Charlie was born in Massachusetts and came to California at two years of age. In sixth grade his family came to San Jose, just as the high-tech boom was starting. Charlie grew up in a family that honored integrity and intellectual rigor, but he did not know the Lord Jesus Christ until his radical conversion at the age of 15.

Charlie received his call to ministry at age 16 and has been serving the Lord fill-time since the age of 20. Along the way he has earned four degrees in History and Theology and been a credentialed minister for 24 years. Charlie and his wife Kathy have served as missionaries in Belgium, Associate Pastors and Senior Pastors in churches in the Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C. and the Northwest. Charlie has been a professor at Bethany College for 20 years and also taught at George Fox University, William Jessup University, Northern California Bible College and Western Seminary

God has blessed Charlie and Kathy with three great children, Michael, age 21, Charlotte, age 17 and Christopher, 14.