7 Questions with Church leaders

Name: Richard Sylva-Jaja

Current title: Senior Pastor

Current organisation: The Maker's House

I am Richard Sylva-Jaja, an exhaustive Bible teacher, author, Radio Pastor, writer, Bible scholar [I am a student of Bible theology], leadership expert, motivational speaker and single father of four wonderful kids [whom I love very much and have single handedly raised from their infancies]. I am 52 years old.

I’m passionate about ministry and helping people find God. I’m passionate about God; I live by the precepts of His word. My life belongs to Him and none else.

I am a person who is very much concerned about personal integrity. I have known the Lord while in my early teens; and started preaching since the 80s as a teenager but was formally ordained in April 1992. My relationship with God is worth more than life to me.

I got saved on the mid-night of 23rd of April, 1984 and a few weeks later, while praying in my father’s bedroom, I was gloriously baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Since this awesome baptism in the Holy Spirit, I have been passionately preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My goal in life is to be used by God to impact and be a blessing to humanity; inspiring them to defeat the inhibitions their past may have placed on their path to destiny, and helping them get to their highest horizon. This I have been engaged in for over thirty years.

Name: Jeremy Johnson

Current title: Family Pastor

Current organisation: Emmanuel Faith Community Church, Escondido California

For the last 7 years, Jeremy has been developing people and programs in church context. The goal is to help people understand and fulfill their calling wherever it may be. Prior to being a pastor, for over 10 years Jeremy worked in various business industries helping organizations grow.

Jeremy is married to Cara and they have two teenage children, Bella and Jay. Jeremy and Cara have the privilege to work and minister in their hometown where they have spent most of their lives. Cara is an elementary teacher and loves teaching kids. Jeremy has stepped into a new role recently to help minister to families and he gets to lead youth and student ministries teams developing the next generation of leaders. Their church has been a pillar in the community for the last 80 years and is taking the next step in living out the gospel locally and globally.

Name: Logan

Current title: Church Planter/Lead Pastor

Current organisation: Ignite LA Church

Logan, along with his wife, is a church planter and a pastor in Los Angeles, California. He is originally from the Midwestern United States, where he grew up in a very diverse church environment.

Logan's wife, Gabriella is originally from Bahrain, in the Middle East. Prior to moving to LA to plant a church this year, they were both Young Adult Pastors at a thriving, international church in the city of Omaha.

Before he was in full-time ministry; Logan worked in business development in the nonprofit field, helping to bring economic assistance to small business owners in the region.

Name: Curtis Cecil

Current title: Lead Pastor

Current organisation: Jefferson Nazarene

After 20 years in retail management (18 with Family Christian Stores) I responded to a call to ministry that I had felt when I was 8 years old.

While in retail I had been blessed to be a part of the beginning of 2 nonprofit groups leading missions groups around the globe, as well as to be mentored by many great leaders.

I became an Executive Pastor for what would become a network of churches. And now lead pastor of a church of 300 in NorthEast Ohio.

Been married for 20 years. We have 7 children from ages 18 to 5. Two of our children are deaf so we speak American Sign Language in our house.

Name: Godfrey Emuze

Current title: Senior Pastor

Current organisation: The Bridechamber Church Abuja, Nigeria

Reverend Godfrey Emuze is an Apostle of Jesus Christ, with an unusual prophetic function upon his life. He is the President of the famed Ministry Without Walls (M. W. W) and the Senior Pastor of The Bridechamber, a fast growing youth church in Abuja, Nigeria. He is a prolific writer and author, an outstanding teacher of God's word. His ministry has stemmed over a decade to campuses, churches, businesses, and diverse communities with diverse testimonies in the miraculous. He has a mandate to release destinies into the fullness of God by the Spirit of God, and has since been pursuing this assignment through all his speaking and writing engagement online and offline for global reach. He is the Author of the best selling book 'Greatness Guaranteed' in Amazon stores worldwide among other books. He is happily married to his beautiful wife, Pastor Mabel Emuze and blessed with a handsome son, Eriire Emuze.

Name: Michael Malcom

Current title: Founder and Executive Director

Current organisation: People's Justice Council

The Reverend Michael Malcom is the Founder and Executive Director of The People's Justice Council and Alabama Interfaith Power and Light and a licensed and ordained United Church of Christ Minister. Rev Malcom is the former Senior Pastor of Rush Memorial Congregational UCC in Atlanta, GA. He is also the Environmental Justice Representative for the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. He is currently the co-chair of the Building Power from the Grassroots Task Force with Climate Action Network International, and the co-chair of the Environmental Justice working group for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network. He currently serves as the International Liaison for the US Climate Action Network and co-chair of the Faith Working Group for the Climate Strike Coalition.
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Rev Malcom’s academic journey began at Beulah Heights University where he graduated May 2008 with an undergraduate in Biblical Education and Leadership. He was accepted to and began attending The Interdenominational Theological Center where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree in 2011. Due to his understanding of the role of a pastor he completed five units of Clinical Pastoral Education at The Atlanta VA Medical Center and AnMed Health Hospital in Anderson, SC. In May of 2016 Rev Malcom graduated from Terry School of Business MBA program at the University of Georgia. In October of 2017 he completed a post master’s human resource management course at Cornell University. In 2019 he completed the Convergence Leader Project with the Center for Progressive Renewal and the Just Energy Academy with Partnership for Southern Equity.
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Michael’s varied experience is coalescing in a powerful way to create an unparalleled opportunity for faith communities throughout Alabama to unite and raise their voice against environmental racism, economic oppression, environmental injustice and climate change.

