After retiring from the mission field of Indonesia, Stephen and his family moved to California (1996) to study at The Master’s Seminary (M.Div., 2001) and serve at Grace Community Church. He later joined the pastoral team overseeing local evangelism and international ministries, served as an elder at Grace, and as an adjunct professor at TMS. He assumed the responsibilities as the Executive Director for White Fields (2002-2007), a mission organization that facilitates the church-planting efforts of over a hundred national pastors throughout the world.
Currently, Stephen is the President and Founder of LifeGate Worldwide, an organization dedicated to evangelism and church-planting. LifeGate is also the vehicle for The Chronicles of Redemption, an evangelistic course tracing the redemptive elements contained in both Old Testament narratives and the Gospels. The materials have been translated into over ten languages.
He is also the lead pastor of Beacon of Hope Church in St. Paul, MN. The church plant launched in 2009.
The Lonettis have two grown children, Joseph and Amanda Clare.