Leaders

Who
We
Are
 

Our Bishops and Rector/Pastor
Get to Know Archbishop Steve Wood — Diocese of the Mid-AtlanticArchbishop Steve Wood was elected as the first Bishop of the Diocese of the Carolinas by the College of Bishops on June 5, 2012. He was consecrated Bishop at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC by Archbishop Robert Duncan on August 25, 2013. Co-Consecrators included ACNA Bishops Roger Ames, Alphonza Gadsen, and John Guernsey.

He was installed as Rector of St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC by Bishop Edward L. Salmon, XIII Bishop of South Carolina, on September 1, 2000. Under Bishop Wood’s leadership, St. Andrew’s was described by the Charleston Post & Courier as, “one of the Lowcountry’s biggest church success stories,” growing to a membership of more than 3200 and planting new churches in Goose Creek, SC, and downtown Charleston.

Born October 12, 1963, Bishop Wood is the oldest of two sons born to the late Elanore Mitchell (Smith) Wood and the late Jewell Nelson Wood. He attended Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio, graduating in 1981. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Cleveland State University in 1986. He then completed his priestly formation at the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia where he earned a Masters of Divinity.

Archbishop Wood married Jacqueline Elizabeth (Benner) Wood on February 1, 1986. Together, they have four sons and eight grandchildren.

Archbishop Wood was ordained to the diaconate on June 15, 1991 and to the priesthood on February 1, 1992 by Bishop James R. Moodey, VIII Bishop of Ohio. He was appointed Vicar of St. Anne-in-the-Fields in Madison, Ohio where he served until April of 1995. He then served as Associate Rector and Chief of Staff at St. Luke’s parish in Bath, Ohio until his move to South Carolina.

The Right Reverend Mark A. Engel – On January 6, 2021 (Feast of the Epiphany), the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America consented to the election of the Rt. Rev. Mark A. Engel as Bishop Ordinary for the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. Bishop Mark was consecrated on February 13, 2021 as the third Diocesan Bishop of the ADGL. He previously served the diocese as Chair of the Standing Committee and Akron Area dean. He and his wife, Terri, have been married for almost 40 years and have three adult children.
Raised with the strong influence of a Christian family, he finally surrendered to Jesus as Lord during his time at Malone University. After graduating with a BA in Business and Economics and Christian Ministries in 1978, Bp. Mark quickly discerned a call to ministry and began his seminary education while beginning pastoral work. He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from Ashland Theological Seminary (Ashland, Ohio) in 1982. Over a span of thirty years, the Engels served in pastoral ministry in the U. S. and ten years of church planting and evangelism in Taiwan with the Friends Church. After establishing a new ministry focused on prayer in 2008 and planting a new non-denominational church in 2009, the Engels began a journey that would eventually lead them to the Anglican Church.
In addition to his pastoral and missionary service, Bp. Mark has also served as an instructor for the U.S. Center for World Missions’ Perspectives Course, as an adjunct faculty member for Malone University in missions and cross-cultural ministry, and as an adjunct faculty member for Regent University (Virginia) in Christian thought and leadership.

The Rt. Rev. C. Allen Kannapell, Bishop Suffragan – On January 10, 2024, the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America consented to the election of the Rt. Rev. C. Allen Kannapell as Bishop Suffragan for the Anglican Diocese of the Great Lakes. Bishop Allen was consecrated on March 16, 2024 in Livonia, MI as the first Bishop Suffragan of the ADGL. He has previously served the ADGL as Dean, president of the Standing Committee, and Archdeacon for the West Mission Area.
Bishop Allen met Jesus and the Holy Spirit as a young man in the early 1980’s through the youth group of St. Luke’s (Bath, OH).  After moving away from his church community and wandering from the Lord, the Lord Jesus called him back to faith while in college at the University of Virginia.  He graduated from there in 1991 with a bachelor of arts degree in English. Sensing a call to equip the saints for ministry, he served as a youth minister at an Episcopal church in Hudson, OH, and soon discerned a call to the priesthood.  Allen and Lisa Andrus were married in 1994 during his first year of seminary at Yale Divinity School.  After graduating seminary in 1997, he was ordained a deacon and then priested in 1998 while he served a parish near Michigan State University and as a chaplain for students. In 2002 he was called to be the rector of an Episcopal church in the Detroit area.  After three years there, he led the majority of the parish out to be realigned with faithful, global believers as they formed His Church Anglican in Livonia. Bishop Allen is passionate about Christian identity in Jesus and is a practitioner and supporter of the arts in the church. He serves the ACNA on the Trial Court for Bishops and helps parishes in the Diocese with the ministry of mediation. He remains two-thirds time as a Rector at His Church Anglican while one-third of his time he serves as Suffragan Bishop for our diocese.
Allen and Lisa have three grown children: Niko, Mary, and Jon, who is married to Emily.

Our Rector/Pastor: The Rev. Michael J. Bridge, was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. He lived in Pittsburgh for 26 years, attending the University of Pittsburgh and Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. Upon graduation from Trinity in 2004, Mike was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Duncan and moved to Ulysses, KS to work in the [Episcopal] Diocese of Western Kansas under Bishop James Adams, who ordained him a priest in December 2004. Mike served as Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church and Vicar of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church before leaving southwest Kansas to come to New Life here in Petoskey. Mike is very Orthodox in his faith and believes that the proclamation of the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus is the most important aspect of his calling. He loves to preach and teach and is very passionate about apologetics and sharing and defending the gospel. Mike has been married to Bonnie since July 31, 2004. They have six children: Mickey, Josh, Danny, Sammy, Fiona, and Sarah. In his free time… who is he kidding, there is no free time.
Our Vestry
2025 NLAC Vestry
Left to Right: Fr. Michael Bridge, Randy Flynn, April Honeycutt, Junior Warden; Dylan Williams, Liz Ostrander, Senior Warden; Erika Dielman, Carol Bowman, Taylor DuBois, 
Our Treasurers & Staff
Treasurer:
Wes Ostrander
Assistant Treasurer:
Susan Stout
Assistant Treasurer:
Sally Stump
Assistant Treasurer
/Stewardship:
Dan Wandrie

Our Administrative Assistant: Tracey Jepsen is a native of the Petoskey area. She and husband of 40-years (David) have three adult children; Tyler, Leann (Ryan), Rachel (Kyle) and granddaughters Heidi and Zeruiah. Tracey was a stay-at-home mom until Dec.’99 when she returned to work force first as a drivers helper/pre-loader for UPS, then as a part-time Pastoral Assistant at Agape Baptist Church and college student. In May of 2006, Tracey graduated from North Central Michigan College with an A.A.S. in Marketing. She is happy to be using her education and experience to further the Lord’s work here at New Life, where she has served since September of 2006.