God on mission in the world. After spending significant time in youth and family ministry before becoming an ordained pastor, Jane has shared her wisdom, laughter, and passion as a Bible study writer, speaker, workshop leader, and consultant, inspiring countless individuals along the way. Her greatest passions are developing leaders of all ages, empowering others, and helping individuals, organizations, and teams recognize and use their unique gifts to join Jesus in transforming lives around them. When she's not leading or empowering others, Jane enjoys curling up with a good book, traveling the world, and playing games with the people she loves.
Chad Kohlmeyer
chad.kohlmeyer@gmail.com | 720-862-7645
Pastor Chad Kohlmeyer’s personal call work has led him to focus on building relationships that offer sacred space to grow in spirituality, to create space for the Holy Spirit to work, and to offer stability, patience, and gentleness amid transition, change, and stress. As a trained coach and consultant, his Pinnacle West work walks with individuals, leadership teams, and congregations to discover vibrant, vision-driven relationships and community in the way of Jesus. He believes that intentional discernment work in a time of accelerated change is vital for congregational health. He is married to Aly (also ELCA clergy), and they spend much of their time raising their three boys. He enjoys curling, all the outdoor opportunities Colorado offers, but especially downhill skiing, which he attends to every chance he gets. Chad grew up in northwest Wisconsin and has served at Atonement Lutheran Church, Boulder, CO (ELCA) since 2008, first as Associate Pastor, and since 2016 as Lead Pastor. Before 2008, he served a two-point congregation in rural Wisconsin.
Travis Norton
travisnorton@hotmail.com | 704-999-2284
Pastor Travis Norton has served as a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for 21 years. Originally from Utah, he has served congregations in Montana, North Carolina and currently serves a large congregation in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Having served on staff as an associate pastor and now as head of a staff of 25 he has an inside understanding of the importance and power of a staff that is aligned for mission, has love for each other and strong impulse to discern and follow the Spirit’s leading. He has a passion for helping congregations and congregational leaders unlock their God given gifts and achieve their full potential. When he’s not working you’ll find him baking sourdough bread or doing woodworking in his garage workshop or playing with his four children and wife Victoria.
Joel Pancoast
joelwpancoast@gmail.com | 970-744-8696
Joel Pancoast has been in ministry for 30 years in various capacities, serving in outdoor ministry, children and youth ministry, campus ministry, and in both associate and lead pastor roles in cross+generational congregational ministry. He has experience developing teams for creative, Spirit-led ministries in traditional, established churches through facilitating leadership development with both staff and volunteer teams, council/presbytery/vestry leaders, and coaching young leaders. He has a passion for helping congregations and leaders discern God’s identity, character, and mission to transform lives through the gospel, both within the church and in its broader context. He is a co-founder of a multi-congregation partnership for faith formation ministries and a safe parking shelter for unhoused individuals and families. Joel currently lives in Loveland, Colorado, where he serves as lead pastor at Zion Lutheran Church. His wife Sonja is also a pastor, currently serving as the retirement plan manager at Clergy Advantage. They have two children, currently in college and high school.
Caitlin Trussell
trussell@augustanadenver.org | 303-388-4678 x115
Caitlin Trussell became passionate about the church while working as a nurse for children with cancer and then leading home hospice care teams. A cancer survivor herself, she’s energized by large doses of laughter and the impact of the gospel and faith communities on the experience of hope and suffering. While the mother of young children, Caitlin was active in the lay leadership of her small neighborhood congregation who encouraged her to go to seminary while she was Congregation President. As Past-President, she led other former presidents in facilitating a Healthy Congregations process. For the past 12 years, Caitlin has served Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver as their second Pastor and was recently called by them as their Senior Pastor. Her former call focused on community engagement and pastoral care, and her new call has included mobilizing skilled lay leaders through a successful capital campaign, strategic plan update, and complete staffing analysis. She loves the puzzle of congregational life and the ways that the church seeds hope in the world. Caitlin loves a good story told in person, books, television, and movies. She lives an active life along the foothills west of Denver with her husband Rob and rescue dog Sunny.
Pinnacle West Services
Please surf around with the tabs above to learn what else the Pinnacle West Team may provide.
Leadership Coaching With Individuals And Groups
Pinnacle West coaches are trained coaches, focused on bringing out the best in our clients. If you have a particular coach in mind, we will connect you with that coach. If not, we will get to know you and your aspirations, connecting you with the fitting coach. We are glad to initiate coaching groups when several leaders are ready to come together for growth and development.
Consulting with Churches and Denominations
When you need a process for moving your congregation or organization ahead, we design a process integrating your contextual dynamics with our experience resulting in strong movement forward. First, we ask questions and listen, learning as much as possible about your situation. Then we are able to suggest an approach to forward movement with you.
Presentations and Training
The Pinnacle West Team are skilled presenters and trainers, with the ability to contribute to your mission in various ways. When you describe your learning and growth needs, we will discuss possibilities together, exploring options. In addition to this Pinnacle West Team, the larger Pinnacle Team are also resource people for presentations and training. Clicking on the For Leaders tab will open a window into growth and development possibilities.
Transforming Church Initiatives
Over the years, Pinnacle Leadership Associates has developed approaches for adaptive transformation for churches. Though we regularly do visioning and strategic planning, TCIs are opportunities to work together over time toward significant transformation. Clicking on the For Churches tab provides more insights into TCIs.