Staff Spotlight: Introducing the New Northwest Region Coordinator

April 29, 2020

We are excited to announce that Stephen Hackler has been approved by the Assemblies of God leadership as the new Royal Rangers Northwest region coordinator in April 2020. This position became vacant when Lloyd Fillis took the position as the Northwest district director.

Stephen Hackler began his Royal Rangers career in 1994 as a Buckaroos commander when Cliff Scheline, new pastor of Riggins Assembly and former Wyoming district director, shared his heart and introduced a ministry to boys called Royal Rangers. This new ministry had an immediate impact on his small community, and in a short time, the church had several families with boys involved.

In 2003, he attended NTC in Harlan, OR. Pastor Scheline encouraged Stephen and told him that he couldn’t get a true appreciation of this great ministry until he stepped outside of the local church.

Stephen continued to serve at his local church, and in 2007, he was appointed as district training coordinator for Southern Idaho. Realizing there was so much to learn, he began to explore all the possibilities that were available. With the help of great local leadership, Southern Idaho reenergized its training focus and began to target current and former outposts to help them grow the ministry in their local churches.

Stephen sees training as important for his personal improvement not just for others. He has attended Training Academy and currently serves as an instructor trainer. He has also attended National Academy, which has allowed him to serve on staff at NRMC events.

In 2009, Stephen began serving as the Southern Idaho district director after David St. George retired from the position. In 2016 after much prayer, Stephen stepped down as district director, believing the district had developed strong leaders to fill this leadership role. He believes that developing multiple leaders to replace yourself is the goal of a good leader.

In 2017, he accepted the position as assistant region coordinator for the Northwest region. He served in that positions until his appointment as the region coordinator.

Stephen and Kim Hackler have been married 33 years and have five children (four sons and a daughter). Their daughter earned the Gold Medal of Honor in Girls Ministries. Three of their sons earned the GMA in Royal Rangers. One son earned the GMA with Merit. For over 25 years, the Hackler family owned and operated a small grocery, fuel, and restaurant business in central Idaho. God’s timing is unique, and He moved both Stephen and Kim into late in life career changes that have allowed them more time to invest in ministry. Weekends, holidays, and paid vacations were something they never had while in business for themselves. Now they can invest more in children’s ministries.

In addition to his position as operations supervisor for public transportation in a mountain community, Stephen continues to work part-time as a school bus driver. While he must be cautious with inviting kids to church or Royal Rangers, a well-placed derby car on the front dash always seems to pique kids’ interest. In a town of 400 people (less than 100 students in grades 1-12), the church has half of them in Royal Rangers and Girls Ministries.

Stephen said that although he has experience with all age groups, his best connections are with the Discovery Rangers. That is where he has served as the leader since the new program was first implemented in 2001-02 in his church.

Stephen said, “I truly enjoy planning and organizing and recognize the importance of training and developing boys and men. I am ready to take on this challenge and am humbled and honored to be asked to meet this need.”