With great gratitude and excitement, we want to share an important milestone in the life of our church. After a thorough, prayerful, and Spirit-led process, the elders of Grace Point Church are unanimously and joyfully presenting Joel Hastings as our candidate for Lead Teaching Pastor. On June 1, 2025, The GPC Family unanimously affirmed the appointment of Joel.

After growing up in Owasso, OK, Joel attended Liberty University where he received his B.A. in Pastoral Leadership & Biblical Exposition and his M.A. in Religion: Church Ministry Specialization. Joel also holds a doctorate in Christian Leadership.

He and his wife, Bethany, have been in ministry since 2012 when they moved to St. Petersburg, FL to help plant Reliance Church. In 2018, God called them to Brooksville, FL where they have led Community Bible Church, seeing the congregation grow from 50 to 800.

Joel and Bethany have three boys and a baby girl: Josh, Micah, Levi, and Madison. They are excited about joining us at GPC.

From the beginning, our commitment has been to seek God's will, prioritize spiritual discernment, and pursue a candidate who embodies the biblical, theological, and relational qualities needed to lead our church into the future. We carefully built a comprehensive search process and sought a man who would align with the heart, mission, and discipleship vision of Grace Point Church.

Joel has faithfully walked through an extensive process than began Nov 18, 2024:

• Initial application and review
• Comprehensive theological and leadership questionnaire
• Two rounds of interviews with our interview teams
• Elder team virtual interview
• Extensive interview, sermon, and ministry evaluations
• A three-day, onsite interview weekend with elders
• An onsite elder team visit to his home church in Florida
• Final elder team assessment and unanimous affirmation

Through every step, Joel consistently demonstrated the heart, character, theological depth, leadership experience, and disciple-making passion we prayed to find.

Joel matches the vision and expectations we had carefully defined in our Lead Teaching Pastor Job Description and Persona Profile. He brings:

• A passion for expository, gospel-centered preaching
• Deep theological grounding and pastoral humility
• Experience leading a multi-staff church and building healthy teams
• A clear heart for disciple-making locally and globally
• A Spirit-led, prayer-driven dependence on God
• Humility, self-awareness, generosity, and a genuine love for Christ's church

He is both a strong communicator of God's Word and a humble, relational leader who longs to develop others for the work of ministry.

Now that our church has joyfully affirmed Joel Hastings as our next Lead Teaching Pastor, we invite you to get to know him and his wife Bethany a little more personally. In this special episode of our church podcast, they share their story, talk about their heart for ministry, and reflect on what drew them to Grace Point. Whether you’re new around here or have been part of the journey, this conversation will help you feel right at home with the Hastings family.