Pastor John

 

 

Thanks for checking out our website!  I'm in my 15th year of full-time ministry and my seventh year as the pastor here at Victory.  Prior to entering the ministry, I spent ten years in the U.S. Navy, serving as a missile technician aboard the USS John C. Calhoun (SSBN 630, Blue), as well as serving at the Polaris Missile Facility Atlantic (POMFLANT) and SWFLANT DET, both in Goose Creek, South Carolina.  (That should be plenty of info for all you military folks!)

 

I gave my life to Christ in 1980 and within a month knew God was calling me into the ministry.  I ran from that call, wanting to go to college to get a degree in education, with the goal of teaching in high school and coaching football.  Fortunately, God was very gracious and patient with me!  For 13 years, I ran from His call, first in college and then in the Navy.  In 1993 at a church in Summerville, SC, I finally quit running and gave in to God's calling.  I was blessed to have finished my seminary degree within three days of getting out of the Navy.

 

My wife Tammy and I were high school sweethearts, graduating from high school here in Virginia.  In November 2010, we will celebrate 27 years of marriage!  Tammy is my best friend, greatest cheerleader and toughest critic!  Whatever success I have in ministry and in life I attribute to Christ first, and Tammy second.  We've got three awesome boys (Tammy says four, counting me) -- Zachery, Seth and Joshua.

 

People sometimes feel as though a pastor cannot relate to them.  Having traveled the road I have in life, spending some 17 years in the "real world" before going into the ministry, I've not lived in what could sometimes be considered an "ivory tower" -- from seminary straight into the pulpit.  I've worked side by side with "real" people, been where they have been, experienced what they have experienced.  Because of God's grace and patience in this area, I believe He has granted me insight, compassion and love for people I might not have gained had I gone straight from high school to college to seminary and then to a pastorate.  Then term "real" is often thrown around in the church today.  I believe that my life experiences have truly made me "real" in the human sense, while who I am in my relationship with Christ makes me "real" in the spiritual sense.

 

I invite you to check us out at Victory.  We are a church family striving to be "real" with each other and in our relationship with Christ.  We are not perfect, but we are trying each and every day to live out what Christ has called us to do, and invite you to join us on the journey!