John Sommerville

John Sommerville, Vice President for Finance and Operations/CFO, joined the Northwestern administration in November 2021. Sommerville’s area of oversight at Northwestern includes a variety of the organization’s day-to-day operations, including business and finance, facility operations, campus safety, and information technology.

Sommerville’s vocational background features a blend of both ministry and business functions. He has had successful tenures as a senior pastor, an executive pastor, and in corporate business. After serving as executive pastor of the Wooddale Center, a ministry of Wooddale Church (Eden Prairie, Minn.), for six years, Sommerville left to become the founding pastor of City Church in Minneapolis for 16 years. Prior to his church ministry experience, John held various positions at General Mills, including the management of Cheerios and responsibility for new products and new market development for the company’s cereal division in Europe.

Sommerville has extensive board experience, having served as a past board chair for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. He currently serves on the board and chairs the finance committee for Christianity Today.

In addition to his undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas, John has earned an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and a Master of Arts degree in Christian Thought from Bethel Theological Seminary (Arden Hills, Minn.). He is an ordained minister in the Converge denomination.