November 15, 2019

The Office of the Bishop is pleased to announce that Florida-Bahamas Synod, through a grant and in partnership with the ELCA Lutheran Disaster Response, has hired James Habermehl as Director of Disaster Response. Jim began his duties on November 16, 2019 and will work as deployed staff until he and his wife complete plans to relocate to Florida.

Jim Habermehl is a native of Wilmington, Ohio. He entered the Army in 1982, and retired from Fort Bragg, NC in 2004 where he was serving as a Support Operations Officer and CH-47 Test pilot. During his 22-year career, CW4(R) Jim served various duty stations, stateside and overseas.

Post military, Jim served as President of JCAS Group Logistics Services in Petersburg, VA where he provided logistics, transportation, and management consulting to Northup Grumman, BAE Systems, LMI Government Consulting, AAR Corporation, and the Defense Logistics Agency. Since 2011 he has also served as an EMS Helicopter Pilot in Richmond, VA, Dayton, OH and most recently, Columbus, OH.

His education includes a BS in Aviation Management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and an MS in Logistics Management from Florida Institute of Technology.

Jim has been married to his wife Christy for 32 years. Their married children are Alex and Amber Habermehl and the Revs. Sarah and Daniel Locke (pastors in the FL-Bah Synod), who have one child, Bennet.

Jim will take over the Disaster Coordination duties currently in Michele Hilton’s portfolio. “I am looking forward to working with Jim to develop robust disaster preparedness and response protocols”, says Michele, breathing a sigh of relief. “It is absolutely mission critical for us here in Florida to be ready, able and competent in this area of the ministry we share with our congregations. Jim comes with a wealth of logistic and disaster experience that will be a blessing to us all.”

Please join us in giving thanks for Jim’s willingness to serve, and keep him and his family in your prayers.