Leadership
Levi Secord | Elder
Pastor Levi is the founding pastor of Christ Bible Church. Levi graduated with both an M.Div. (2013) and a Doctorate of Educational Ministry (2022) from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Levi has numerous publications with the Front Porch Republic, the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Christ Over All, and WORLD Opinions. He contributed the chapter “Bits and Pieces of Our Wasteland,” in Failed Church: restoring a Vision for Ecclesial Victory, and a chapter on politics and theology in Virtuous Liberty. He also hosts a podcast, the Worldview Minute which aims at building a complete Christian worldview. Levi and his wife Emily have four children, Gideon, Joshua, Daniel, and Tess. They love spending time together slaying dragons.
Ardel B. Caneday | Elder
Ardel B. Caneday is a writer, teacher, consultant, conference speaker, blogger, and adjunct professor at the University of Northwestern in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he served as Professor of New Testament and Greek for twenty-eight years until retirement in 2020. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has written many scholarly book reviews and articles, including essays in two significant edited volumes: The Faith of Jesus Christ: Exegetical, Biblical, and Theological Studies (Paternoster, 2009) and A Cloud of Witnesses: The Theology of Hebrews in its Ancient Context (T&T Clark, 2008). Dr. Caneday is also the co-author (with Thomas R. Schreiner) of The Race Set Before Us: A Biblical Theology of Perseverance and Assurance (InterVarsity, 2001). He and his wife Lois are happily married and reside in the north suburbs of the Twin Cities.
Phil Norris | Elder
Phil Norris was raised on a Pennsylvania farm. Having lost both his parents by age seventeen, he was regenerated in November 1971 by God’s mercy and writes about God’s sovereignty on his blog. He has served as a musician and music educator for over 45 years at the secondary, collegiate, and professional levels, teaching instrumental music, music education, music theory, and general and church music. In 2015, he authored the faith-based music appreciation text, Western Music SDG: A Concise Overview. His life verse is Matthew 16:24–25: “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.’” Phil and his wife, Julie, have been married since December 1981 and have three children and four grandchildren.
Tuezong Xiong | Elder
Pastor Tuezong is the Associate Pastor at Christ Bible Church. Before joining CBC, he was the resource coordinator at Desiring God. He holds a bachelor's degree in Pastoral Ministry and Bible from the University of Northwestern–St. Paul (2017) and earned his Master of Divinity from Bethlehem College and Seminary (2023). He regularly writes on his blog. Tuezong and his wife, Pa Kou, have been married since 2017 and have two boys: Piper and Wiley.
Jim Ballentine | Elder
Jim Ballentine’s father was a preacher, and in their home, God, the Bible, the gospel, sin, and Jesus were always front and center. He came to understand that without Jesus, he is without hope in this world, and he received Jesus as his Savior by grace through faith. Over 50 years ago, God blessed him with a wonderful wife, Marva, and together they have three wonderful children and six beautiful grandchildren, for whom they are very grateful. Jim spent 12 years in pastoral ministry before realizing, with God’s help, that his argumentative nature was not suited for pastoring, leading him to pursue a career in law. He has enjoyed practicing law for over 30 years and considers it a great privilege to serve as an elder at Christ Bible Church.
Tim Lovestrand | Elder
Tim Lovestrand graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education, with a proficiency in Voice. His career has spanned many roles, including private school principal, teacher, missionary to the Philippines, and software developer. Tim married Nancy in 1972, and together they are proud parents to five outstanding adult children, as well as grandparents to three adorable grandchildren.
Jim Ornell | Elder
Jim Ornell came to trust in Jesus Christ as his Lord, Savior, and greatest Treasure when he was 10 years old. Since then, his greatest joy has been to know God more deeply and reflect his glory through his life. His life verse is Psalm 31:14–15: “My trust is in you, O Lord, for you are my God. Moment-by-moment, my life is in your hand.” God has blessed him with several wonderful roles that frame his life and relationships: husband, father, grandfather. He loves doing life together with his wife and family since their marriage in November 1981. During this amazing journey, they’ve seen their three kids marry and establish growing families of their own, leading to 11 grandkids. His work’s focus has been building teams, driving strategy-to-execution delivery, and transforming organizations and processes. He loves seeing the big picture and understanding how all the pieces fit together. His primary role in ministry has been as a servant-leader to small groups within the local church. He graduated from the University of Northwestern in Saint Paul in 1982 with a B.S. and double-major in Business Administration and Bible. He is excited to see God at work using Christ Bible Church to bring all of Christ into all of life!
