About Useful To God

Useful to God’s mission is to help the church defy the world and follow Christ. We accomplish that mission by providing free and low-cost learning resources and developing pathways to convert learning to undergraduate and seminary credit.

Have you ever confused taking a bath with baptism? I’m guessing the answer is no. But why? In part, it is because baptism involves rituals performed in community, whereas baths are normally private. Yet, we shouldn’t dismiss the fact that the world has no compelling story to tell about taking baths that would lead us to confuse it with baptism. It does, however, have those stories for other things like love, politics, economics, success, and what it means tobe a “good person.” The world tells stories that deny God… in fact, it can’t help but do so. Entertainment, the news, cultural norms, and even academic disciplines tell stories from the perspective of humans who don’t know God.

Useful to God equips Christians to retell the world’s stories with God at their center. Our free and low-cost training programs and resources provide God’s people with frameworks for thinking and acting so that the difference between God’s story and the world’s story is as apparent as the difference between a bath and a baptism.

Meet the Team

Emmitt Mitchell

Partner

Emmitt has enjoyed a significant business career in banking, real estate development and the automobile dealership business. He has served the spiritual needs for the community as a Founder and Chairman of the Board of Urban Youth Leaders, a large inner-city youth mentoring and training organization. He also served as a Youth Pastor and Sr. Pastor of Victory Temple Christian Life Center. In the civic arena he served asVice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Emmitt is a founding Board member of the of The Signatry — A Global Christian Foundation. The Signatry has facilitated charitable contributions of $3 billion dollars in the last 20 years. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Bott Radio Network and The Woodson Center. Emmitt is passionate about the Gospel of Christ and often volunteers his time, talent, and resources to many other ministries nationally and locally.

Emmitt and Karen have been married for 50 years and share a passion for faith, family, and community. They are the parents off our children and nine grand children. Emmitt is an active instrument rated pilot with over 3,000 hours flying time. In his leisure time he enjoys fishing, jogging and bicycling.

James Spencer

PhD, President and Managing Partner

After earning his PhD in Theological Studies, James spent more than a decade in higher education serving as a Vice President and Academic Dean over online and residential schools. He continues to work as a higher education consultant in the areas of online programming and enrollment management.

James has authored numerous books including Serpents and Doves: Christians, Politics, and the Art of Bearing Witness; Thinking Christian: Essays on Testimony, Accountability and the Christian Mind; and Christian Resistance: Learning to Defy the World and Follow Christ.

James serves as an adjunct instructor with Wheaton College, as well as teaching with Right On Mission. He also hosts the Thinking Christian podcast and writes for christianity.com. James has also written for the Wall Street Journal, Sojourners, Baptist Global News, Fox News, and the Christian Post.

James and his wife Kim have been married since 1999 and they have four children.

Alin Vrâncilă

Vice President

Alin has served in various academic roles in higher education, including his most recent position as Chief Academic Officer at Multnomah Campus of Jessup University. In addition to his experience in higher education, he has a background building, implementing, and optimizing technology systems. Alin runs Grain for Pain, a successful non-profit organization providing grain to South Sudan.

Alin has been involved in church ministry and international mission work since 2000. He served as an evangelist and motivational speaker with The Continentals (an international choir) and toured most of Europe and the United States. Alin is also the CEO and Founder of Grain for Pain, a non-profit organization operating in South Sudan and Uganda, and he is a founding member of Action Research Network of America, one of the first Action Research professional networks in the US. He has conducted several research projects in the US, Mexico, and Africa on various topics such as online learning, immigration, family, education, and the effects of war on society.

Alin and his wife, Dianne, have four children: Josephine Kate, Isla Joy, Christopher Jameson, and a baby boy, Henry Alexander. They live in Portland and very much enjoy the Pacific Northwest.

Nate Giarratano

Director of Sales

Nate has worked with numerous Christian organizations over the last decade including FCA and KLOVE. He ran a successful skateboarding ministry for almost 20 years. Nate also oversaw KLOVE’s major events in Kansas City and then nationwide.

Nate brings an impressive network of Christian ministries, artists, and athletes, as well as cultivating new relationships with churches and ministries for 310 Strategies.