Pastor Stephen & Kaitlyn McGough were installed as Encounter’s Lead Pastors on Sunday, March 13th, 2016.

Pastor Stephen grew up in Moline, Illinois.

 

He attended ISOM (Illinois School of Ministry) and is an ordained minister with the Assemblies of God.

 

Stephen and Kaitlyn first met on a missions trip to El Salvador in 2010 and were married on May 31st, 2014. They have two beautiful daughters - Melody Joy, born in December 2017, and Lily Joanna, born in February 2020. They have a new baby boy Samuel Judah who was born in May 2022. 

 

Stephen and Kaitlyn are passionate about seeing ALL Christians walk in the fullness of their calling. Their purpose is to teach and train the body of Christ to desire God above everything else in the world and to know His voice on a personal level.

 

Stephen and Kaitlyn LOVE to go on adventures – hiking, biking, tubing, anything fun and crazy – and eating ice cream.  They love sitting outside as a family and watching their dog Minnie run SUPER fast. 

 

Stephen loves playing and watching sports; the Fighting Illini, the Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Cubs are his favorite teams! He also loves to eat cookies and McRibs. 

Kaitlyn is a Nurse Practitioner. She loves dogs, music, the beach, baking, and traveling the world!

Melody loves Daniel Tiger, the water, playing outside, coloring, bacon and Oreos. 

Lily loves Bluey, anything her sister is doing, and any sweets. 

Samuel loves being with his mommy.