John is the Executive Director of Thriving Churches International www.thrivingchurches.com, part of the Office of the Senior Pastor at Bayside Church www.baysideonline.com , and the Founding Pastor of LifePoint Church www.lifepointnv.com, a groundbreaking church in Northern Nevada that reaches over 2% of their surrounding geography; 40% of the current attenders were previously unchurched. John is an Associate Trainer with Equip (the non-profit ministry of Dr. John Maxwell) and John has trained pastors, CEO’s and other business leaders, along with meeting with members of Parliament and the Kenyan legal society, in addition to being a Purpose Driven Church trainer in Kenya. John has also taught visionary leadership and ministry administration at the graduate school level. John is a gifted communicator of Biblical truth and life application and has demonstrated expertise in vision casting, leadership development, entrepreneurial activity, administration, and financial management. John is the author of High Impact Church Planting, Leveraging Your Communication Style, Leveraging Your Leadership Style, God-Size Your Church, Pastorpreneur, and Finding Your Place in God’s Plan, all available at www.thrivingchurches.com.
John formerly served as Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest (1993-1997) where he headed a mission staff supporting and encouraging the ministries of 270 churches located in four Western states. With his leadership, a remarkable financial recovery was coupled with deepened enthusiasm and increased commitment to the mission enterprise. During his four year tenure, baptisms doubled in the churches of the Region.
Prior to involvement in denominational activities, John served two churches, First Baptist Church of Oxnard, and First Baptist Church of Buena Park. His 11 years of ministry at Oxnard involved service in youth and educational ministries and as associate pastor, supervising all professional and lay staff. He ultimately became Senior Pastor of this church, where God worked in tremendous ways to bring growth and changed lives. His service at Buena Park was for 1 1/2 years as youth minister.
John is a fifth generation preacher with ministerial roots beginning with his great-great grandfather who was a lay preacher in Great Britain. His great grandfather was the third member of the Salvation Army, his grandmother was an ordained minister, and his father was a pastor as well. John’s primary gifts of leadership, teaching, and administration give him a passion for seeing people come to know Christ and fulfill their Kingdom potential.
John is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara (Ph.D, M.A., in Educational Administration & Organizational Studies), Fuller Theological Seminary (M.A. in Theology/ Christian Formation), and Chapman University (B.A. in Religion/Christian History, cum laude). John and his wife Pamela have been married for over 30 years and have five children ranging in ages from 25 to 11. They make their home in Genoa, Nevada
John is comfortable presenting in contexts as small as 20 and has previously addressed over 6500 people in a single setting. John’s speaking experience includes local churches, civic functions, conferences, conventions, business groups, and with senior leadership teams of churches, non-profit, and businesses; John has also taught professionally at the undergraduate and graduate school levels. For additional information on John’s availability to speak to your group, please contact his assistant Pat Carillo at patc@baysideonline.com