Pastor Jason

Pastor Jason was born and raised for 13 years in Huntington, WV, the middle child of three. He moved around several times during middle school years ending up in Chillicothe, OH which he considers his hometown now.

Jason started in active ministry while in high school, eventually becoming one of the co-leaders for his youth group. He met Emily in 2004, and joined the United Methodist Church and was immediately asked to join the Trustees at Tyler Memorial UMC in Chillicothe, OH. He served with Emily in her roles as a youth director & church musician and later a children’s director at another congregation in the Dayton area while beginning undergraduate education.

He has an Associate’s of Science in Christian Ministries (2010) as well as a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Studies (2012, Summa Cum Laude) from Indiana Wesleyan University. During those programs Emily and Jason started on staff at Ironton First UMC (now GMC) in Ironton, OH in late 2008 with joint responsibilities for children’s ministry and Junior High youth. They spent a little over 4 years there before Jason started seminary.

Jason entered the ministry candidacy process in the United Methodist Church in 2011 and in early 2013 began seminary education at Asbury Theological Seminary. Pastor Jason began serving in pulpit ministry from the start of his time at Asbury, having served 5 appointments with 6 congregations:

• Rockbridge UMC (now GMC), Shelbyville, KY Feb. 2013 to Dec. 2014

• Laurel – Spring Grove Charge UMC, New Richmond, OH Jan. 2015 to Nov. 2016

• Waynesville UMC, Waynesville, OH Nov. 2016 to July 2020

• Archbold UMC, Archbold, OH July 2020 to June 2023

• Marion Salem GMC, Caledonia, OH June 2023 to Present

As seminary continued, in 2015 Jason was inducted into the local honor society chapter of the International Society of Theta Phi. Jason graduated from Asbury in 2017 with a Master of Divinity focused on Spiritual Formation and a Master of Arts in Christian Leadership. In this he also received church coach training with Spiritual Leadership, Inc. Altogether he has 22 years of experience serving in various church settings, vocational experience for the last 13 years.

He became a Provisional Elder in the United Methodist Church, West Ohio Annual Conference in 2019. Jason says, “I decided to dual major at Asbury in response to my passion for congregational revitalization through the equipping and forming of disciples following Christ. I greatly enjoy working with committed teams who seek to discern Christ’s vision, mission, and values for each congregational setting. I recognize the great difficulties that exist with adaptive, discontinuous change in our culture at large and find great comfort and guidance in the means of grace.”

The Sharps are an extremely musical family. Emily has two degrees, Bachelor of Science in Church Music and Applied Cello. She plays piano and enjoys helping with music ministry. Jason plays rhythm guitar, bass guitar, and ukulele. Karla has also taken up ukulele and piano. Jack is also in piano lessons. “All of us enjoy singing,” said Jason.

Jason’s favorite past-time is dating Emily followed by video games. He enjoys music in a variety of genres and science fiction like Star Trek, Star Gate, and Star Wars.

Jason likes to share the following with those who want to know him better: “If you want to get to know me in a nut shell and help me be the best pastor I possibly can be, I need time and support for three things:

1) I need the opportunity to grow deeper in my own relationship with

Jesus Christ, so that I can lead others into those depths.

2) I need the opportunity to be a devoted husband to Emily and care for our marriage.

3) I need the opportunity to be a committed father to our children and raise them for a lifetime. – If given these three opportunities to be the best disciple, husband, and father that God has empowered me to be, then I can serve as a fully engaged pastor in life and ministry with the same grace God provides.”