Jonathan Pragashpathy
London
Summary
Hi, I'm Jonny!
Thanks again for reading this!
I was born June 12, 1992 in Scarborough, Ontario. My family then moved to Hamilton when I was 8, and I moved to London to be closer to my girlfriend, who is now my wife! We've been married since October 2020, and it's been a wonderful journey!
I am a simple pastor on the voyage of discovering what the essence shepherding is like in the day to day. I long for the same thing that every worker in the Kingdom aspires to, seeing people come alive in the name of Jesus and enter into a relationship with Him. It's my longing to walk with people and be equipped to help them practically, which is why food insecurity is a huge burden on our hearts and "food" being one of our core values as a church. My wife runs a food bank and I work at a Starbucks bi-vocationally (in my 7th year), and I treat it as a sacred experience because that is where I meet people and relate to average working person. The Lord has been faithful and a number of my customers and coworkers have developed an interest in Christianity and Jesus; I've had the privilege of leading a couple of coworkers to the Lord. At the end of this, I hope you can resonate with where my heart is at and look forward to serving God's creation and stewarding it under the PAOC together.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Lead Pastor
The Table Intercultural Church
01.2024 - Current
- Oversee administration and management of all areas of ministry (hospitality, finance, worship, teaching curriculum)
- Developed our leaders through a leadership intensive cohort we've been going through since the Fall.
- Connected with other ministries serving post-secondary students, this presently is in the form of running ESL conversation circles at Fanshawe College
- Strengthened relationships among congregation members by facilitating regular fellowship events and opportunities for connection such as our prayer nights, game nights, and Family Sundays.
- Teaching and preaching around 3 weeks a month, while seeking opportunity to invite others to teach and experience service on the other end.
- We currently run Alpha at the college campus, this required me to build currently enrolled students to create the club, now I oversee them as they lead the club.
- Collaborated with church leadership to develop strategic plans for ministry expansion and sustainability.
Red Frogs Coordinator - Fanshawe College
Red Frogs Canada
08.2021 - Current
- Built rapport with the college administration and have now come to a relationship where we join them in public events in the city
- Built teams to serve at various college events, primarily during orientation week
- Create space where students feel welcomed and safe to express concerns, whilst being equipped to direct them to professional services as they need.
- Entering the party culture of college/university life and ensuring people's wellbeing through providing alcohol-alternative drinks and sober activities (lawn games, board games, trivia, etc)
- Filling out forms after every event to report to headquarters
Young Adults Pastor
Royal View Pentecostal Church
06.2021 - 12.2023
- Facilitated young adult nights where we go through curriculum in a discussion based setting.
- Coordinated volunteer opportunities for young adults outside the church to engage in missional activity in their local setting.
- Served as a mentor and role model for young adults in their faith journey, offering guidance and support when needed.
- Implemented evaluation processes to assess the effectiveness of young adult programs and have them give me a performance review, making adjustments as necessary based on feedback and changing needs.
- Developed some leaders to share in mentoring and walking with young adults
- Reported to both the Associate Pastor and the Lead Pastor on a weekly basis and with new ideas.
- Ran the church cafe during intermission period between the Sunday services.
Mobilization and Team Support
MoveIn Vision Team
06.2021 - 07.2023
- Attended various events and conferences across the region promoting the ministry of MoveIn.
- Shared the load of being the regional representative for London alongside another coworker. Together we tracked a database that organized everyone that has been a part of MoveIn in London and their current status within the ministry.
- Organized worship for MoveIn's annual conference, recruited musicians, leaders, and sound technicians.
- Checked in with MoveIners (people who are a part of MoveIn) across different cities to ensure morale is in a positive spot.
- Met weekly with a coach and with both the regional rep and mobilization departments to strategize how to recruit and engage more people.
- Networked opportunities with local churches and organizations to share the vision of the ministry and provide opportunities for people to consider joining - both vocationally and as volunteers.
ESL Volunteer
West London Alliance Church
01.2021 - 06.2022
- Assisted with both in-person and online group facilitation for conversation circles
- Employed effective communication patterns and rhythm to ensure teaching and conversation is properly held across language barriers.
- Learned about other people's cultures, took interest in their backgrounds to meet them in their place of comfort and excitement.
- Created fun programs to help students spur on one another in their learning.
Vacation Pastoral Cover
Mosaic Intercultural Church
07.2020 - 08.2020
- Took over for 5 weeks as the lead pastor was away during vacation.
- Got to organize and join morning prayer daily over zoom.
- Was blessed with the opportunity to preach twice during my time.
- Joined the board in meeting individuals within the congregation
- Taught the principles of baptism to a cohort that was getting baptized that month - and then had the privilege of baptizing them.
Church Planting Team Member
LIFT Church Mohawk
07.2018 - 12.2019
- Ran Red Frogs at Mohawk College, which involved frequently connecting with the residence director and hosting game nights and movie events.
- Worked with the planting pastor on everything he needed done at the time, which included setup, teardown, preaching on occasion, helping with worship, and connecting with the college community.
- Worked with the rest of the team to ensure Sundays were executed well and that service ran smooth.
- Was involved in strategy meetings and given a voice to express ideas that could benefit the church and stay true to the vision cast.
Staff Associate
Young Life
07.2017 - 06.2018
- Was a missionary at a high school in Burlington, my method of getting connected to students was through coaching the junior football team and the senior basketball team.
- Led a great group of volunteers who already had students under their wing from that school. This involved prayer and working together to witness to the students well.
