Fast Facts:
Joel loves spending time with his fiancé, Natalie Shelton, and their two dogs, Ollie and Riggs. Joel loves to spend time with family and friends tailgating and grilling out. He is an avid fan of Clemson Athletics, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Atlanta Braves. He is also a self-proclaimed foodie who enjoys table fellowship and cooking up new recipes of his own. One of his homes-away-from-home is Charleston, SC where he loves to frequent the beach, the beautiful historical sites, and the local seafood scene.
Pastor Joel's Story:
A native of Graniteville, SC, he attended Midland Valley High School where he played both varsity football and baseball. He was heavily involved in the South Carolina Lutheran Church Youth Organization throughout his formative years and was the first 2-time SCLCY President in Synodical history.
Following the path of his parents and siblings, he attended Clemson University and graduated with a degree in Business Management in 2015 while working for the Clemson Football Program as a Recruiting Assistant.
Upon graduation, he worked for 4 years as the Director of Football Recruiting and Operations at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. While there, he was a part of back-to-back Southern Conference Championship teams, 3 FCS playoff teams, was the NFL pro-liaison, and also was the summer football camp director.
In the Summer of 2019, he left Wofford to pursue a call to ministry and began working at St. David Lutheran Church in West Columbia, SC as the Director of Youth and Family Ministry. One year later while still working at St. David full time, he enrolled at LTSS in their mDiv program full time.
He also volunteered as Co-Cabinet Chairperson for the South Carolina Lutheran Church Youth Organization where he was able to walk with the youth of the state in their journey of faith through retreat planning, service project leadership, and community fellowship.
In 2022 he served his internship year at Trinity Ecumenical Parish in Moneta, VA and was blessed to be asked to stay on as an intern through the fall semester to help with pastoral care, worship, preschool chapel leadership, and church communication needs.
Upon graduation in 2024, Pastor Joel was ordained on Saturday, May 11th 2024 at St. David Lutheran Church and began his call here at Our Saviour Lutheran Church on June 2nd, 2024.