Name: Tim Giovanelli

Current title: Senior Pastor

Current organisation: Manly Life Church

I am the Pastor of Manly Life Church - a Baptist church on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. My wife and I planted the church 8 years ago and have loved the journey of seeing it grow and develop into a thriving community. My passions are evangelism and church planting and we hope to see leaders raised and church plants happening in the coming years. Previous to ministry I worked in Business Consulting in London and my hobbies are swimming at Manly Beach, watching too much cricket and spending time with my wife and kidlets.

Name: Jim Whelchel

Current title: Missions Director

Current organisation: Christ's Commission Fellowship (Manila, Philippines)

Dr. Jim and his wife Dr. Lui Whelchel have been equipping and mobilizing leaders through Cru in the Philippines since 1981. Jim was a professor for over 20 years at the International Graduate School of Leadership, where he also served as Executive Director.

Jim helped develop Foundations for Christian Leadership, a certificate program of IGSL which has equipped over 10,000 pastors and lay leaders from 15 countries. More recently he helped develop a training process called MC2 that is being used by Cru and its partners to plant tens of thousands of multiplying house churches and fellowships in over 120 countries worldwide.

Jim is presently an Elder, Area Pastor and Missions Director of Christ's Commission Fellowship, overseeing CCF’s ministries outside of the Philippines. CCF has over 100 satellites in the Philippines and abroad with around 75,000 weekly attenders prior to Covid, and over 10,000 discipleship groups. Post-Covid, it has over 200,000 weekly online worshippers.

Drs. Jim and Lui have two children, Michael who with his wife Angel have a social media marketing business here in Manila, and Sharon who completed her doctorate in physical therapy and lives with her husband Josh in Southern California. They are still waiting for grandchildren.

Name: Terry Nightingale

Current title: Pastor

Current organisation: Southern River Church of Christ

Terry is a pastor serving in the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, having previously worked in education both in the UK and Perth. Terry has been involved in Christian ministry in a variety of ways over the years from teaching to evangelism, from music ministry to pastoral care.

Terry and Sue moved to Australia in 2003 from the UK. Today they have two grown-up children both married, and two grandchildren. They enjoy walking and watching Science Fiction movies.

Terry has just published his first book, 'Looking back to move forward', available from Kharis Publishing.

Name: Sally Contessi

Current title: Pastor for Children & Families Ministry

Current organisation: Queensland Baptists

I’m married to Tyler and I work as a part time registered nurse as well as a registered pastor with Queensland Baptists. I’ve been involved in kids’ & family ministries since I was old enough to volunteer! I’ve been on staff at Forest Lake Baptist since 2016 as the children’s/family ministry coordinator, and the state leader for children’s & families ministry for Queensland Baptists since 2013. In 2019 Tyler & I became parents to our beautiful 3 year old daughter through foster care.

Name: Aaron Fozzard

Current title: State Youth and Young Adult Ministry Team Leader

Current organisation: Queensland baptists

Aaron is married to Nikki. Their son is Ezra. Aaron is the Youth and Young Adults Ministry Team leader for Queensland Baptists. He is passionate about creating community wherever he goes, connecting people and people to Jesus. He builds community by drinking good coffee with people, working on events and projects with other leaders from across Queensland and Australia, facilitating networking events and coaching current and future leaders. When he is not creating community across Queensland you can find Aaron in his garden, at a local dojo, playing guitar, in the gym, sitting in a sauna, running, bush walking or hanging with his family.

Name: Matthew Doty

Current title: Visionary Pastor

Current organisation: Melbourne Lights Church

Matt and Elodie lead the eldership team at Melbourne Lights Church. Before taking over the leadership of the church in 2008, they were part of the eldership team for several years. ​They have ministered in many countries around the world including the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Africa. Matt and Elodie are a blessing to other churches and church leaders in the way that they strengthen, support and equip them to do the work of the ministry.

Matt is a confident and secure leader and has a strong preaching gift. He ministers with an apostolic anointing, laying strong Biblical foundations and bringing wise insight. He is a worship leader and he equips and trains others to lead worship in a way that ushers in the presence of God. He has a big vision to see the gospel preached and people discipled locally, nationally and in the nations.