Schedule a private consult with Pastor Michael
Pastor Michael is fascinated by quantum physics, science, faith, spirituality, religion, history, politics, economics, sociology, how ideas and documents become “sacred,” the nature of reality, the multiverse, and the intricate interplay of these ideas in the formation of our spiritual self-image and our world. Pastor Michael brings a unique blend of life experiences and philosophies to the congregation and challenges us to join him in self-reflection on our relationship with God and each other, all with universal love as our ultimate goal.
Rev. Junkroski was born in Baltimore, but raised on the Southside of Chicago, then Dekalb, Illinois; Dallas and Austin, Texas; Lake Charles, Moss Bluff, and New Orleans, Louisiana; and Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah. As a professional musician, Michael traveled the world. In addition to his Jewish/Roman Catholic heritage, travel provided Michael with a universal appreciation for the great diversity of people and their cultures worldwide.
For much of his adolescence, Christians of various denominations told Michael that if he didn’t “believe” in Jesus, he would go to Hell. This caused an outright rejection of Christianity for decades, even while Michael developed a relationship with Jesus the Jewish Wisdom teacher, mystic, and Ascended Master. It wasn’t until later in life that Michael realized his “unorthodox” ideas about Christianity and Jesus were, in fact, older than the orthodoxy.
Years of musical performances and spiritual questioning converged one Sunday when Michael was asked to play piano at a small Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation in Naples, Florida. After the service that day, Michael struck up a conversation with the Pastor, who was modern, well-versed in the historical context of the Bible, a fan of science, and a universalist (everyone is okay with God, no matter what they call themselves or are called by others). Michael continued to attend church. Eventually, he played in the band, then became music director, then attended seminary, and eventually was called as the Sr. Pastor of a church that now calls itself The Current, in honor of the powerful flow of loving, Universal Consciousness—a term we are using as a more contemporary and accurate way to describe God.
Pastor Michael is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a mainline, progressive Christian denomination. He holds degrees in Telecommunications from the University of Utah with a music minor, and a Master’s in Divinity from Lexington Theological Seminary, one of the nation’s oldest accredited theological institutions. Before becoming a minister he was a professional musician and co-owner of a successful technology consulting service.
Michael remains an active musician, with his wife Trudy, composing, arranging, and recording new music.
As a postmodern, progressive Christian minister, Pastor Michael teaches Jesus as both the historical, counter-cultural revolutionary he was, and the idealization of human/divine oneness Jesus teaches us all to strive to be—and assures us we are capable of becoming.
