Free Grace Alliance

Our leadership team & staff

The alliance is a non-profit organization led by an Executive Council in accordance with our bylaws. Members have a voice in the organization’s direction through our annual conference and business meeting.

FGA Bylaws Nominate a member Executive Council job description

Current Members of the Executive Council

Executive Council
Carmen Pate
Carmen Pate is an author, speaker, teacher of biblical studies, and mentor to those seeking to discover their place in God’s story, encouraging women and men to fulfill their God given purpose. She is the producer and host of Saving Grace, a broadcast ministry of Grace School of Theology. Carmen’s past work experience includes serving as a Principal with Alliance Ministries, and Chief Communications Officer for Truth in Action Ministries.
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Executive Council
Charlie Bing
Before founding and directing GraceLife Ministries, Dr. Bing (B.A. Washington Bible College; Th.M., Ph.D., Dallas Theological Seminary) served 25 years in pastoral ministry—19 of those as pastor of a church he planted in Texas. He also helped found the Free Grace Alliance and served as its president. Dr. Bing and his wife, Karen, live in Burleson, Texas. They have four grown children and a growing number of grandchildren.
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Executive Council
Ed Underwood
Ed Underwood is the current president of the FGA Executive Council and founder of Recentered Group. During his career as a pastor, culminating with turning around the historic Church of the Open Door, Ed merged his leadership experience as an Army Officer and fireman with his passion for authentic church to help leaders and communities heal from wounds and toxicity that cripple vision and impede sustaining success. Ed has written books, numerous journal and website articles, and travels extensively to preach, teach, and equip leaders, teams, organizations, and churches.
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Executive Council
Juan Sanchez
Dr. Juan Sanchez currently serves as Dean of International Programs and Adjunct Professor of Bible Exposition and Music at Grace School of Theology. He is also a Reverend, an accomplished Musician and has served in several areas of ministry in many congregations in the United States and around the world. Dr. Sanchez has been married to his wife Kristen for over 15 years and they are blessed with two lovely children.
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Executive Council
Sam Newton
Sam Newton came to know Christ at the age of 17 while engaged with his church youth program in Corpus Christi, Texas. Sam has always embraced the doctrine of Free Grace long before he became familiar with the phrase and is now enrolled in seminary at Grace School of Theology in pursuit of a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. In semi-retirement, Sam finds himself as busy as ever as he continues leadership consulting, serving on two advisory boards, continuing his education, and serving as a church lay leader offering his many years of business and leadership experience.
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Executive Council
Tracy Marshall
Tracy Marshall is a content creator whose work helps women think clearly about marriage, family, ambition, and culture through a Biblical lens. She serves on the boards of Grace School of Theology, the Free Grace Alliance, and Transparency USA, an organization dedicated to making it easy for citizens to understand the money in state politics.
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Current Staff

We are blessed to have fantastic servant leaders who help coordinate the alliance’s efforts.

Staff
Jeremy Mikkelsen
Jeremy is currently the executive director of the Free Grace Alliance and has previously served as a Senior Pastor (Lacey Bible Church) and an Executive Pastor (Northwest Hills Community Church). He and his wife Carri and their three kids also served as missionaries in South America. Jeremy and Carri both hold Bible degrees from Ethnos 360 Bible Institute, and Jeremy also has a civil engineering degree, as well as a Master's in Biblical Studies from Chafer Theological Seminary (2023).
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Staff
Sarah Barnard
Sarah Barnard serves as partnership director for the Free Grace Alliance. She is also a corporate bankruptcy court reporter for an online financial newspaper and a youth volleyball coach. Sarah and her husband Dakota live in Lacey, Washington.
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Volunteer
Carri Mikkelsen
Carri Mikkelsen is the editor of Leading Grace Magazine. She is native to the Pacific Northwest where the trees stay green and the mountains are white. She is a graduate of Ethnos360 Bible Institute (1999). She has also received a BS in Anthropology at OSU (2007) and a Masters in Biblical Counseling from Calvary University (2022). ‍
View profile of Carri Mikkelsen