Dr. Larry McKain is the Executive Director of The COMPASS Initiative. He is a graduate of Mid-America Nazarene University, Nazarene Theological Seminary and earned a doctorate in new church development from Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. In a ministry background that spans 40+ years, he planted 4 churches (located in Iowa, Virginia and Missouri), and taught the church planting classes at Nazarene Theological Seminary from 1995 to 2002.
In 1999, he launched New Church Specialties, a non-profit coaching/consulting ministry that served the Church of the Nazarene and 23 other denominations. In 2000, Larry wrote the curriculum for and launched New Church University, a coaching, training system that saw 5,400 church leaders attend between 2001 and 2008. After pastoring in Michigan and leading a turn-around of Indian Lake Nazarene Camp and Conference Center, in 2014 he was elected to serve as Superintendent of the Chicago Central District. And in 2022, he was asked to assume the leadership of COMPASS.
Dr. McKain has led COMPASS into multiple initiatives. COMPASS 1.0 has just completed a $6 million dollar matching project that helped hundreds of Nazarene pastors with debt reduction and retirement readiness. COMPASS 2.0 began January 1, 2026, in partnership with Nazarene Benefits USA and Districts. COMPASS 2.0 is a $3 million dollar matching project over a 5-year period to help thousands of Nazarene pastors establish an Emergency Fund of $1,500 or more.
Dr. McKain has also begun working on COMPASS 3.0, in partnership with Lilly Endowment, to address Nazarene pastor’s mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and financial wellness. While we do not yet know what the total dollar figure will be, our hope is that COMPASS 3.0 will become a multi-million-dollar project to benefit hundreds of Nazarene pastors. COMPASS also has a university program called “Deft Free in Five,” an initiative to help college students becoming fully debt-free, learn about money, become savers, and forever change their economic future.
Larry has authored numerous articles and three published books, but what fuels him is his love for the church and a love for pastors who have committed their lives to expand the Kingdom. He and his wife Denise have two adult children, Sarah and Wesley. The McKains currently make their home in Bourbonnais, Illinois.
If you would like Dr. McKain to visit your district or local church, simply contact us.
