Call Inc. Instructors
Call Inc. is blessed with a many faithful, successful, insightful and helpful people who support our ministry from an amazing breadth of life experiences. Our primary instructors include:
Pastor Wendy Berthelsen
Wendy is a co-founder, president and the primary teacher of Call Inc. She has been teaching and helping people seek and discover Jesus’ call for over thirty years as a teacher, pastor, workshop leader, consultant, and author of many Biblical resources including Custom Designed: A Life Worthy of the Call and Custom Designed Reflection Guide. She also serves as a Lutheran pastor. Formerly, she was a biomedical engineer, earning three US Patents.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, she received a Bachelor of Arts in General Science from Gustavus Adolphus College and a Master of Arts and Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary. She is the president of Call Inc. and its primary teacher. She is the author of four books related to the living God’s call, and mobilizing people in God’s call. She also serves as a Lutheran pastor with over thirty years of broad parish and para-church ministry experience. Previously, she was a biomedical senior research engineer at Medtronic Inc. for eight years, receiving three U.S. patents. She and her husband Joel have been married for nearly 40 years and have four children. For several years, she was primarily a stay-at-home mom. Blessed by the Holy Spirit with the spiritual gifts of teaching, leadership and administration, Wendy has been preaching and teaching about Jesus and His call, His word and life with Him.
Steve Harr
Steve is a co-founder, leader and teacher of Call Inc. He is also a father, husband, lawyer, speaker, and coach who has a wide range of experience with people in all walks of life. He is founder of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr P.C. Steve is a seasoned Call Inc. teacher. He has taught about God’s call for more than ten years.
Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Steve received a Bachelor of Science in Education from Texas Tech University and Juris Doctor from Texas Tech University School of Law. He is the father of two sons, husband of Kathy for over 35 years. He is a founder of Munsch Hardt Kopf Harr P.C. law firm (now Munsch Hardt) with offices in Dallas, Austin and Houston Texas. Steve has been an active practicing lawyer for nearly forty years. He is now mostly retired. Steve is blessed by the Holy Spirit with the gifts of leadership, teaching and giving. He has largely retired from teaching under the umbrella of Call Inc., but he is still available to consider teaching in various venues. Steve lives in Clifton, TX with his wife Kathy, and has two grown sons.
Our History & Founders
In the 1990s while working in parish ministry in a smaller rural church with limited funds, Pastors Joel and Wendy Berthelsen (left side of photo) became weary of seeking ideas, trying programs and frantically recruiting the people to execute them in order to help a church thrive; as a result, they began contemplating their scriptural roots. In their “home church,” they had learned about the powerful scriptural concepts of God’s call and the multiplication of Jesus’ kingdom work through His Body, the church. As well, they witnessed the Holy Spirit pouring out His power and gifts upon all followers of Jesus in order to accomplish His call. So instead of making up ideas or finding programs, they began to teach, train and mobilize ordinary people in God’s call. Over time, though unpredictable, fruit for God’s kingdom began to emerge through the lives of ordinary people in the local congregation with little money and no prompting or planning. No matter the size of the congregation, fruit for Christ’s kingdom was evident because the focus was on helping individual people hear God’s call and then mobilizing these unique people for Christ Jesus’ kingdom.
Crucial to the Berthelsens’ understanding and practice of ministry was the Biblical Greek word for “church,” ekklesia, that literally means “called out ones.” Church is: “ones” … ordinary people “called” by Christ Jesus our Lord through the Gospel to go “out,” transforming the world with His Gospel and in His name. Thus, the living God’s call is crucial to being the “church.” Being pastors within the Lutheran tradition, the Berthelsens also knew that Martin Luther also understood these crucial and powerful scriptural concepts, and taught about the importance of “call” or “vocation” to being the church. Later, the Berthelsens served as pastors in a church in Cedar Hill, TX where Steve and Kathy Harr (right side of photo) were members. Prior to the formation of Call Inc., captivated and compelled by God’s call, Steve began speaking, teaching and sharing with others about God’s call in their own church gathering.
Prompted by the Holy Spirit’s guidance, Call Inc. was birthed in December 2006 by the Harrs and Berthelsens to extend the scope of teaching about God’s call beyond their own church context. It is a faith venture that combines many years of study, concern and focus on how to help people understand that God is alive and active in their lives and highly desirous of a unique relationship made possible by the life death and resurrection of Christ Jesus that leads to a more complete understanding of His plans and desires for life. “Call Inc.” or “Call Incorporated” is a metaphor for “church,” the “called out ones.” “Incorporated” is defined as bringing together people. So, Call Incorporated implies the bringing together of people and their calls, thus the “called out ones.”
Joel Berthelsen
Born in Grinnell, Iowa, he received a Bachelor of Science in Humanities from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary. He is a Lutheran pastor with over thirty years of broad parish and para-church ministry experience. Prior to serving as a parish pastor, Joel was a part of a Christian musical ministry full-time for nearly four years. Wendy and Joel have two sons and two daughters. Joel is blessed by the Holy Spirit with the spiritual gifts of leadership, shepherding, teaching and encouragement. He is a gifted musician and composer.
Kathy Harr
Born in Houston, Texas, she received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from the University of Texas. Kathy was the first female regional manager of a Fortune Five Hundred company and active in the work force for 13 years. She left the work force to be a stay-at-home mom. She is the mother of two sons, and wife of Steve for more than 40 years. Kathy is blessed by the Holy Spirit with the spiritual gifts of leadership, administration and hospitality. She is actively involved in her church and community.