Though he was born and raised a second generation Italian in New Jersey, unlike many he was not raised Catholic. His grandmother, a devout Catholic who became a devout Protestant when she got saved, changed his whole heritage and so he was raised in a Protestant Christian home. His parents were active in church and he was too. He was the church organist from age 11 through college.
But he was not living for the Lord. It wasn’t until revival touched his church and a guy from his school got radically saved and yelled out to him at church, “Hey, John Paul, I didn’t know you were a Christian – why didn’t you tell me about Jesus?” in front of everybody, that he was broken by God and gave his life to Christ at age 19.
He met his wife Cheryl (pronounce the ch like the ch in cherry) during his sophomore year in college and was married 17 months later in her hometown of Pensacola, FL. They celebrated their first anniversary 8 months pregnant (“It’s the Italian way!”). He graduated with a bachelors in Business Administration from the University of West Florida, spent a couple of years in the computer industry and then got involved in his father-in-law’s cemetery and funeral home business. He continued through several acquisitions and spent a total of 22 years in the industry, growing from a location manager to regional president.
Over the course of his career he had three children in Pensacola and two more in Sarasota, FL. He and his family spent five more years in Beckley, WV. In a lot of ways, moving was instrumental to his family becoming interdependent. They carried many of their family traditions wherever they went, most from his Italian heritage and built around food and family.
But in February 2003, God called J. P. to full time ministry to serve as Executive Pastor and School Administrator for The Tabernacle, a church in Sarasota, FL. He served the last 28 months assisting his former pastor in his church in Birmingham in that same capacity. He was primarily involved in organizing and aligning their financial and operational areas before going part-time earlier this year (2010).
“We’re entering the ‘empty nest’ season of our lives,” he says, “as our younest, Gina, will be graduating high school this spring and heading to Auburn University in the fall.” His other children are:
- Eleanor, age 19, who will be completing her second year of community college before entering the University of Alabama Birmingham in the fall.
- Pierce, 24, who is married, a graduate with his wife of Florida State and currently residing in Austin, TX where he is completing his masters in Music Composition while his wife is a nurse there in Austin. He will pursue his doctorate in the fall.
- John Paul, Jr., 28, who is single and a professional musician in Nashville, a graduate of Lee University.
- Carmen, 30, who has been married for 10 years and resides in Birmingham with her husband, who is a manager for Wells Fargo, and their three children, Adeline, Will and Emily.
“Cheryl and I are very excited about being a long-term part of the Central family,” he says. They are looking forward to building relationships with the staff, members and community to expand the kingdom of God for His glory.
