Mike Jones
Mike Jones, is an enthusiastic lead Pastor who arrived from Memphis ten years ago with strong ideas about mixing music and evangelism.
A graduate in jazz guitar from the University of Maryland, he toured around the world with bands throughout college and opened for some big-name acts before latching onto Christian rock. The son of a military Presbyterian minister, Mike struggled with his own faith before a painful break-up with his college girlfriend helped draw him closer to God and, in a matter of years, a life in the ministry.
A graduate of the Erskine Theological Seminary in Due West, S.C. Mike took over as Presbyterian campus minister at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. A stint as associate pastor at a Presbyterian church in Memphis followed.
Mike praises the Rev. James Ward, a blues artist with whom he worked after seminary. James showed him how to mesh music and religion and make it rock. It was high energy and good music that communicated with God. Services at Hope are similar. They mix entertainment with a deep reliance on Jesus to make sense of a world full of mystery. Mike leads services in a conversational style, encouraging closeness; congregants refer to themselves as family.
The married father of three is informal both at church and away from it. Following his lead, church members -- parents with children mostly -- leave their formal wear in the closet. Standard worship attire: shorts, casual pants and open-collar shirts.
Read Pastor Mike Jones' Ministry rooted in rock 'n' roll
