Meet Joe

YTH Collective Founder Via Church – Clovis, CA

At the age of 18, Joe attended a youth service that altered the course of his life. Growing up he loved playing football and had the opportunity to play at the collegiate level. This was his childhood dream in hopes to later pursue a career in the NFL. In 2007, four months after making the decision to follow Jesus, Joe was invited to his first summer youth camp where he was called to full-time ministry. From there, he decided to hang up his cleats and move two hours away to attend a two year internship that would help him develop his ministry gifts and position him to pursue God’s calling for his life. As he moved forward, navigating through the unknowns of pursuing his calling, God began to unlock the passion and desire to see the next generation experience the same freedom he did the night he attended his first youth service.

In 2012, after completing his internship he accepted his first full time volunteer staff position as a Youth Pastor. For nearly five years he built a youth ministry while working multiple jobs to fuel the dream. In 2017, after building healthy youth ministries at two different locations he was offered his first full time paid position as a lead Youth Pastor. After building a life-giving, healthy , thriving youth ministry of more than 500 students in small groups, COVID -19 left Joe and his family without jobs.

After praying and seeking God’s guidance, a door was opened for them to continue to youth pastor in the Central Valley at Via Church in Clovis, CA . Since then, they have seen God’s hand move in ways they have never experienced, taking a youth ministry of a few students to patoring hundreds in a span of 4 years.

In 2015, when Joe had been asked to start a youth ministry at a new campus location, he did what most youth pastors would do. He started researching how many schools were in the area and how many total students were there to reach. Curiosity led him to research the surrounding school districts and after a few hours he had totaled over 65,000 students in the valley. In that very moment he knew that there was not one church large enough to reach them and the vision of the YTH Collective was born.

A few years after that moment , one night while he was studying, he stumbled over an old (Article) from the last time Billy Graham was in Fresno. God began to enlarge the vision within Joe’s heart to reach the next generation in the Central Valley. He believes that what God started through the ministry of Billy Graham with 500 churches coming together under one purpose was just the beginning of what God wants to do in our valley.

In October 2020, Joe rallied other local youth pastors and together they hosted the first YTH Collective event with over 120 youth pastors and leaders in attendance. YTH Collective was born! Since the first gathering we’ve served over 600 youth leaders, 42 youth pastors, reaching 8 different cities and have partnered with local events that have seen thousands of students in attendance. And with the same desire, they continue to shift the culture in the Central Valley creating a space that partners with churches in building healthy youth ministries with healthy youth pastors so that the next generation can be reached with the message of Jesus Christ.

Joe, alongside his wife Shawnee, and two children, reside in Clovis, CA and continue to pastor youth and young adults at their home church.

(BOOK JOE FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT)