Biographical Information
The Reverend Dr. John P. Chandler
Leader, Ray and Ann Spence Network
for Congregational Leadership
john@rasnet.org
888.674.4362
Contact John about scheduling for speaking, series of messages, a book promo
John, a North Carolina native, leads the Ray and Ann Spence Network for Congregational Leadership, a network that connects leaders with each other and with best ministry practices. Prior to that, he served as Team Leader for the Courageous Churches team at the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, where he has served since 1999.
In his first two years leading this team, Virginia Baptists quadrupled the annual number of churches planted (from eight to thirty-four). During his tenure as Director of Evangelism and Church Growth, Virginia Baptists reversed a seven-year trend of declining state baptisms (from 9,129 in 2001 to 9,628 in 2002, increased attendance at its annual evangelism conference (from 188 to over 1100 at “21-C”), and saw 4,463 recorded student decisions for Christ at its Youth Evangelism Conference (double any other four-year period in the event’s history).
Chandler served as Pastor of Effort Baptist Church in Palmyra, Virginia from 1987-99. During his tenure, the church grew from 17 to 440 in attendance and baptized over 350 people, most of whom were un-churched adults. The church also increased its annual receipts from $20,000 to more than $450,000 and its annual missions giving from one percent of the church’s budget to 17 percent.
He has also served as Pastor of Twin County Baptist Church in Kendall Park, New Jersey; on a church planting team for the South Jersey-Pennsylvania Baptist Association; and as Minister of Youth at Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he was ordained. He is author of Courageous Church Leadership: Conversations with Effective Practitioners (2007, Chalice Press, available on www.amazon.com).
John and his wife, Mary, a nurse practitioner, have two great teenage sons, Preston and Roland. John enjoys playing tennis, motorcycling, and pulling for the Tar Heels.
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1983
Master of Divinity, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1986
Master of Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1987
Doctor of Ministry, Fuller Theological Seminary, 1997
Certification in Clinical Pastoral Education, Middlesex General University Hospital
Young Leaders Program, Virginia Baptist Center for Creative Church Leadership
Post-doctoral Certification, Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia
