Mike & Mary Sares

Mike Sares is the current director of Urban Skye. After having left the state of Ohio and a mix of secular and ministry jobs, Mike served on the staff of Corona Presbyterian Church in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood from 1994 to 1999.  In February of 2000, his wife, Mary, and he hosted a dozen young adults in their living room, beginning a series of meetings which resulted in the forming of Denver’s Scum of the Earth Church.  Mike served as the lead pastor for the next nineteen years while Mary mentored women and started Scum’s Children’s Sunday School.  In February of 2019, Mike passed the torch to the next generation of leaders while he and Mary embarked on a new journey called Steel Toaster Ministries.

Steel Toaster Ministries exists to encourage and equip a new generation of church planters, leaders, pastors, and missionaries—especially in the formation of ministries to “the left-out and the right-brained.”  Mike and Mary believe that there should be a “scum-of-the-earth-like” church in every city of the world and are currently working with folks both in the USA and abroad.  They’ve also learned a thing or two about working with young people and want to help aging Christian churches effectively pass their faith and the church on to the generations which follow.

As Director and Associate, Mike wants everyone to know that, “Urban Skye is important to the community for good reason.  One of those is that its ministry is to the in-between places the local church doesn't quite cover.  Urban Skye fills in the gap for people who are not yet in church or who are estranged from church.  We are an organization of ‘freelance pastors’ who have bonded together for mutual support, encouragement, and accountability.  Our supporters understand the out-of-the-box nature of what we do and partner with us to further the Kingdom of Christ in every-day places.