User:Bfarley48/William P. Farley

William P. Farley is a pastor and author residing in Spokane, WA, United States. Bill is the pastor of Grace Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational evangelical church in Spokane, WA. With five other families he founded GCF in April of 2002. It has grown into one church with multiple campuses, all located in Spokane County.

In addition, Bill is an author. His articles have appeared in The Discipleship Journal, Enrichment Journal, The Spokesman Review, Journal of Biblical Counseling, etc. His article, God's Highest Passion won third place in a 2002 EPA award category.

His books include For His Glory (Pinnacle 1998, out of print); Outrageous Mercy (Baker 2004, republished by P&R 2009), Gospel Powered Parenting (P&R, 2009), Gospel Powered Humility (P&R 2011), Hidden In the Gospel (P&R, 2014), and The Secret to Spiritual Joy (Coming in Oct 2015). Bill and his wife, Judy, travel frequently speaking at conferences on parenting, marriage, men and women's roles, the centrality of the gospel, and a host of other subjects.

Bill is on the board of the local Gospel Coalition Chapter and the chair of the Spokane Spurgeon Fellowship, a pastors fraternal that brings in guest speakers three times a year.

You can follow Bill on Twitter @bpfarley, or at his blog, The Raven

You can contact Bill for speaking engagements by emailing bill@gcfonline.org or calling his office 509 448 3979.

Personal
Bill was born in Moscow, Idaho in 1948 while his father and mother were students at the University of Idaho. His mother, Elizabeth, had already completed her bachelors degree in music. Bill was the oldest of nine children in a strong Roman Catholic family. He spent his grade school years in The Dalles, Oregon. In 1962 his father went to work for Boeing and the family moved to Lynnwood, a suburb of Seattle. Bill spent his teen years in Lynnwood, graduating from Meadowdale High School in 1967. In 1971 he earned a bachelors degree in General Studies from Washington State University with an emphasis in Accounting. While a student at W.S.U. he met Judy Stroh, the love of his life. Judy was also raised in a strong Roman Catholic family. In 1970 Judy finished her degree in Interior Design and moved to Portland to work for furniture designer, George Schwartz.

After Bill and Judy's wedding in 1971, they moved to Spokane where Bill was enrolled at the Gonzaga University Law School. Although both were raised Roman Catholic, during his first week of Law School, through the Catholic Charismatic renewal, Bill was converted to Evangelical Christianity. Judy was converted a year later.

For Bill all things became new. Prior to his conversion Bill's only ambition was to be a lawyer. Motivated now by new ambitions Bill did not return for his second year of Law School. Instead, in January of 1975 he became an agent with State Farm insurance. His new career was a blessing. It provided him with a lucrative income plus the needed time to read and study. From 1976 to 1994 Bill served as a teaching elder at Kings Community Church, then at South Hill Bible Church from 1994 to 2002. Although God richly blessed his tenure with State Farm, in the summer of 1999 he retired from the insurance business in order to serve God full time and write.

Jonathan Edwards, C.S. Lewis, the Puritans, as well as a host of other "old, dead, white guys," have been the most significant influence on his theological thinking.

God blessed Bill and Judy with five children: Sarah, Anne, David, Ruth, and Joe. They also enjoy twenty one grandchildren.