Our Staff
Ralph and Lisa entered the ministry with CRU in 1992 after graduating from the University of North Carolina. They had the privilege of beginning Student Venture, the high school ministry of CRU, in Jacksonville, Florida. At the same time their family grew to four with the birth of Elizabeth and Matthew.
Ralph fell in love with the local church while in Jacksonville and felt called to pursue theological training. So, Ralph and Lisa left Jacksonville and headed to Atlanta, Georgia in 1999 to work with the youth ministry of Perimeter Church. Andrew was born shortly after they arrived in Atlanta, and within two years Ralph took a job as an assistant pastor with Alan Foster to help plant East Lanier Community Church in Buford, Georgia.
While at East Lanier, Ralph graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary in 2006 as Lisa invested full-time in the kids. Shortly after graduating, Ralph got the bug for church planting and left East Lanier to plant GracePointe Church in Forsyth County, Georgia.
That was twelve wonderful years ago. Ralph, Lisa and the kids have seen a new church born and we have also been privileged to launch a successful day camp called Camp Kerusso, which serves the community for eight weeks in the summer.
The Johnston family has been in the business of starting and building ministries for 27 years, and it is time to launch into one more adventure. Ralph and Lisa feel called to hand off GracePointe and Camp Kerusso to others, and move out and start a new church (and possibly another camp) in Sanford, North Carolina.
(FROM LEFT: ANDREW, RALPH, LIZ, LISA, MATTHEW, AND LIZA)
Reverend John Kinyon
Assistant Pastor of Church Planting and Outreach
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(910) 528-7349
John has planted and pastored 3 very different PCA churches over the course of 29 years. The first was a multi-ethnic scratch plant right out of seminary on the sunny island of O’ahu, Hawai’i. In the second, he joined an existing core group in planting a mono-cultural suburban church plant in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of Eastern Pennsylvania called “Cornerstone PCA” in Center Valley. The third plant was a southern congregation with a large military presence in the Pinehurst area of North Carolina.
All three churches have participated in the planting of additional churches as well. John has served as the MNA coordinator for several presbyteries, assisted in the formation of a new presbytery, assesses church planting prospects on a regular basis, coaches young planters, and in the future, hopes to co-pastor with interested church planters in rural North Carolina.
John is also an adjunct faculty member at several seminaries, mostly abroad in countries hostile to the gospel. He has been married to Claire, an artist and art teacher, for almost 36 years and together they are blessed with five sons, all of whom love the Lord, and are involved in various artistic and educational endeavors themselves. Living in the Pinehurst area, John loves playing golf and enjoys the slower pace of life in the South.
Melanie Lasley
Church Administrator
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Melanie has lived in North Carolina for 13 years with her four children. She has homeschooled three of them for some of their school years while working part-time on a home business. She has been a member of Christ Church for three years and in 2022 came on staff as the church administrator. She loves spending time with her children - Ruth (24), she is married to Jacob, Caleb (21), Sarah (17) and Zach (15). She enjoys spending time baking, crafting, walking, and playing games with her family! She is also very grateful to be a part of Christ Church’s loving family.
From Left: Zach, Caleb, Jacob, Ruth, Melanie, Nana, and Sarah
Daniel Hoffman
Intern with Central Carolina Presbytery
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Daniel Hoffman grew up in Ormond Beach, FL, and attended Florida State University. In 2012, he graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS (M.Div). Most of the time since then he has worked in Christian schools teaching primarily Bible and history classes, in Mississippi, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Daniel married his wife, Kelly, in 2016, and from 2020-2022 they lived in South Korea teaching English, where Daniel also helped co-lead a small English service at their church.
In 2022, Daniel and Kelly had their first baby, Lucia, and moved back to the States. Sensing a call to ministry in the local church, Daniel is currently serving as an intern at Christ Church and pursuing licensure and ordination.
Daniel enjoys reading and writing and has published numerous articles on biblical and theological topics online. He and Kelly recently welcomed their newest addition, Felicity, to the family in June, 2024.
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