Welcome to Virginia Avenue Baptist Church!

My name is Dr. Jonathan “Pastor Jon” Casteel, and it has been my privilege to serve as pastor of Virginia Avenue Baptist Church since Mother’s Day of May 2024. From the very beginning, Lori and I have felt blessed to be part of this church family, and I am genuinely excited about what God is doing here and where He is leading us.

I have been involved in ministry for more than 35 years, serving in a variety of roles including music ministry, evangelism, teaching, and pastoral leadership. For nearly 20 years, I have had the privilege of serving churches as a pastor. Through all those years and all the different seasons of ministry, one conviction has remained constant: people need Jesus, and the Church has been entrusted with the Gospel.

That passion has also led me to write and publish a number of books dealing with Christian living, evangelism, church ministry, and our relationship with God. Among them are Go With The Gospel, Leading Horses to Water, Don’t Blame God, Evangelizing the Evangelists, and Use Ur Jesus Voice. Whether I am preaching from the pulpit, teaching a Bible study, writing a book, or simply talking with someone one-on-one, my desire is the same—to help people know Jesus, grow in their faith, and understand how the Word of God applies to everyday life.

Outside of ministry, I have spent much of my professional career in education, teaching Engineering and Robotics. I love working with young people, building things, solving problems, and probably taking on more projects than I actually have time to finish!

But the greatest part of my life outside of my relationship with Christ is my family.

My wife, Lori, and I have been married since 1998, and she has faithfully served alongside me throughout our years of ministry. She is an elementary educator and has a tremendous heart for children. We have been blessed with four children—Joy, Zachary, Joseph, and Faith—each with their own unique personalities, talents, and paths God is developing in their lives. Our family also includes our foster son, Logan, who has become an important and much-loved part of the Casteel family.

Like every family, ours is busy, imperfect, sometimes a little crazy, and tremendously blessed. We love to laugh, spend time together, serve the Lord, and see what God has planned next.

And that brings me back to Virginia Avenue Baptist Church.

There are some genuinely exciting things happening at Virginia Ave. God has been good to us, and I believe our church is moving into a wonderful season of growth, outreach, fellowship, and renewed excitement about reaching people with the Gospel. We certainly aren't a perfect church—and we don't expect perfect people to walk through our doors. We're simply a family of believers who love Jesus, love one another, and want to make a difference in our community.

If you're looking for a church home, searching for answers, wanting to reconnect with God, or simply wondering what church is all about, I'd love for you to come see what's happening at Virginia Avenue Baptist Church.

Come as you are. Bring your family. Sit with us. Worship with us. Open God's Word with us. Get to know us.

There's a place for you at Virginia Ave.

I'm so thankful for what God has already done since He brought us here in May 2024—but I am even more excited about what I believe He's going to do next.

And we'd love for you to be part of it.

Pastor Jon
Dr. Jonathan W. Casteel
Pastor, Virginia Avenue Baptist Church

#GoWithTheGospel