HR Huntsman

Lead Pastor
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HR was born and raised in the deserts and mountains of southern New Mexico.  He was not raised in anything vaguely resembling a Christian home. His home was rife with anger, alcoholism and abuse. HR’s father died at a young age when HR was 9 years old.  His unstable and fatherless home took its toll on him as a youngster. However, while serving in the Air Force at age 19, his life would take a dramatic turn. While on a Christmas leave, a good friend invited him to church and HR heard the most amazing story ever… Jesus had come, lived, died and rose again to set him free. That good news changed his life forever.  All former life plans were scrapped and he began to study so he could give back to his Savior by investing in people. Along the way HR met and married the love of his life Gwen.  In her he found a supporter, encourager, lover and best friend who strengthened him and brought balance to his life. In 1994, HR & Gwen began Real Life Family Center with 23 people. Real Life Family Center is a growing, dynamic & life changing community of Christ followers who are committed to an authentic expression of Christ’s love in their lives and in the lives of people around them.  HR is all about putting faith to work and leading Real Life Family Center is one of his primary passions.  As HR says in his own words, “Real Life Family Center is built around the premise that there is always room for one more in God’s family, because at 19 years of age that one more was me. I am thrilled to be part of an exciting community that is changing our world – one person at a time.”

HR & Gwen are very happily married and have two awesome kids – Danielle and Nate, who are both active in their faith and ministry at Real Life Family Center.

Gwen Huntsman

Celebration Arts Pastor
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Gwen was born the youngest of 6 girls in a small town outside of Chicago.  She grew up in a traditional working class family with all of its usual bumps and bruises. The family moved to Colorado for a few years and was in the process of moving to Idaho when tragedy would strike the family. Her father died suddenly of a heart attack. Gwen was 9.  Her mom was now a single mother raising a large family in a new state.  Fortunately her mom was a strong Christian woman and this loss only strengthened her faith. Gwen grew up singing in church and has traveled across the country performing in different musicals.  She graduated from Priest River HS and moved to Spokane to go to college majoring in accounting.  It is there she met and married the love of her life. HR was then a very young Christian serving in the Air Force and preparing for the mission field as a Bible translator.

After they married and left the military to begin ministry, they were challenged to begin a new ministry work in Tacoma. Real Life Family Center was begun in 1994. As with all small churches Gwen has worn many “hats” as the church has grown. Gwen now serves Real Life Family Center as the Celebration Arts Pastor. It is her pleasure to use the gift of music God has given her, to lead thousands in worship before the Father.

Gwen & HR are still madly in love and have 2 awesome kids…Danielle & Nate.

Troy Asher

Discipleship Pastor
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Troy was born and raised in Sacramento, California.  He moved to Washington in 2000 for a job promotion.  He worked in the trucking industry for 15 years until 2005 when he came on staff at Real Life Family Center as the Youth Pastor.  In January of 2009, he took on the new position of Discipleship Pastor.

Troy has been married to his beautiful wife Lina since May of 1992.  They have 3 amazing children, Troy II, Krista and Rachel.

Troy loves all sports, especially playing golf!

Troy has a passion for connecting people in community and raising up leaders.  He desires to see people grow in their relationship with Christ and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Jon Asher

Thrive Youth
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Jon was born and raised in Sacramento California. He was heavily involved at Bayside Church in Sacramento, but really wanted to do full time ministry with Troy, his brother. Jon moved here in 2010 and took a painting job while jumping into our Thrive youth ministry, helping out his brother. He realized that this was what he wanted to do full time and knew his heart was called to lead our next generation. He has so much passion for students, he jokes: “ I get along with them better than adults.” Although it’s a joke you can clearly see where his heart is. In 2011, he founded our youth Sunday morning gathering, The Am. He continued to grow as a speaker and a leader and in November 2012, Jon became the Youth Pastor.

Jon loves all sports especially basketball, and beating his brother at golf. He loves hanging out with students and leading them to Christ.

Deana Webb

REAL Kidz Pastor
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Deana has served as the REAL Kidz Pastor at Real Life Family Center since the fall of 2005.  She is extremely passionate about ministering to the youngest members of our RLFC community and continually strives for excellence in providing safe, exciting experiences that teach and lead kids to Christ.

Deana’s passion for children originally led her to pursue a career in teaching.  She graduated from Western Washington University with a BA degree in Elementary and Special Education and taught in the public schools for 7 years.  After taking a career break to be a stay-at-home-mom, God led her to RLFC, where she began volunteering in the Children’s ministry and eventually accepted the position as Children’s pastor.

Deana and her husband Corey enjoy spending family time with their three children, Loralei, Ricki and Max. When they are not working or serving at the church, you will find the whole family on the soccer field.  All three kids play soccer with mom in the stands and dad taking pictures.

“I thank God every day for the opportunity to not only change a child’s future but also change a child’s eternity”

Steve Morton

Celebrate Recovery
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Pastor Steve was born in Wichita Kansas in the 1950s and married Tina in 1983. They have two lovely daughters and four adorable grandchildren. Steve has been the sole proprietor of Morton Painting for over 17 years. Now that he is a part time pastor at Real Life Family Center he has moved away from the painting business but he still does some estimating work.

