About

Jake Thurston is an an outgoing lover of life, with a personal mission to create belonging wherever he goes. Jake is an ordained pastor in The Wesleyan Church with over 8 years of ministry and local church experience. He is the Lead and Founding Pastor of Resilient Church, a church plant launching August 2022 in Vermillion SD. Jake has also developed a project called “The BFFs Church,” which explores how the local church can remedy America’s loneliness epidemic through rediscovering the ancient Christian practice of spiritual friendship. He is also an adjunct professor of Bible for Indiana Wesleyan University and the University of South Dakota.

Jake is happily married to his wife, Kasey, and has 1 daughter, Amelia, and two cats, Blaize and Granger.