Dr. James (Jim) Welles began his career working with children more than 40 years ago. His first job in parks and recreation quickly led to being named the club director for Carpinteria Boys Club in Carpinteria, CA. Under his leadership, the club grew from 80 to 430 boys in three years.

Jim’s passion for discipleship and evangelism led him to become a Children’s Pastor. For the past 36 years, Jim has worked in three large churches. While serving on John MacArthur’s staff at Grace Community Church for 15 years, Jim oversaw up to 2,000 children a week and trained up to 700 volunteers a year. Jim pioneered the club program at Grace Community called Search which later became the foundation for Team 3 Ministries.

Jim has a Master’s in Recreation Administration from California State University, Long Beach, and graduated from the Grad Course at Multnomah School of the Bible. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from The Master’s Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Phoenix Seminary.

Jim is currently Founder and President of “Children’s Ministry Resources International” (CMRI), a nonprofit organization established to help the children around the world to memorize and retain God’s Word.

Jim and Sharon have been married since 1974. Sharon graduated from Multnomah School of the Bible and received her BA degree and teaching credential from Biola University. Sharon, a former teacher, has taught in the public and private schools including a summer in Ghana, West Africa with SIM. Sharon was the Children’s Director for John MacArthur before marrying Jim. After raising their two children, Michael and Michelle, Sharon became a Sunday School Coordinator and Team 3 Assistant Coordinator. Sharon currently assists Jim with CMRI. Their son, Michael, is the CFO of a church in California. Their daughter, Michelle, a teacher by profession helps CMRI through organizing and co-leading teacher trainings internationally with her husband, Ben.