Today we’d like to introduce you to John Kuvakas.
Hi John, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
After a successful career in auto sales, I entered the ministry at 50 as a trainee in 2002. I became Executive Pastor in 2003 and Senior pastor in 2005. Our church was established during a backyard Bible study in 1979 and was formalized in 1984 when we moved into our current location, right in the heart of downtown Warrenton. We are part of the Evangelical Free Church of America, an association of locally governed churches. I was ordained by the EFCA in 2014. As I look toward stepping back a bit, we ahve recently hired a young pastor from Vermont to eventually become our Senior Pastor. I plan to continue to work, though. I’ve had the honor of coaching several younger preachers in ministry and would love to continue working, training, and, of course, learning in the coming.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! I’m not sure I would call it “smooth.” There were challenges along the way, the foremost being my inexperience in trying to lead an all-volunteer organization. We currently have three paid staff, but we rely on our amazing congregation to help with not just Sunday mornings, but the daily operations of the church, not to mention community-related activities.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Senior Pastor for a local church
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Our church is mainline Protestant and has a high view of the Bible. We preach through entire books of the Bible and do our best to bring in-depth relevancy to the Scriptures. We ahve a group of truly great congregants and a new young pastor and are excited about the future.
We host several ministries in our facility: Mission Christiana Emanuel meets on Sunday afternoons, Ethnos College has offices, and so does Vision 190 (a cable channel). We are currently undergoing a massive preservation project designed to keep the building, which was built in 1912 and is in Warrenton’s Historic District, viable for many more years. We host a community food giveaway on Tuesday afternoons, and actively support the Fauquier Family Shelter and the Warrenton Pregnancy Center, as well as several local and international ministries. Our online sermons typically reach 2000-3000 downloads in up to 25 countries each month (https://www.sermonaudio.com/broadcasters/wbfva/).
Personally, I am a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, a lineage-based organization dedicated to commemorating and honoring the history of the Revolution. I am currently the state chaplain for the Virginia Society Sons of the American Revolution. (see my photo)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wbfva.church
- Instagram: WBFVA
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/wbfva
- Youtube: @wbfva2581
