Sarah Berger
biography
Sarah Benton Berger was born in Pasadena, California, and raised on a feed yard in Walnut, California,
as the youngest of three girls. From an early age, Sarah sensed God drawing her to Him. At a Campus
Life meeting during her freshman year of high school, she made a decision that forever changed her
life: she became a follower of Jesus Christ. “It was real, and it stuck from that moment,” says Sarah.
With a love for all things creative, Sarah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in illustration at California
State University in Fullerton. While attending Calvary Chapel in Brea, she met a young man named
Steve Berger. “By the time we first held hands, we both knew this was it,” Sarah says. Within only six
months, the couple was engaged and married. In 1990, they founded Calvary Chapel Pomona Valley in
Southern California, where Sarah directed the Women’s Ministry and Steve led the congregation.
Four years later, with three children in tow, the couple ventured to Leipers Fork, Tennessee, to plant
Grace Chapel. Over the next sixteen years, the church that began with four families grew to more than
four thousand people. In that time, Steve and Sarah welcomed a fourth child while they continued
serving as partners in the vision and administration of the church. “We are a team,” says Sarah, who
finds being the wife of a pastor a natural place for her. “I bless him as he goes along the way, and he
blesses me.” Together, the “team” strives to maintain the balance between ministry and family, “with
family being top priority.”
With a desire to see women grow spiritually, Sarah continues leading the Women’s Ministry in the
church, but she is quick to credit the team of women that surrounds her for accomplishing this goal:
“This is not a one-girl show,” she assures. Bringing both passion and humility to the ministry, Sarah
says, “My heart’s desire is to help birth new things and set women free to do them.” Among her
greatest influences are her close-knit circle of friends, who she says inspire her “not just by their words,
but also by their by pursuit of God.”
As a wife to Steve and a mom to Heather, Josiah, Cody, and Destiny, Sarah has lived her life leaning
on the truths found within the Bible, and specifically wisdom from the book of Philippians that
encourages her to be anxious for nothing, offer everything in prayer, and cling to what is good. In 2009,
Sarah held tightly to these Scriptures and others after hearing the news of a serious car accident
involving her eighteen-year-old, Josiah. She and Steve, with friends around the world, joined together in
prayer for a miracle. Three days after the accident, they released their son into Heaven on his
nineteenth birthday, honoring his decision to be an organ donor.
Sarah was prompted to seek the Lord like never before after experiencing the worst pain imaginable for
a mother. She adopted words from 2 Corinthians as new direction for her life so that she would be
reminded not to lose heart and to keep her focus on things eternal instead of the temporary. Already a
seasoned Bible teacher and speaker, her mission shifted to helping others find hope and healing by
trusting God through difficult circumstances.
In 2010, Sarah joined Steve in authoring Have Heart: Bridging the Gulf between Heaven and Earth.
They wanted to share the biblical wisdom and revelations they were gaining from the events
surrounding Josiah’s accident and Home-going. Published by Grace Chapel, the book chronicles the
couple’s journey from grief to hope, and its message is transforming lives around the world with its
fresh insight into biblically-minded grief and eternal living. All proceeds from the sale of the book will
fund a group of orphanages in the Dominican Republic named Josiah’s House.
For the past ten years, Sarah has also created jewelry with stones mentioned in the Bible as
foundational in the kingdom of Heaven: “This hobby is part of the scarlet thread that the Lord has used
to draw my attention toward Heaven for some time now.” According to Sarah, she is more resolved
than ever to see this life with eternity in mind. “After all, I have treasure on both sides of the veil, and we
are in this together.”