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Ben Johnson

NextGen Pastor

My Story

My journey in youth ministry can be traced all the way back to my childhood. In 8th grade my relationship with Jesus began because of a household that brought me up in the church and a youth leader who saw a lost student in need of investment. As I continued growing in my faith, during my high school years Christ made it clear to me that he was directing my path to invest in and impact students for Christ in the same way that I had experienced.

My vocational ministry began immediately following my graduation from Cedarville University as I jumped into what would become 12 years at Camp Berea in Hebron, New Hampshire. Through my time there I had the opportunity to meet and share the gospel with thousands of students a year attending the winter and summer camp programs. However, on top of all that, during my time there, I also got to see how God was growing the church throughout New England and began surrounding myself with a community of youth workers and pastors in the northeast region. It is through this very community that eventually led me to calling Grace my home.

I am honored to have by my side, both my wife Bethany and my daughter Penny in our family’s dedicated pursuit of God’s will for our lives. At Grace my passion for bringing people together to do life alongside each other continues to grow and thrive as well as my passion for seeing genuine life change in students as they come to know and follow Jesus. My passion also continues to grow for comic books, movies, and geek culture in general, but that is a story for another bio.

My Hope for Grace

My hope for Grace is that God will grow and use the thriving community he has drawn here, both students and adults, to reach the metro west area with the good news of Jesus Christ, and that in turn the ripple effect will go far beyond and have amazing eternal impact.