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Pastor Michael Patrick Murtaugh
Michael Patrick Murtaugh is the founder and pastor of Life Recovery Church. An accomplished public speaker, community builder, and ministry leader, Michael was born and raised in blue collar Allentown, Pennsylvania. He founded Life Recovery Church in March of 2021 in hopes of filling what he saw as a dire need in his adopted community of Cave Creek, Arizona.
Michael has been deeply involved in community ministries over the last 11 years and counting, having completed over 400 classroom hours in leadership courses and founding a number of fundraisers, programs, and campaigns aimed at aiding those struggling with addiction, homelessness, and poverty. Michael is a 2010 graduate of Calvary Addiction Recovery Center’s Christian Track, where he made the conscious decision to live by God’s will and spread his word in service to others.
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Pastor Mike Burnidge
For 24 years, Mike Burnidge served as church planter and lead pastor of North Ridge Community Church in Scottsdale, AZ. Prior to moving to Arizona, he lived in Dallas, Texas and worked as a pastor, Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Mike currently is on the pastoral staff at Scottsdale Bible Church and is also an adjunct faculty professor in the Marriage and Family Therapy graduate program at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology.
Mike holds a BS in psychology from John Brown University, a Th.M. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Marriage and Family Studies from Texas Women’s University. Mike and his wife Mary have been married since 1976 and have three adult children, two grand-children, and three grand-dogs. For fun, Mike loves to read, travel, and cheer on the Dallas Cowboys!
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Assistant Director of Music Annalyn Abraham
Annalyn Abraham is a 7th grade student at Sonoran Trails Middle School. She is a Junior Thespian and has been in numerous community theatre productions. Annalyn enjoys school chorus, community chorus and church chorus.
If you don't find Annalyn in a theatre or singing in front of an audience, you may find her at guitar or piano lessons. Annalyn is looking forward to helping feed the homeless at the Victory Church soup kitchen over the holidays and helping get supplies to refugees in need through Life Recovery Church’s Refugee Ministry.