Senior Staff
About John & Tessa
John came to Christ through a campus ministry at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. During his seminary experience, he had to fight for his evangelical faith in the midst of intense theological liberalism. Those years of thinking and battling served to impress upon him the need for solid biblical training and thinking. John married Teresa (Tessa) Hines in 1982. Together they felt a call to England and in ‘83 went to Stoke on Trent on an internship through the seminary.
After feeling the call confirmed, they went back to Arkansas for three years and finally arrived in Cornwall, England in ‘87 where they pastored and church planted for 25 years. John’s ministry gifts are in preaching, teaching, and lecturing with a special desire to train the next generation of servant leaders for Christ. John loves sports, international cooking, and long walks with Tessa. John holds a PhD in Systematic Theology and longs to see pastors both passionate and precise.
John and Tessa felt God call them to home-educate their children before moving to England in 1987, so for 25 years this was Tessa’s main ministry. She was also part of a team who started the first Crisis Pregnancy Centre in Cornwall in 1999. She is certified Crisis Pregnancy and Post Abortion Counselor and Parenting Educator (UK qualifications). Since moving to Kansas City in 2012 she has co-led a women's Bible study and taught Children's Church. She most recently is learning Bible Storying to use in training women in oral cultures. Tessa loves mentoring young mothers, is very interested in nutrition and vegetable gardening. John and Tessa joined GTN in 2012. They have seven children and 22 grandchildren.