Mike Mack, 63, Was Always Willing to Step Out in Faith

By Jim Nieman 

Christian Standard editor Michael C. Mack wasn’t afraid to step out in faith.

He switched from Catholicism to New Testament Christianity in his early 20s, gave up his business career to enter seminary, left his full-time job to launch a Christ-centered website early in the Internet craze, and became editor of a 150-year-old magazine for Christian leaders after two decades focused on small-group ministry. 

For Mike, it all boiled down to the courage to engage with people on a personal level about their life in Christ. 

Mike Mack died of a blood clot Thursday, Aug. 24, while on a mountain bike adventure with friends in Colorado. He was 63. It was his birthday. 

Funeral arrangements are pending. 

Mike is survived by his wife, Heidi, two daughters, two sons, and hundreds of loved ones who are expressing shock, grief, and love for him via social media.  

FRIENDS REACT TO THE NEWS 

“Mike was a people person,” wrote Jerry Harris, who hired him as editor of Christian Standard in 2017. “He was thoughtful and compassionate and had a passionate desire to find out who they are in Christ. . . . He had a close relationship with Jesus, and whenever he experienced adversity in life, it only drew him closer to his Lord.” 

“Mike Mack was not only a good friend but also a mentor to me as well,” wrote Nick Lenzi, a small groups minister in New Jersey. “He was a selfless pioneer in small groups. Beyond his vast knowledge, he was humble, kind, generous, and thoughtful. 

Lenzi continued, “What I admired most about Mike was his genuine love for small group leaders. He consistently guided leaders on how to direct their members towards Jesus and emphasized the importance of stepping back to let Jesus take the lead.” 

“Mike was a great leader, and a compassionate, caring pastor,” Bill Donahue, president of the LeaderSync Group, wrote on Facebook. “He understood the depth of spiritual community and what it can do to transform lives. And he could engage with strategy and the more tactical aspects of group ministry. But he was always a people person first. And he was a shepherd to almost everyone he met and worked with. What a loss.” 

MIKE’S EARLY YEARS . . . 

Mike grew up in the small city of Deer Park, just northeast of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the youngest of four children in a Catholic family. He enjoyed sports his entire life, but his small stature required him to compete all the harder. He learned he had diabetes in 1971, which caused lifelong challenges but did little to slow him down. 

He graduated from St. Xavier High School, regarded as Cincinnati’s pre-eminent Catholic academic institution, in 1978. 

He attended his beloved University of Cincinnati where he graduated in 1983 with a degree in finance and economics. While walking across campus with a friend, they saw a sign for cheerleader tryouts. He had no experience, but tried out, and became a three-year cheerleader for the Bearcats. He also worked on the school newspaper. 

After graduation in 1983, he worked two years as an auditor/manager for Lazarus Department Stores in the Dayton, Ohio, area. He studied his Bible informally during this time but was seeking connection and the “right” church to attend. He found instant connection when he visited Centerville (Ohio) Christian Church (now called SouthBrook Christian) and was invited to participate in a small group. 

A short time later, in 1988, he was baptized by minister Tom Jones, and not long after that, he moved back to his hometown to start a graduate ministry program at Cincinnati Bible Seminary.  

Mike had become convinced God wanted him to use his passion for writing to serve Him. He received direction to enter the seminary when he visited Standard Publishing to inquire about a position, and the publisher at the time (Eugene Wigginton) and editor of Christian Standard (Sam E. Stone) took the time to speak with him and offer advice. 

He worked on the school paper at CBS, where he graduated with a degree in Christian education. He served in an editorial position at Standard Publishing from 1989 to 1995, most notably as assistant editor of The Lookout magazine under S.J. Dahlman, who remembers that Mike “simply and unabashedly loved Jesus Christ and committed himself to serving the Lord and the church. That love and commitment was the foundation on which he built everything else in his life.” 

AN ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT 

Mike saw a great opportunity with the rise of the global internet. He encouraged Standard Publishing to embrace that opportunity, but ultimately decided he needed to move forward on his own. 

He founded smallgroups.com, a resource to support and equip small group leadership in local churches. The website’s outreach grew to international influence and is now operated as a ministry of Christianity Today, Inc. 

Concurrently, he served in associate ministry roles with Bethany Christian Church in Anderson, Ind., and Foothills Christian Church in Boise, Idaho. He then served 11 years (2001 to 2012) as small groups minister with Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky., where he was attending at the time of his death. 

Since 2000, Mike had owned and operated Small Group Leadership, a ministry supporting leaders and church ministries through speaking, coaching, and consulting. He provided training via workshops, seminars, and conferences. 

Also, for 28 years, Mike was a freelance writer and editor. He wrote 8 books and more than 25 discussion guides. He had started another book project at the time of his death. 

MORE COMMENTS FROM FRIENDS 

“Mike Mack was the perfect person to assume the role of Christian Standard editor,” said Mark A. Taylor, a former coworker whom Mike succeeded as editor. “[He was] a local and national church leader with a track record of publishing success and experience, and he was absolutely sold out to God. 

“I worked with Mike in so many different capacities over the years, and in every role, whether as someone I was supervising, a colleague, or freelance contributor, he was always diligent, efficient, and creative,” Taylor said. “He was a man of prayer, and he took his work very seriously, always committed to doing his very best for God. It is most difficult to lose him. . . .” 

Christian minister David Faust, who writes a weekly column for Christian Standard Media, called Mike a “a devoted follower of Christ and a longtime friend.” In their weekly correspondence when he would turn in his column, Mike “always had encouraging words to share.” 

Frequent colleague Shawn McMullen recalled Mike’s love for the Word of God.  

“In nearly every personal meeting or phone conversation I had with Mike, he would share a verse or passage he had come across in his reading, tell me what it meant to him, and explain how he was striving to apply that truth to his life.”  

“I will miss him in this life,” McMullen says, “but I take comfort knowing that for Mike, hope has become reality. He no longer reads the Word; he’s spending eternity with the Word.” 

THE PAST TWO YEARS 

Recently, Mike struggled to recover from a serious knee injury that he suffered while mountain biking in October 2021. Ultimately, it required three surgeries and relearning how to walk and how to ride a bike. The trip to Colorado was the next step in his recovery. 

But, as usual, Mike also was focused on work and on evangelism. In his final “From the Editor” column for Christian Standard, which is slated to appear in the November/December 2023 issue, Mike lamented that most Christians are not committed to evangelism, and he confessed that his passion and fire to reach the lost had somehow “become dulled” over time, as well. He wrote: 

Keeping God’s love to ourselves should not even be an option for us. I confess my apathy toward Christ’s commission and command. I repent of my lukewarmness regarding the lost. I’m done with the holy huddle and playing it safe. I’m going back to the love and passion I had at first when I became a Christ follower.   

Will you commit to go with me?   

He concluded the column this way: 

I encourage preachers to move beyond preaching the good news to lost people who wander into our buildings—or our online platforms—once or twice a week . . . and begin (again) to envision, encourage, and equip our people to share their faith with the unbelieving people all around them seven days a week. Keep doing this until the church is doing what Jesus built it to do.   

Jim Nieman serves as managing editor of Christian Standard. 

Note: The cause of death in this article was updated.