Rev. Dr. Don Francis

Pastor Don

I am happy to be asked to serve North Pointe United Methodist Church in
Racine, Wisconsin. Though I was raised in a Wisconsin family, I’ve had the opportunity
to serve God outside of Wisconsin in several urban areas and in the nations of India,
Korea and Japan.
While my father was a United Methodist Minister in Wisconsin, I personally
experienced the call to ministry while a student at the University of Wisconsin in
Madison and the call to urban ministry while a student at McCormick Theological
Seminary in Chicago. I also earned a Ph.D. from Union Institute and University.
My most recent appointment has been to the faculty of Lakeland University in
Sheboygan, Wisconsin and Tokyo, Japan where I have been Professor of Sociology
and Nonprofit Organization Management, and for several years Dean of the Tokyo
campus. During this time I was also pastor of churches in southeastern Wisconsin.
My wife Jeong Rim (JR) Lee and I celebrated 27 years of marriage in 2017. Son Daniel graduated in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and Daughter Hannah is a junior at American University in Washington, D.C. Daughter Teresa Stiles lives with her husband John and their 6 children in Indianapolis. With my brothers Paul and John, I am a founding member of the Francis Brothers Dream Team.
If you can’t find me doing the work of the Church, look for me walking or drinking coffee with JR, kayaking, and camping with Daniel, watching a movie with Hannah, watching a Packer game, reading or playing Sudoku.