Pastor Andrew Farhat’s ministry journey did not begin in a predictable way. Before becoming Lead Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Denver, Colorado, his path moved through athletics, college life, engineering, personal struggle, and a turning point that reshaped the direction of his life.
Born in 1980 in Seattle, Washington, to Lebanese immigrant parents who had fled poverty and civil war, Andrew Farhat grew up in the Lake City neighborhood. His family’s story shaped a strong sense of discipline, drive, and resilience. What came later was faith, and the road toward that faith would become central to the pastor, teacher, and community leader he is today.
The Athlete Searching for Direction
By many outward measures, Andrew Farhat was thriving in high school. A standout multi-sport athlete at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, he made varsity in football, basketball, and baseball before the end of his sophomore year. His junior season brought him 2nd Team All-Metro honors as a quarterback, voted by the league’s coaches, along with the MVP award from his own teammates on the Raiders.
Athletically and academically, he had momentum. Privately, he was searching for something deeper. A party lifestyle that began with marijuana and alcohol in high school followed him into college at the University of Washington. The clubs, attention, and surface-level pleasures did not answer the questions he was beginning to ask about his life.
One night, sitting across from his mother, Andrew Farhat spoke aloud what had been building inwardly: “Why am I living this way? It’s not leading anywhere good. Why don’t I give my life to God?” Her response was simple: “Why don’t you?”
Two Incidents That Changed the Direction of His Life
The answer did not come immediately through a church service or formal sermon. It came through two serious events that arrived within a short period of time. First, Andrew Farhat was pulled over by police in Lake Forest Park, Washington, while driving at a .067 BAC as a minor and spent one night in jail. Soon after, while riding home from a club, a friend behind the wheel was involved in a serious car accident that came close to ending Andrew Farhat’s life.
He walked away from the wreck and told the people around him, “I’m done. I’m giving my life to God.”
Around the year 2000, Andrew Farhat began attending The Inn, a Tuesday-night student worship gathering at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle that drew roughly 1,000 students each week. There he was introduced to Greg Millikan, who invited him to read Letters from a Skeptic. The book’s treatment of the resurrection of Jesus and the problem of evil gave Andrew Farhat an intellectually serious way to engage the questions he was carrying.
Reading the Gospel of John alongside Millikan in a men’s group brought the theological framework into focus. As Andrew Farhat has described it, the Holy Spirit turned the lights on. God gave Andrew a new beginning, and faith.
Engineering, the Navy, and a Call to Ministry
Conversion did not immediately mean ordination. A mentor, Ben Gebhardt, advised Andrew Farhat to finish his engineering degree first and allow time for personal maturity. He listened.
In 2002, Andrew Farhat graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He then accepted a position with the U.S. Navy in Bremerton, Washington. Three years in that work gave him time to discern the next step and confirmed the call to ministry that had been forming.
In December 2004, Andrew Farhat married Daisy. In the fall of 2005, the two moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended Concordia Seminary. His theological formation was deliberate and rigorous. He distinguished himself academically, particularly in Greek and Historical Theology.
After his conversion to Christianity, Andrew Farhat studied Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy before concluding that the Lutheran Reformation represented the most faithful recovery of the New Testament’s teaching on justification by grace through faith. He graduated from Concordia Seminary in 2009 with a Master of Divinity.
First Call at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Roseburg
Andrew Farhat’s first placement was at St. Paul Lutheran Church and School in Roseburg, Oregon. The congregation was facing a financial deficit, a fractured leadership structure, and a legal dispute with a former teacher. It was not a gentle introduction to parish ministry.
His response was pastoral and practical. Within a year, the church’s finances were stabilized, the elder structure had been reformed, and the dispute with the former teacher had been resolved through direct conversation and mutual reconciliation.
Roseburg became a proving ground. It required preaching, teaching, leadership, reconciliation, and steady attention to the practical needs of a congregation. Those early years helped shape the pastoral approach that would later define Pastor Andrew Farhat in Denver.
Andrew Farhat and the Ministry at St. John’s Denver
In 2018, Andrew Farhat received a Divine Call to serve as campus pastor of the Wash Park site at St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Denver. The congregation included two campuses, a K-8 school founded in 1882, 15 city-wide Life Groups, and active mission partnerships in 10 countries.
From 2020 to 2021, he completed the Senior Leader Track certification through the Pastoral Leadership Institute. When the Lead Pastor accepted a call elsewhere in 2021, the congregation turned to Andrew Farhat to step into the role.
The scope of St. John’s Church Denver is significant. The church reaches more than 500,000 people with the Gospel each year. Its Early Learning Center – 8th grade school enrolls more than 300 students, and its two campuses serve a geographically diverse congregation across the Denver metropolitan area. Under Andrew Farhat’s leadership, the congregation has continued to develop its preaching, digital outreach, school connection, and global mission engagement.
Teaching, Outreach, and Family Life in Denver
Andrew Farhat’s ministry is rooted in preaching, teaching, and outreach within the Lutheran tradition. His work at St. John’s reflects a commitment to Gospel-centered theology, men’s discipleship, evangelism, Christian education, and practical engagement with the surrounding community.
That ministry also extends through digital teaching. From 2022 to 2024, Andrew Farhat co-hosted the podcast Transformed with Andrew Farhat, producing approximately 90 episodes on faith, family, and personal transformation.
Andrew Farhat and his wife, Daisy, live in Denver with their four children. Their shared ministry life reflects a commitment to family, service, and the local church. Outside ministry, he enjoys walking, weight lifting, biking, hiking, snowboarding, and NFL football, and both Andrew and Daisy are active participants in Denver’s food and travel culture.
A Pastor Formed by Transformation
The path from electrical engineering to Lutheran ministry was not accidental, but it was unlikely. Andrew Farhat’s story includes moments of discipline, failure, conversion, study, service, and leadership. Each chapter contributed to the pastor he became.
His early life in Seattle formed resilience. His conversion in college gave his life a new center. His engineering background trained discipline and problem-solving. His theological education at Concordia Seminary gave him a confessional Lutheran foundation. His first call in Roseburg tested his pastoral leadership. His work at St. John’s School Denver and St. John’s Church now brings those experiences together in a ministry shaped by preaching, teaching, outreach, and care for the whole community.
For Andrew Farhat, the story is not simply about a career change. It is about a life redirected by faith and formed for service.
About Andrew Farhat
Andrew Farhat is the Lead Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church and School in Denver, Colorado, a role he has held since 2021. He brings more than 15 years of pastoral experience to a congregation that reaches more than 500,000 people with the Gospel annually through two campuses, a K-8 school, 15 Life Groups, and mission partnerships in 10 countries. He holds a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington. His ministry is anchored in Gospel proclamation, discipleship, Christian education, and global outreach. More information is available through Andrew Farhat’s work at St. John’s Lutheran Church and School.