Our Story

The Story of Our Pastor

John was raised in a large Irish Roman Catholic family in Columbus, Ohio. He was baptized, received his first communion and confession, and was confirmed in the 8th grade. He attended Catholic schools from 1st -- 3rd grade. His family moved to Clintonville where he found himself serving in the church as an altar boy and reciting a portion of the gospel "readings" at Mass. During that time he had a significant inner voice encounter with God on the playground of Immaculate Conception when he was eleven years old. He remembers clearly, that God said he would one day need to follow Him…really follow Him! For over a decade there was apathy and disinterest in following Jesus. While the Jesus movement was happening in the 70's, the hippie movement and drug culture also pressed in upon the youth. John was among those who searched for meaning in life, but not through Jesus. Eventually there was some movement toward spirituality. In 1981, John voluntarily placed himself in a rehabilitation program for substance abuse and dependency. This was a stepping stone towards eventually being opened to receive the gospel message. Two years later, at 23 years of age, John realized God's love and forgiveness for him and made the decision to follow Christ in a classroom at Calumet School during a Xenos Christian Fellowship Bible Study in November of 1983.

In 1984, John met his wife, Margi. They knew of each other from the same Christian fellowship they had both attended. John had decided to attend another church, when months later they decided to rekindle their acquaintance with a dance at a mutual friend's wedding reception. It wasn't long before they were engaged. They were married by Pastor Danny Meyer in March of 1985. God has blessed them with two children, Megan (and Philip their son-in-law) and Jamie. John has two undergraduate degrees. One degree is from a community college in Applied Sciences to practice Respiratory Therapy (RRT). He also received a B.S. degree in Pastoral and General Ministries, Cum Laude, from Southwestern Assemblies of God University. Margi, his wife, received her bachelor's degree in Music Education from the Ohio State University. Margi is passionate about the pro-life cause and spiritually mentoring other women. Margi also teaches private piano and voice in the home. In addition, she teaches at Music and the Arts music store in Westerville and is the Elementary Music Teacher at Tree of Life Christian Schools.