Our Vision
Fully integrated leadership embraces a holistic approach to life as a leader. What do we mean by this? Heart, soul, mind, and strength. Churches and organizations are often led by men and women who are intellectually astute to leadership principles; men and women who can assess problems and deliver solutions. However, we have discovered that there is so much more to leading and building healthy church cultures where staff and volunteers thrive.
Most leaders have received a great deal of training in the intellectual aspect of leadership. At Love Restores, we believe good leaders become better leaders as they become more fully integrated and lead from both their heart and head.
If we can serve you, your leadership team, or church through coaching, training, or teaching use the contact page to begin a dialogue.
Gospel Publishing founder and visionary Ralph Woerner.
Our Story
Love Restores Ministries finds its roots in the local church and the vision of a local pastor to impact not a single congregation but the larger community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ralph Woerner was a true visionary. Writing, printing, and publishing a small church paper was a way to communicate to a larger audience. So, in the early 1970s, Rev. Woerner began to print and publish an eight-page "good news" paper he called the Messenger. A couple of thousand copies were mailed to homes around the church he pastored in Birmingham, Alabama, Westside Alliance Church. Fast forward a few years, and the vision of one man and one church became a proven way for churches across the United States and Canada to have an extended outreach into their communities.
Under Mr. Woerner's leadership, Gospel Publishing Association (GPA) developed a way for churches to personalize the magazine so that those receiving the direct mail piece would view it as an outreach of that community's local church. GPA provided the article content, printed the publication, and mailed the paper from its offices in Birmingham. And get this, in its early years, a church could send this evangelistic good news paper to homes for less than the cost of a first-class postage stamp. Fifteen years of rapid growth led to countless stories of changed lives and churches welcoming visitors because of the publication. In the late '90s churches were just beginning to utilize desktop publishing and with continuing increases in mailing costs, the GPA’s publishing ministry plateaued.
The leadership of Gospel Publishing was transitioned to Ron Mitchell in 1999 as Gospel Publishing became Promise Network. Though the name changed, the mission remained the same. Promise Network remained committed to its mission of assisting the local church in reaching people with the message of hope and healing in Christ. Promise Network launched another outreach publication that was unique for its time. A full-color, 16-page digest-size and dual language publication (Spanish and English) was something new for Hispanic churches. The new publication would be called, Respuesta. Outreach Magazine recognized Respuesta as one of the TOP 10 outreach resources in 2005. Promise Network’s circulation was nationwide, in all provinces of Canada, and now being sent to Puerto Rico. God has blessed in remarkable ways and has done exceedingly more than could have been imagined.
In 2009 Promise Network concluded 35 years of serving the local church through its publishing ministry. Over that time, thousands of churches sent their personalized copies of our publications. To the glory of God, almost a HALF BILLION COPIES of Messenger, Answer, and Respuesta went to cities and communities across North America and Puerto Rico. Countless lives have been changed by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ as delivered through our publications.
Today Promise Network serves as Love Restores Ministries and remains committed to its vision and mission of assisting the local church across the world through its printed and teaching resources.
About Ron
Growing up in religious setting taught Ron a lot about traditions and behavior conformity. Those religious practices were dry, empty, and without meaning. It was as a teenager that Ron heard the gospel of Jesus Christ through the testimony of professional athlete, Al Worthington, and made to decision to live his life for Christ. Ron could have never imagined the places God would take him. Since that time, his life has been committed to helping others discover the fulfillment of living life full out for Christ.
Ron has pastored churches from coast to coast in the US. In addition to pastoring churches ranging in attendance from 40 to 800, he has also served as Director of Leadership Enrichment for a non-profit whose mission was to reach business and political leaders with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has been privileged to speak in many countries globally, even honored by being invited into an Islamic Cultural Center in the Middle East to talk about leadership.
Ron and his wife Elaine will soon be celebrating 46 years of marriage. In addition to pastoring churches, together they launched Marriage Encounter Weekends in South Florida and the Sacramento region of California. They are parents to three amazing kids who married awesome spouses. Jason is Teaching Pastor for a multi-campus church in PA. Jon is Growth Director of College of Prayer International. Rachel is a full-time mom and Health Coach, having served as an International Worker with the Christian and Missionary Alliance in the Middle East. At last count, Ron is a grandfather to a small tribe of 11 grandchildren.
Ron attended the University of South Alabama on a baseball scholarship. Later, he attended Toccoa Falls College and Trinity Seminary. He was bestowed an honorary doctorate by Toccoa Falls College in 2001. Ron is a Life Coach with Lifeforming Leadership Coaching and is a certified DiSC trainer. He is ordained with the Christian and Missionary Alliance.