Mel Lawrenz is the Senior Pastor of Elmbrook Church. He has served as a pastor at Elmbrook in a variety of capacities for the past twenty-two years, succeeding Stuart Briscoe as senior pastor in 2000.

Mel has authored or co-authored eight books for popular and professional audiences. His newest book is Putting the Pieces Back Together: How Real Life and Faith Connect, published by Zondervan.

Mel was born in Chicago in 1955, but grew up in Green Bay and Ellison Bay, Wisconsin. He earned his B.A. in creative writing at Carroll College, his M.Div. at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph.D. in historical theology at Marquette University. He and his wife, Ingrid, have been married for 28 years and have two teenage children. In his spare time, Mel enjoys playing guitar, biking, camping, and being outdoors as much as possible, getting near a body of water, preferably!