Rev. Jonathan Riddle and family

I am the son of an Episcopal priest and spent my life in and around the church. Yet I did not come to a true understanding of the Gospel until my freshman year at Appalachian State University. A professor on campus shared the Gospel with me and discipled me until my graduation. During my time in Boone, NC, my roommates and I started a Young Life Ministry in the local community which proved to be incredibly exciting. It was this experience that gave me a passion for ministry and seeing people come to Christ. Upon graduation, I accepted a job as Youth Pastor at All Saints Church in Pawley's Island, SC. There I met my wife and pursued my call to ordained ministry.

I enrolled at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL, in 1998, receiving my Masters of Divinity as well as an Anglican Studies Diploma from Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry. In 2001 I was ordained by Bishop John Howe in the Diocese of Central Florida and accepted a call to serve as an assistant priest at St. John's Episcopal Church in Melbourne, FL. In 2005 I ventured into church planting and founded a church in Fort Mill, SC - it provided some of the most exciting and challenging moments in our lives. Beginning in our living room with just our family, we shortly outgrew the space and moved our worship services in the local YMCA. Half of those attending were new believers and new to Anglicanism which made it enormously rewarding. Six years later I accepted a call to become an assistant at Christ the King Anglican in Boone, NC, where I currently serve.

My philosophy of ministry is focused on three primary areas that I refer to as simply, God, People, and Scripture (GPS). Whether it is corporate worship, outreach, and intimate gatherings, or preaching and teaching, the central and primary focus is always God, His People and His Word. This philosophy guides my life as a father, husband, friend, and priest.

God: The heart of Christianity is the joyful call to glorify God. My calling as a pastor is to help people live into this reality. What we do in thought, word and deed ultimately ensures that our affections are focused on Jesus Christ. The Church exists in order for people to know God and to glorify Him. 

People: People are God's greatest creation and are the object of Jesus Christ's saving mission. Christianity thrives when there is a genuine love for those in, and outside of, the faith. All people are important to God, so they should be important to His people. 

Scripture: My gifting is expounding what God has revealed in a way that is both clear and applicable to all of life. The focus on Scripture will be the determining influence on how we understand and relate to God and those with whom we live. The Scripture is God's Word, and therefore the standard by which we order our lives, express our faith, and function as a community of believers. 

In His Power and for His glory,