Mike Treneer, son of an Anglican pastor, came to faith in Christ through the Navigator student ministry in England. After graduating from Loughborough University as a chemical engineer, Mike worked for Shell and continued his involvement in a Navigator student work in Manchester.
He and his wife Chris joined the staff of The Navigators in 1971. They led a fruitful student ministry in Southampton for 4 years, also leading a young staff team comprised of an American missionary couple, a Syrian staff couple, and a British woman staff worker.
From the mid-seventies, Mike led the team which pioneered the Navigator ministry in Nigeria. However, a Muslim-led military coup and consequent difficulties in obtaining resident visas prevented the Treneers from living in Nigeria. Mike led the ministry from 1974-82 by commuting from London. While based in the UK during this period, Mike also acted as the secretary to the Great Britain leadership team and led the ministry in London. He and Chris developed a fruitful local ministry among people in their neighborhood in Southwest London.
In 1980 the leadership of the Navigator work in Ghana was added to Mike’s responsibilities. In 1981 Mike was appointed the Navigator director for Africa. Mike delegated the leadership of the Ghana work to an American missionary couple in 1982 and handed the leadership of the country ministry in Nigeria to a Nigerian team in 1984.
For 16 years Mike and Chris lived in Nairobi, Kenya, with their three children. Mike developed a strategy for the development of the Navigator work in sub-Saharan Africa and traveled extensively throughout the continent developing African leaders, teaching the Bible, shepherding missionaries, and coaching the pioneering of Navigator ministries in 20 countries. From the early 90s Mike began to develop a team to lead the work in Africa. In June 1998 Mike passed the leadership of the Navigator work to this African team and returned to the UK. During their years in Nairobi, Mike and Chris continued to have fruitful personal ministries among teenagers and business people and were also deeply involved in the life of Nairobi Baptist Church where Mike was an elder and chairman of the preaching team.
Mike was appointed an International Vice President of The Navigators in June 1998. After a year in England, during which Mike traveled to attend the International Executive Team (IET) meetings, they moved to the Navigator headquarters in Colorado Springs. In 1999 Mike became the IET point person for the Navigator ministries in Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltics—in addition to visiting ministries and speaking at conferences in Asia and the U.S. In 2001 the IET asked Mike and Chris, while continuing their other responsibilities, to lead the European Navigator work and to build a new European regional team. This they did for three years. In August of 2004, Mike was unanimously chosen by an international council to succeed Jerry White as president of The Navigators, effective January 1, 2005.
In addition to his love of family and friends, Mike’s main forms of relaxation are listening to an eclectic collection of music, reading, watching old movies and sports, and spending time with his grandchildren. His greatest sense of accomplishment comes from using his gifts in teaching and preaching, opening the Bible with large and small groups as well as with individuals.