John first felt a call to ministry when he was 16 years old. While worshiping with his church’s student band, he experienced an overwhelming call to surrender to vocational ministry and has dedicated his life to pursuing that calling. He has had the opportunity to lead in worship & production with some amazing musicians, including Keith and Kristyn Getty, Sandi Patty, Sidewalk Prophets, and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
In 2010, John began his formal career in music ministry. At this point in his life, John had already gained a high level of proficiency on multiple instruments and began studying voice after winning the Tarr Music Full Tuition Scholarship at Carson-Newman University. His freshman year of college, John started working as the Handbell Director at West Hills Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN, where he served for a year before being called to Beulah United Methodist Church as Choir Director. He remained at Beulah throughout his college career, taking a brief interlude to intern in the Worship and Arts Ministry at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA.
It was during these years that John also began falling in love with more modern expressions of worship. In addition to participating in Carson-Newman’s A Cappella Choir, Men’s Choir, Symphonic Band, Marching Band, and Jazz Band, John earned worship leader positions both in the on-campus student worship group Redemption and the Baptist Collegiate Ministries band Seed Company.
Upon graduating from Carson-Newman with the B.M. in Voice Performance and the B.M. in Music Theory, John began an internship in the Worship and Arts Ministry at Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston, TX. During his time in Texas, John had the opportunity to regularly lead worship at Tallowood and to co-lead the Tallowood student choir’s mission trip to England. At the end of the internship, John moved back to Knoxville to pursue his master’s degree and help plant a church with Second Baptist Church of Clinton, TN, called The Church at Sterchi Hills. John served as the founding Worship Leader at “Sterchi” for three years, overseeing the growth of its worship ministry from a single service to its current multi-service model.
During these same years, John also worked as a Discovery Officer and Grant Writer in the Advancement department at his Alma mater, securing new gifts from alumni and friends for the institution. John continued to faithfully serve in this role after being called to serve as the Worship Assistant at Central Baptist Church of Bearden in Knoxville, TN.
In 2017, John earned the Master of Arts in Applied Theology degree from Carson-Newman University. Upon earning this degree, Central Baptist Church of Bearden licensed him as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Shortly thereafter, John was called to First Baptist Church in Wilmington, NC to serve as Minister of Modern Worship, where he is currently based. In addition to faithfully serving each week at First Baptist in Wilmington, John uses his abilities as a worship pastor, church creative, audio engineer, and professional musician to help churches across the United States address their needs in worship and become more effective communicators of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is always looking for the opportunity to further the ministries of local churches.
John has earned a certificate in Mixing, Mastering, and Recording from Sweetwater Studios in Fort Wayne, IN under the instruction of Mark Hornsby. He has also completed Bethel’s WorshipU courses in Worship Leadership and Sound Engineering.
John has been happily married to his wife Muriel since 2015. They have an Australian Shepherd named Perdita. When not at work, they enjoy walking her around their neighborhood, reading, traveling, hiking and cycling. John is an American Mountain Guide Association certified Climbing Wall Instructor and spends much of his free time rock climbing.
