John Spurling

John Spurling

I am a seasoned ministry leader with extensive experience serving in growing churches. I have worked closely with senior pastors and church leadership teams to strengthen ministries, develop staff and volunteer leaders, support the vision of the church, and help navigate seasons of growth and change. I am passionate about building healthy, life-giving ministries where people can grow spiritually, leaders are equipped for effective ministry, and the church can fulfill its mission to reach people with the Gospel and make disciples.

STRENGTHSFINDER PROFILE

Learner Strategic Relator Achiever Responsibility

JOHN SPURLING RESUME

RECENT MINISTRY EXPERIENCE SUMMARY

EXPERIENCE

MOST RECENT MINISTRY EXPERIENCE

2023 - 2026

ELEMENT CHURCH

Wentzville, MO

EXECUTIVE PASTOR

CHURCH MINISTRIES

2018 - 2020

DIRECTOR OF NON-RESIDENT PASTORAL LEADERSHIP STUDIES

Served on the Executive Team with responsibilities to provide leadership and development for all church ministries including Discipleship, Small Groups, Connections, Volunteers, Leadership Development, Guest Services, Children, Youth, etc. Element Church is a non-denominational church located in the western suburbs of St. Louis with three campuses and a weekly attendance of 3,500. I also served as a Teaching Pastor.

SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Lakeland, FL

Until to full impact of COVID 19 was felt worldwide in June of 2020, I served as the Director of Non-Resident Pastoral Leadership Studies and adjunct faculty at Southeastern University. My position functioned within the Graduate Education department. During my time at SEU one of the programs I developed was a new regional Executive Master’s degree in Ministry Leadership. These executive cohorts launched in several locations around the country with over 80 new graduate students, and within two years the program increased graduate department enrollment by 110%.

2005 - 2017

GATEWAY CHURCH

Southlake, TX

ASSOCIATE SENIOR PASTOR

EQUIPPING AND LEADERSHIP

As an Associate Senior Pastor, I served on the Senior Leadership Team and developed the spiritual formation/discipleship ministry, new believers ministry, volunteer pathway, and membership resources for the church on six campuses in the Dallas Metroplex. And I was involved in all significant aspects of leading and guiding the church through various stages of growth and development. During my time on staff the church grew from 2,200 to over 32,500 in weekend attendance on six campuses.

2012 - 2017

THE KING'S UNIVERSITY
Southlake, TX

PRESIDENT

PROFESSOR OF PASTORAL LEADERSHIP

As chief executive officer, I worked collaboratively with the Board of Trustees to advance the strategic vision for the university, expand academic programs, develop healthy leadership teams, train men and women for ministry service, and secured needed resources to accomplish our God-directed mission. During my time as president the university also increased its enrollment by 255% to 867 ministry training students and added 9 new ministry degree programs. As president I was able to build strong relationships with pastors, churches, donors, business leaders, and community officials to strengthen partnerships and support ongoing university growth. I also led a dynamic team of 70+ full-time staff, and provided financial leadership and oversight for an annual budget that grew to more than $11 million.

TEACHING AND PREACHING

VIDEOS