Terry Lieb grew up in a very small patch of the hard coal region of Pennsylvania. A born questioner, he immediately began challenging most everything around him—including his parents’ and teachers’ patience! Terry’s insatiable curiosity about people and how they organize and understand their lives led him to consider a career in the ministry, but eventually drew him toward counseling. After completing his master’s degree in counseling at Lehigh University (while supporting himself as a clown, juggler and fire eater in a church-affiliated traveling circus!), he worked as a counselor at a maximum-security state correctional facility for young adults and then a residential treatment program for children.

In 1980, Terry began his 30+ year tenure as the Executive Director for a nonprofit agency designed to support the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, providing counseling for individuals, families, and church professionals, as well as consultation services for congregations experiencing crisis or conflict. Terry quickly expanded the program to serve all faith traditions. Meanwhile, he was very active within the church, which—despite his iconoclastic views and outrageous sense of humor—somehow allowed him to serve as a deacon and a member of the Candidacy Committee since the mid-seventies.

Terry’s work with individuals, families, clergy, church staffs, lay leaders, and congregations gave him a unique vantage point on the faith lives and spiritual struggles of those in his care, and stirred his thinking about how people develop their God Image. He gave his first workshop on the topic in 1980 and has continued expanding and deepening his understanding of it ever since.

“Retired” since 2012, Terry is now busier than ever juggling a private counseling and consulting practice, traveling with his incredible life partner, Rita, and spending time with their sons and their families. A staunch believer in well-rounded wellness, he is also committed to daily dose of fun in his diet, which for him includes bow hunting, auctioneering, or a mean game of pickleball.