Joel and his wife Jill have been members of Lamar Baptist Church since 2000. They were sent out by LBC in 2009 to serve with Africa Inland Mission. They lived in the country of Uganda as full-time missionaries and traveled extensively throughout Eastern and Central Africa where Joel oversaw the work in the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. They lived in Uganda until 2019 when God called them back to the US.
Joel serves as our Lead Pastor of Ministries and one our elders here at LBC. He has been in software development, missionary service, pastoring, coaching and teaching. Joel joined the ranks of grandparenthood in 2024 and are soaking up all the time they can with their grandchildren. Joel and Jill have been married for 27 years and have three grown children, Dara (and her husband Lukas), Dade (and his wife Abby), and Rachel (and her husband Isaac).
Joel is an ordained pastor and received his Bachelor of Applied Arts & Sciences in Speech Communication from Stephen F. Austin State University. Joel and Jill also lead the FUEL class (College & Career) here at LBC and love pouring into college students.