Meet Our Team
Scroll down to learn more about us. We stand ready to help you achieve your goals.
Michael L. Kern, III, CFA
Founder & President
Mike is passionate about seeing the local church thrive. His experience as a CEO and President in financial services organizations, coupled with his decades-long experience serving churches and nonprofit organizations, uniquely positions him to help churches and their leaders make good decisions.
Contact Mike
Email: mkern@churchway.com
Phone: (586) 212-4749
Mike Kern has significant leadership experience in both business and church organizations. It is this combination of secular and ministry experience that uniquely positions him to help churches and their leaders make good decisions.
Mike is passionate about seeing the local church thrive. Throughout his life, he has advised churches and nonprofits on a wide range of financial and non-financial issues, and has served on numerous church Boards of Trustees (often as Treasurer), as well as numerous nonprofit organizations (including several Chairman of the Board positions).
He currently serves as Trustee and Treasurer of his home church, Hope City, in Houston, TX; Chairman of the Board of Embrace the Truth (an apologetics organization); and Chairman of the Board of Beckoning Ministries (a ministry founded by Mike and his wife Amanda that revolves around Amanda’s speaking and writing ministry). His past nonprofit Board experience has included Convoy of Hope, CityServe International, and International Aid, among others.
Prior to founding ChurchWay Advisors, Mike spent 8 1/2 years as President & CEO of Crossmark Global Investments, an asset management company that creates and manages faith-based and values-based investment products. During Mike’s tenure, he led the firm through a complete transformation from a secular firm to a faith-based firm with an award-winning culture. He recruited and led a highly experienced executive team and developed and championed the firm's strategic plan which resulted in assets under management growing to over $6 billion.
Prior to joining Crossmark, Mike spent 19 years at Stout (an investment banking and financial services firm), the last 6 1/2 years as President and Managing Director. During his tenure as President, the firm grew from $33 million in revenue to $100 million in revenue with over a dozen offices across the country.
Mike lives in Houston and has been married to Amanda for 29 years. He has four mostly grown children and enjoys spending time on the water and participating in water sports.
Michelle Hutchcraft
Director of Operations
Michelle loves the local church. Her experience working for churches and non-profits, in everything from leading volunteer engagement programs to finance, enables her to bring keen insights to challenges faced by church leaders. Growing up as a Pastor’s kid, Michelle has a real understanding of the internal workings of a church and how that facilitates an outward Kingdom impact. Her passion is to help churches effectively administer so they can freely minister.
Contact Michelle
Email: mhutchcraft@churchway.com
Phone: (239) 565-5800
Michelle Hutchcraft is a dedicated ministry leader with a deep passion for serving the church, ministry leaders, and the body of Christ. With a lifetime of experience in ministry, from growing up as a pastor’s daughter to holding key leadership roles both within and outside her church, Michelle brings a unique perspective on church operations and outreach.
Her specific expertise lies in helping churches efficiently administer programs, enhance communication, recruit leaders, and expand discipleship efforts. Her skills in financial management, organizational strategy, and team development have contributed to the expansion and success of multiple church and nonprofit initiatives.
Michelle’s leadership roles include Business Manager of a Christian K-12 academy, League Director for Upward (a youth sports ministry), and Disaster Relief Coordinator. In these roles she created and implemented effective, repeatable systems that fostered growth and community impact.
She also has extensive administrative experience from her position at Next Level Church in Fort Myers, Florida, where she developed systems for event planning, volunteer recruitment, budgeting, and communications. Early in her career she served as a bookkeeper and accounts payable specialist.
Recently relocating to Houston after 37 years in Florida, Michelle has been married to her husband, Mitch, for 36 years and is a proud mother of two recently married daughters, Grace and Claire.