CRISTA’s new CEO takes reins

SHORELINE — There’s one foolproof way to introduce a new CEO of a large organization to all employees in just one day.

Organize a picnic.

Employees at CRISTA Ministries, Shoreline’s largest employer, gathered during their lunch hour on Tuesday, Aug. 1 outside the CRISTA campus, to welcome new CEO and president Bob Lonac during his first day on the job.

While employees enjoyed barbecued chicken and pulled pork, Lonac, accompanied by his wife, Kathleen, shook hands and learned new names.

Lonac succeeds Jim Gwinn, who retired in March after 18 years of leading the Christian nondenominational organization. CRISTA operates 10 ministries, King’s Schools, retirement communities and three radio stations.

“CRISTA is a phenomenal place,” Lonac said. “I expect to serve even more people.”

Lonac and his wife moved to the west coast from northern Virginia, where they lived for about five years while Lonac served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of International Justice Mission, which aims to help people suffering injustice and oppression.

The couple are making their home in Edmonds, but are not new to the Seattle area. They resided in Issaquah for four years and have also lived in Northern California and Colorado Springs, Colo. The couple has four married sons, one of whom lives in North Seattle’s Maple Leaf neighborhood.

The decision to move to the west coast was appealing, Kathleen Lonac said, because that is where their children reside.

“I wanted Bob to feel like it was his call to come, of course,” she said. “But I got very excited from the beginning when I started to think about being so much closer to our family.”

Owner of a small interior decorating business, which she said she will start up again in the area, Kathleen Lonac, 56, drove across the country at the end of June, accompanied by a friend. The 2,840 mile trip took six days to complete.

“I don’t usually remember numbers well,” she said, “but I remember that number.”

Lonac said he was recruited for the position by a CRISTA board member, who sent him the job profile and asked him to consider applying. Lonac said ‘no’ until his wife encouraged him to apply, he said.

“It feels very wonderful, very right and very peaceful,” Lonac, 60, said about being at CRISTA. “I am very enthusiastic to be here.”

From 1967 to 2000, Lonac served in various capacities in Young Life, a non-denominational non-profit organization committed to impacting lives and preparing people for the future. His last three years with the organization he was the senior vice president for the western division field operations.

His day-to-day schedule at CRISTA will vary, Lonac said, but he expects to attend meetings, spend one-on-one time with people and represent the organization externally.

Although he was born in Aberdeen, Lonac grew up mostly in California. He was not reared in a Christian household and had never attended church until he “met the Lord” through Young Life when in high school.

“It changed the whole direction of my life,” Lonac said. “Before then I never would have guessed I would end up here.”

Lonac graduated from Westmont College with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and earned a master’s degree in Youth Ministry through Young Life’s Institute in association with Fuller Seminary. He is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Church Alliance.

It is always a challenge to fill a new position, Lonac said, saying that “Jim (Gwinn) was well respected and did an honorable job.”

Bill Brown, who serves as the chief financial officer for CRISTA, said the board had the primary responsibility for hiring a new CEO. People Management International, an executive search firm from Minneapolis, was hired to conduct a country-wide search.

Six finalists eventually were narrowed down and in May, the decision to hire Lonac was made. Executive vice president Tim Beltz filled in as interim CEO until Lonac’s first day.

“My understanding is that he (Lonac) was the one who came closest to meeting the profile the board was looking for,” Brown said.