Jonathan Brooks currently serves as Lead Pastor at Lawndale Christian Community Church. He was the former pastor of Canaan Community Church in Chicago for 15 years. He is also an adjunct Professor for Northern Seminary in their Christian Community Development Program and Trinity Christian College’s Chicago Semester program. He served as the Chicago City Director for Mission Year, a year long service program that focuses on the intersections of faith and justice. Jonathan has also been an educator in inner city Chicago for well over a decade and is a firm believer in investing in your local community. He has a deep desire to impress this virtue on all who will listen whether congregation, classroom or community.
Email: pastahj@lawndalechurch.org
Jonathan has a Bachelor of Architecture from Tuskegee University, Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University and Master of Divinity from Northern Seminary in Christian Community Development. He hopes to merge his academic knowledge, practical tools and ministry training in order to turn his convictions into tangible solutions which will help change neglected neighborhoods all over the city of Chicago for future generations. Jonathan and his wife, Micheal, have two children, Tayler and Jade, and currently reside in North Lawndale steps away from the church campus.
Through various roles and partnerships, Jonathan is engaged in social activism, church planting, youth development, wholistic health options, college scholarships, music lessons and continual support to the incarcerated and their families living in North Lawndale, Greater Englewood and other Chicago communities.
Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought after speaker, writer and artist. Along with speaking, training and consulting he has written numerous blogs and contributed to various books. He is the author of the book “Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods” published by InterVarsity Press. During his tenure at Canaan the church released a gospel album titled "Recommend Jesus" to be used as an avenue to share faith as an integral component in community transformation. Lastly, Pastah J has also recorded four hip-hop albums with the group Out-World and a mixtape to accompany the book Church Forsaken.
- In Church Forsaken - Brooks challenges local churches to rediscover that loving our neighbors means loving our neighborhoods. Unpacking the themes of Jeremiah 29, he shows how Christians can be fully present in local communities, building homes and planting gardens for the common good.
- In Making Neighborhoods Whole - Perkins and Gordon revisit these eight commitments and how they've played out in real communities, even as they scan the horizon of urban ministry to set a new tone.
- Banned Questions - series authored by Christian Piatt addresses fifty questions about Christians that many of us have wondered regarding Hell, sprinkle vs dunk baptism, gay and lesbian issues in ministry, the inconsistencies of communion, the multitude of denominations, God's allowance of suffering in the world, and more
- Liberating Leadership - Leroy Barber and a dynamic community of faith leaders and activists challenge you to find your voice and unite in action for the benefit of our communities and future generations.
Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought after speaker, writer and artist. Along with speaking, training and consulting he has written numerous blogs and contributed to various books. He is the author of the book “Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods” published by InterVarsity Press. During his tenure at Canaan the church released a gospel album titled "Recommend Jesus" to be used as an avenue to share faith as an integral component in community transformation. Lastly, Pastah J has also recorded four hip-hop albums with the group Out-World and a mixtape to accompany the book Church Forsaken.
