John grew up outside of Washington, D.C. in Manassas, Virginia. In 1981 as a freshman at Virginia Tech, he trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru). After graduating in 1984, he joined the Cru staff and was assigned to Ohio State, where he met his wife, Katie, another first-year staff member. They married in June of 1985 and began serving with Cru at Indiana University. The Lord then called them to seminary for further training in biblical studies. They graduated from Columbia Biblical Seminary (now Columbia International University) in June of 1991. John earned a Master of Divinity degree and Katie earned a one-year Bible certificate. After seminary, John served as a youth pastor of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Troy, Michigan for two years. In October of 1993, he met representatives of Grace Community Church at a conference sponsored by the Evangelical Free Church of America, and by June of 1994, he had been called to serve as its first full-time pastor. He remained in that role until October 2021, when he became the associate pastor. He and Katie have two children, Ann (married to Sam) and Tim (married to Anna). They have loved living in Lima and being part of the Grace Community Church family.
