Ben Staley - Senior Pastor
Ben entered the ministry in 1970 and has been the Senior Pastor at Northridge Friends since 1990. He considers it a tremendous joy to be leading a great church where the people long to grow closer to Christ, care for one another, and reach out to anyone in need with the love of Christ.
Ben & his wife Denise were married in 1970. She works in the Registrar’s office at Friends University. They have an adult son, Ryan, who is studying for his Doctorate in Psychology at George Fox University in Oregon. They also have one adult daughter, Rachelle, who lives in Oregon, with a ministry that matches abandoned orphans with loving families.
Ben’s ministry has taken him into the homes of our people here in Wichita, but also into the lives of people who are poor, in prison, as well as sick with disease and addictions. Ben is active in the Wichita community, serving as President of Heartland Transformation, working with other leaders in city-wide special events, and teaching classes at Friends University.
Part of his heart is in the Great Lakes Region of Africa where he has visited during times of civil war in Rwanda, Burundi and Congo, in order to present the healing light of Christ in dark places, and train church leaders in that troubled part of the world.
Ben expresses his objectives in ministry this way, “It is my desire to be a servant leader who raises up more servants for Christ, giving ourselves away in order to transform lives, our city, and even the world, one life at a time in ways that honor Christ.”