In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Josh Williams shares about the intersection of faith and the civil rights movement in his parents’ lives and how that shaped his childhood. Josh talks about the bullying he faced as a child, growing through hardships, and his encounter with love and community at an Asian-American church in college. Finally, they talk about his determination to incorporate justice issues into leading a local church, and the practical ways in which Josh and Elm City Vineyard are taking ownership of their community.

Josh Williams is Vineyard USA’s Associate National Director for Evangelism and Justice. Josh grew up in Iowa and in 2004 he headed to the East Coast to study at Yale University in New Haven, CT where he majored in American Studies and Ethnicity, Race and Migration, followed by his entrance to Divinity School and getting plugged into Elm City Vineyard (ECV). During his time at grad school and in the first years of ECV, Josh started several evangelistic prayer groups on Yale’s campus, established an outdoor church for the housed and unhoused, and launched an incarnational inner-city neighborhood ministry that included a sidewalk Sunday school where many kids made first-time commitments for Jesus. In 2011 Josh was ordained as a pastor in the Vineyard and weeks later married his wife Tina (ECV’s Worship Pastor and a regular presence in Vineyard Worship recording projects). In 2014, Josh became ECV’s first full-time Lead Pastor, and he has enjoyed seeing Jesus grow the church in multi-ethnicity, justice, evangelism, spiritual formation, and Holy Spirit ministry. In the Vineyard, Josh has served as an Area Leader and an Executive Team member since 2017. He has also been on the Vineyard Ethnic Diversity task force since 2019. Josh and Tina recently celebrated ten years of marriage and parent two adorable little ones, Zoe and Joy. Their favorite family activities are going to waterfalls and beaches, eating ice cream, and singing loudly together.

Show Notes:

Works of Love by Soren Kierkegaard

The Quest for the Radical Middle by Bill Johnson and Todd Hunter

Convoy of Hope

Vineyard Justice Network