- We had Christian youth who were called Campaigners, these students are missionaries to their classmates, and we each had some of these students that we mentored and came alongside to reach out with them. We also ran Bible studies with them bi-weekly.
- Was more or less and incognito chaplain, built strong connections with the kids I coached and they often came to me for some life advice - biggest highlight was when one of the football kids invited me to be a guest presenter in his Careers class.
- I had to learn how to employ fundraising skills and send newsletters to financial and prayer partners quarterly.
- Ran "club" which was essentially youth group but instead of worship and a message, we played wholesome secular music and a leader shared a story in their life that would tie into a moment with Jesus.
Youth Pastor
Mountainside Church
08.2016 - 06.2017
- Built lasting relationships with youth and parents.
- Built a team of volunteer leaders to help on a weekly basis.
- Was involved with worship - playing bass.
- Brought weekly coffee for the church.
- As a church plant, the staff all met together weekly for coaching and to dream and strategize.
- Helped out in holding town wide events that brought in hundreds of people.
- Played games and shared messages with the youth.
- Networked with other PAOC youth pastors and participated in my section.
Community Development Intern
LIFT Church - Brock University
05.2016 - 08.2016
- Held barbecue nights weekly to serve and build relationships with students who were still on campus throughout the summer.
- Developed and implemented a serving initiative for congregation members to participate in - helping at a soup kitchen for addictions patients that were on the mend.
- Created a database to identify churches within the province and their youth ministry contact - this was to ensure these churches knew that LIFT was around if they had graduating students enrolling in the schools LIFT was present at.
- Surprisingly did quite a bit of handiwork on the office that we met in.
Hospitality Team Leader
Redeemer University College - Church in the Box
09.2015 - 04.2016
- Led the hospitality team alongside a co-leader during Redeemer's once a month in-house service called "Church in the Box" - now known as "Rooted Worship".
- Met with the rest of the teams weekly to pray and plan for the upcoming service.
- Those of us on the lead team had to prepare devotions for the larger teams gathering, I got to do this twice throughout the year.
- Due to it being a student position, we had to develop team members who we thought be good to lead it the following academic year.
- Guided all our guests to where refreshments and washroom facilities were. Ensured that we were well resourced and prepared to serve all who came.
Youth Ministry Intern
Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
04.2015 - 08.2015
- Helped lead youth group for both Junior and Senior High students.
- Did the set-up, tear-down, and managed the tuck shop during youth nights.
- Met weekly with the lead pastor for discipleship and growth, and was coached by the youth pastor I interned under.
- Created a games catalogue and organized inventory.
- Preached a series on the armor of God to the senior high students, and the fruits of the spirit to the junior high students.
- There was youth pastor transition during my time, so I had to learn to submit and work with the new youth pastor - had some conflict at the start but we both worked it out.
- Discipled a group of boys and we would follow up after Sunday service.
Hospitality Team Member
Redeemer University College - Church in the Box
09.2014 - 04.2015
- Helped create a welcoming environment for people coming to attend Redeemer's once a month service
- Maintained clean and organized public spaces.
- Worked in a team of people to see everything run smoothly.
Youth Leader
Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
06.2013 - 12.2013
- Facilitated discussion time with students after service was over.
- Helped lead games and assisted students who needed further help understanding.
- Had to unfortunately have tough conversations with some students after inappropriate behavior.
- Learned well from the youth pastor at the time.
Prayer Team Member
Redeemer University College - Church in the Box
01.2013 - 04.2013
- Prayed with fellow team members across the different areas of Church in the Box.
- Made ourselves available for prayer during service.
- Invited people who needed prayer into a safe space where we listened intently and prayed as they needed.
- Was my initial practice of intercessory prayer.
Youth Leader
Harmony Baptist Church
03.2011 - 07.2011
- First time leading since rekindling faith, which was at this youth group.
- Was an older peer that younger students could look upto.
- Helped with games and discussion questions.
- Assisted the older leaders with any labor that was needed for the night.
Education
Bachelor of Arts - Religion And Theology, Min. Sociology
Redeemer University College
Ancaster12-2016
Timeline
Lead Pastor
The Table Intercultural Church
01.2024 - Current
Red Frogs Coordinator - Fanshawe College
Red Frogs Canada
08.2021 - Current
Young Adults Pastor
Royal View Pentecostal Church
06.2021 - 12.2023
Mobilization and Team Support
MoveIn Vision Team
06.2021 - 07.2023
ESL Volunteer
West London Alliance Church
01.2021 - 06.2022
Vacation Pastoral Cover
Mosaic Intercultural Church
07.2020 - 08.2020
Church Planting Team Member
LIFT Church Mohawk
07.2018 - 12.2019
Staff Associate
Young Life
07.2017 - 06.2018
Youth Pastor
Mountainside Church
08.2016 - 06.2017
Community Development Intern
LIFT Church - Brock University
05.2016 - 08.2016
Hospitality Team Leader
Redeemer University College - Church in the Box
09.2015 - 04.2016
Youth Ministry Intern
Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
04.2015 - 08.2015
Hospitality Team Member
Redeemer University College - Church in the Box
09.2014 - 04.2015
Youth Leader
Bethel Gospel Tabernacle
06.2013 - 12.2013
Prayer Team Member
Redeemer University College - Church in the Box
01.2013 - 04.2013
Youth Leader
Harmony Baptist Church
03.2011 - 07.2011
Bachelor of Arts - Religion And Theology, Min. Sociology
Redeemer University College
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