About Us
Our Mission
Connecting people to God; Creating community; Teaching people to invest in others.
Our mission is threefold...
1. To help people get connected or reconnected to their faith. It starts by making a decision to personally follow Jesus.
2. To help people get connected in a meaningful way with people who will walk with them as they follow Jesus together.
3. To help people take seriously the great "co-mission" (together with Jesus who is with us by His Spirit) to go and make disciples who will make the next generation of disciples.
This is Legacy.
"The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith." - Billy Graham
Our People
Bill Duppenthaler
Executive Director
For 35 years Bill served in various roles on the Young Life staff around the Pacific Northwest and in France. Over those years he led thousands of teenagers to a closer relationship with Jesus and developed hundreds of leaders. In 2019, Our True Legacy was born out of Bill’s passion for discipleship, mentoring, training leaders, and encouraging people in their faith. Married to Jody since 1985, they have three married, adult children, two grandchildren, and two granddogs.
Mike Conan
Chief Operations Officer
Mike and Michelle have been married for over 20 years and they have four kids in the house. Mike was a lead pastor in the Presbyterian church for 20 years! He recently finished his doctorate in leadership and spiritual formation and wrote his dissertation on reaching men to revitalize the church. Now with Our True Legacy since 2020, he brings his passion for the church, evangelism, and discipleship.
Board of Directors
Randy Johnson is the founder of Apple Physical Therapy and brings the wisdom that comes from many years of serving on non-profit boards around the northwest.
Tom Herron is a retired pediatrician with numerous relationships in the Tacoma/Gig Harbor community and a long history serving on non-profit boards as well.
Mike Fish owns his own business in Tacoma and is one of the first people to join a Legacy small group. Besides participating in that group he also leads a second group.
More of Our People
Jody Duppenthaler
Women’s Ministry - part time
After serving for 40 years in a myriad of roles in Young Life - both in the PNW and in France - Jody joined the staff of Our True Legacy in 2021 to develop the women’s side of the mission. Jody’s gifts & passion have always been to encourage, build up, train and disciple women leaders, and simply walk alongside. Married to Bill for over 38 years, she loves partnering with him in ministry, as they’ve always done. They live in Tacoma, Washington and have 3 adult, married children, 4 grandchildren and 2 grand dogs!
Some of the things we do…
Provide Encouragement
In Acts 14:22, Barnabas was, "strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith..."
We encourage people to look to Jesus in the midst of "life" and to walk closely with Him, listening to His voice, and continually growing stronger in their faith. We do this through podcasts, training meetings, and purposeful conversations.
Mentoring/Discipling
Paul said to Timothy: "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." 2 Timothy 2:2
We walk with people through the realities of life, always pointing them towards Jesus. We look for "reliable men" to entrust with passing it on to the next generation - their “Legacy”. Our focus is to train leaders to be disciples who will make disciples.
Small Groups
"Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing..." Heb 10:25.
We facilitate small groups that meet together regularly for encouragement, bible study, prayer, accountability, and a safe place to share our "stuff". Legacy groups should also be producing leaders who will start other groups - again, the idea of reproducing disciples.
Retreats
“Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain where they could be alone…” -Matthew 17:1
We have regular retreats that give a boost of fun and encouragement to disciple-makers. We also facilitate generational discipleship with dads and kids through our dad and teen getaways.
Adventures & Mission Trips
In Acts 15:36, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let's go back and visit our friends... and see how they are doing."
Like Paul & Barnabas, we go on "mission trips" to encourage our friends to stay strong in their faith. We also organize adventures where we go together to different places to experience the Lord outside of our everyday environment.