Larry Stout was born and raised in the neighboring community of Montgomery, and throughout his life he has paralleled his studies and work with ministry activities.  It began in college when he joined a Christian music group that toured so often it took him five years to get his bachelor’s degree. 

After marrying his high school sweetheart Debbie, he joined the United States Air Force, and for the next eight years served with distinction (over twenty recognition awards and an Air Force Commendation Medal), while at the same time serving the church as a home group leader and Bible teacher. 

 After leaving the Air Force in 1984, he founded a church and served as pastor until receiving a call to the missions field to the USSR.  In January of 1991, Larry, Debbie and their three children moved to Riga, Latvia, becoming the first officially recognized missionaries to the USSR. 

 When the Soviet Union collapsed, Larry and Debbie found themselves asked to assist in the rebuilding of the new republic of Latvia.  Debbie started a rehabilitation clinic for children with cerebral palsy, and Larry was active in reforming the educational establishment for which he received a Ph.D. in 1997.  Larry was offered a position as an associate professor of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga that same year, and for the next nine years he worked teaching business and government leaders throughout the region. 

 Paralleling this time period, Larry was also extremely active in building the church in the republic of Latvia and that region of the world.  He helped start several churches, and was a founder and first director for the Baltic Reformed Theological Seminary in Riga.

 In 2006, Larry and Debbie returned to the United States to assist in the care of Debbie’s parents still living in Montgomery.  Larry joined Citychurch and a year later was installed as an elder.  Since that time, he has been an instrumental part of the leadership team.  Larry is an author of three books on leadership and human resource management and two novels.  He also is currently a weekly columnist for Lycoming County’s largest circulation newspaper, the Webb Weekly.

Follow Larry on twitter

https://twitter.com/StoutLarry