Jon grew up in Williston, ND, when his family moved back to his mom’s hometown, at the age of two, after his dad passed away suddenly. His mother impacts his life and leadership on a daily basis as she modeled bold faith in Christ, determination, and making progress regardless of circumstances.
In 1989 he married his wife, Teri (terihauser.com), graduated from NDSU with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering, and started his engineering career at Burns and McDonnell in Kansas City.
In 1994 he completed a MA in religious education from Nazarene Theological Seminary and he and Teri relocated from Kansas City to Minneapolis as Jon started work at Ulteig Engineers.
At the age of 28 Jon was invited to a two-day leadership event taught by John Maxwell. This was the first time in his life he heard leadership concepts presented. This experience triggered a passion and an interest to study, read, observe and apply leadership concepts. A light went on for him and he saw how leadership determines the effectiveness of families, businesses, churches, and any team or life endeavors. Two years later, Teri, heard John Maxwell give a two-day seminar on leadership laws and now Jon and Teri were off and running on growing as leaders together and investing in others.
While in Minneapolis, Jon and Teri were active at a new church and started learning church planting and church leadership concepts. In the fall of 1997, while driving by on Interstate 94, God gave Jon and Teri the thought of starting a new church in Fargo, ND, some day. The thought did not leave them and through a series of “only God” events they relocated to Fargo-Moorhead in March of 2000 to start Prairie Heights Community Church (prairieheights.com). The church has grown from three people to over 4,000 people with 55% of those attending not having attended church for at least five years prior to coming to Prairie Heights. Over 1,300 people have said “Yes” to Christ during the first 16 years of Prairie Heights.
Jon and his wife, Teri, have been married 29 years and are blessed with two children: Nate, age 21, and Brooke, age 9. Jon considers his marriage and his children his greatest opportunity to make a difference. He will always be a fan of the Williston Coyotes, NDSU Bison, Dallas Cowboys, Atlanta Braves, and Minnesota Timberwolves.