He came to the Lord in 2001 after being diagnosed with hepatitis C. He began attending Real Life Family Center in 2002 and started doing volunteer work at the church. He did maintenance at the old headquarters building then continued to do so in the new building.

Steve became involved in Celebrate Recovery shortly after the death of Pastor Thom Carlson. In September of 2011 he began working on the remodeling of the old Weyerhaeuser elementary school in order to turn it into a discipleship house as part of Reconciled Ministries.

Steve’s favorite pastimes include watching Jayhawk basketball and being outdoors. Steve made his first attempt at summiting Mt Rainier in August of 2012.

Hilda Bishuti

Administration Pastor
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Hilda was born and raised in Lebanon in the Middle East into a Christian family.  Hilda accepted Jesus as her Savior as a child, but wandered away from her faith in her twenties.  After graduating with a Master’s in City Planning from the University of Texas at Austin (hook ‘em horns!), she returned to the Middle East, as a newly-wed, and resided in Jordan.  In 1995, Hilda returned to the U.S. with her two daughters, Mays and Masar and settled in Puyallup.
God started tugging on her heart to draw close to Him again and after meeting with Pastor HR, who told her about RLFC, she began attending weekend services in September of 2000.  Soon after, Hilda started volunteering in various administrative functions and was hired on as the Administrator in January of 2003.
Hilda considers it an honor to serve the Lord through equipping the ministries of RLFC with all their needs; organizing different church functions, and above all teaching INSTE, 101 and 201 classes, where her passion of seeing people’s spiritual walk become deeper is realized.
Hilda loves to spend time with her daughters and her three grandchildren. She enjoys gardening, reading, listening to music and spending time in God’s magnificent creation of nature.

Tina Morton

Business Administrator
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Tina was born in Ottawa, Kansas, in 1964. She met and married her husband Steven in 1983. They have two beautiful daughters, Alicia and Sarah. They also have 4 of the cutest grandchildren, Makayla, Carter, Delanee and Cohen.
Tina was hired as RLFC Business Administrator in March of 2006. She manages church business and finance operations.  She loves being able to serve God, through serving His people!
Tina‘s favorite past times, outside of her job at RLFC, include spending time with her husband and her girls, having sleepovers with her grandkids, playing with her dog Sophie, quilting, reading, and computing.

Danielle Huntsman

Program Coordinator
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Danielle was born in Eugene, Oregon into a family that loved God and loved each other. At the young age of just five years old, she accepted Jesus into her heart as her personal Lord and Savior. Since then, she has fully embraced the principles she was taught while growing up and is passionate about her relationship with God and with others.

Danielle has spent most of her life in Washington State, growing and being a part of Real Life Family Center. She has been involved in several different ministries but as she got older, her focus shifted to the tech team and eventually, to producing. Now, she oversees the communication between ministries during our weekend gatherings. She absolutely loves what she gets to do and feels honored to be a part of something so great.

Danielle is currently pursuing two Bachelor’s degrees, one in Christian Counseling and the second in Theology. Her passions include: reading, going on mission trips, and spending time with her wonderful friends and family.

Josh Gonzalez

Technical Director
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Josh was born in Van Nuys, CA and grew up in the San Fernando Valley with his parents and his brother and sister. His parents immigrated to the US from Guatemala and brought their Christian faith with them. Josh has been involved in church ministry since he was 12 years old when he learned how to play guitar for the worship team. When he was 18, he followed his family to Puyallup, WA and found a church home in Real Life Family Center. Josh's love for all things tech has turned into a passion for bringing people to God through visual and audio production. His experience playing on multiple worship teams has given him extensive insight into producing weekend gatherings, running sound, video, and lighting. He is working toward a Bachelor of Arts in Bible and Theology through INSTE and hopes to one day earn a degree in media and church technology.

Josh married his best friend Bree in October of 2010. He and a few good friends founded RLFC's Fourtwelve Young Adults ministry where he spends his Friday nights. He is also a youth leader for the Thrive Youth. He loves playing guitar, recording music, and photography. Josh is in love with the calling that God has placed on his life and is excited for what the future holds for Real Life Family Center.

Ministry Leaders

Messages for all ministry leaders can be left through our main phone number at 253-846-3875

Above & Beyond Teens • Gregg Bradley
American Sign Language • Katrina Miller
Building Maintenance • Steve Morton
College and Career 4:12 • Josh Gonzales
Drama • Travis Tilford
Hospitality Team • Mellanie Brown & Robin Anable
Information Technology • Bill Rowland
Local Outreach Coordinator • Althea Lebert
New Community • Britt and Theresa Stockrahm
Our Own Backyard / Food Services • Sean Reinicke
Pacesetters • Joanna Oliver
P.O.W.E.R. Team • LeRoy Kreischer
Prayer Team • Gloria Kreischer
REAL Life Warriors • Scott Spackman
Real Life Women • Renee Christensen
RLW - Agape Meals • Theresa Stockrahm
RLW - His Hands & Feet • Ruth Holt
RLW - Mentoring • Sheila Bernard
RLW - Quilting • Dorothy Russel
Set Up • Will Edwards and Bill Reis
Stage Production Crew • Steve Moberly
Ushers & Greeters • Jackie LaPlante
Wear It Out • Penny Edgar and Joyce Beebe