WHO IS JEFFREY HOLTON?
I am a beloved child of God. I am a husband to my beautiful wife Carrie and a father to my four awesome children Micaiah, Gabe, Simon and Berea. I am so thankful God, in his grace, has blessed me with my wonderful family.
My Story in A Nutshell
I grew up in the church but I did not always walk with Jesus. In my teenage years I walked away from the church. I lived a life outside of Christ until I was 21 years old. I was leaving a bar one evening and a man handed me a Bible tract and I took it. Something happened at that moment and I sensed God's voice and the Holy Spirit calling me to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
That evening I prayed to God for forgiveness and asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. From the moment I became a follower of Jesus, I had a hunger for God and His Word. I went out and bought a Bible immediately and I consumed as much of it as I could. Shortly thereafter I sensed God’s call for me to go to Bible College in California. I sold all my possessions and went out west and spent two years growing in my faith and understanding of God’s Word.
I graduated from Bible College in the early 90's and I have been blessed to have served inn full-time ministry for over 25 years. I served as a youth pastor at Fluvanna Community Church in Jamestown, NY from 1994 - 2001. I served as a Student and Children's Pastor at Church of the Cross in Fairview, PA from 2001 to 2007. I served as a solo the pastor for a small congregation in Spring Valley, WI from 2007 to 2014.
In October 2014 I left my position at the church in Spring Valley and I took some time off from the ministry and worked at a Walmart Distribution Center for 7 months. During this time God confirmed my call to full-time ministry and I began seeking opportunities the Lord brought my way.
In June of 2015 I moved to Bradenton, Florida and accepted the position as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship, Family Ministry and Pastoral Care at First Presbyterian Church. Almost immediately I saw there were many red flags with this church and in August of 2018, the Lord made it clear to me that I needed to leave First Presbyterian Church because of some activities happening in church leadership that was not honoring to Him. I do not believe God made a mistake in calling me tooth's church because shortly, thereafter God called me to bi-vocational ministry. Currently, I work full-time at Bradenton Christian School and I am also the campus pastor at West Bradenton Baptist Southside Campus. In 2022 I was and Southside were officially sponsored by the North American Missions Board (NAMB) as a Church re-plant through the Send Network. I am excited for what God is doing at Southside and I am prayerful that God will continue to do amazing things in this church.
God is and has remains faithful.
Things I Like
I enjoy reading and teaching the Bible, writing, and listening to music. I enjoy a good cup of coffee (I emphasize good... No Folger's or Maxwell House for this guy) in the morning hours or with friends who enjoy a good cup of Joe as well.
Some of my favorite authors include Timothy Keller, C.S. Lewis, Jack Deere, N.T. Wright, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Dean Koontz.
I appreciate a good movie and some of meh favorites include The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Star Wars, X-Men (well pretty much all the Marvel movies), That Thing Your Do, and generally a good romantic comedy.
I am a sponsored Church re-planter through SEND Network, an ordained Southern Baptist Pastor, a Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (4-C's) licensed minister, a certified Prepare/Enrich pre-marital counselor, and a MLB and MiLB Spring Training chaplain.
