joel willoughby  |  worship pastor

contact:   jwilloughby@newlifecrc.ca    604.852.1585

Name:
Joel Willoughby

What is your position title?
Worship Pastor

How long have you been working at new life?
I began in March 2011.


What areas do you oversee?
Worship Ministries

What type of education/training have you had?
I have a BA in Religious Studies (church music major) from Summit Pacific College.
I used to lead worship at a church called 'The Crosscurrent' in mission - before that I spent about 8 years at Saint Matthews Anglican Church as the youth pastor. While at Saint Matthews I was asked to start leading the youth band, and before long I was getting more opportunities to lead worship. I love playing music and leading songs of worship in church.

What is your favourite part of the job?
My favourite part of the job is when I have time to just focus on leading worship. I love the sound of a congregation singing! I also love encouraging people in their gifts and seeing them grow into what God wants them to be.

What do you hope to accomplish in your role?
I hope that I can encourage New Life Church to be a congregation that truly worships the Lord in spirit and in truth. No matter who is leading the songs of praise on a Sunday morning, I hope that we can all worship the Lord with everything we have! I hope that I can continue to encourage unity and trust amongst all the talented worship teams here at New Life.

Who are your immediate family members?
My beautiful wife Amanda. Her family lives in Langley, and my family lives in Ontario.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I like to spend time with my wife, play/watch sports, write songs and play music.

What is one thing about you that most people don’t know?
I really wanted to be a professional baseball player when I was growing up - for my first year of college, I went to a Christian University in the States (North Central University) and played on their baseball team. It was fun, but that was the year that I first felt a calling towards ministry and decided to start studying music and youth ministry.

Favorite verses in the bible:
Hebrews 13:5-6