Gene Appel became senior pastor at Eastside Christian Church in 2008, after serving as lead pastor with Willow Creek Community Church’s (Illinois) campus. In many ways, he has come full circle, having served as an intern at Eastside while a 20-year-old student at Lincoln (Illinois) Christian College. At 25, Gene became senior minister at Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and led the church from average weekly attendance of 400 to 8,000 during an 18-year ministry. Gene and his wife, Barbara, have three children, Jeremy, Alayna, and Jenna, with whom they love to relax at their lakeside retreat in Minnesota.
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