Meet the Pastor

Pastor Johnathan Illsley

Pastor Illsley grew up in a Christian home. His father was the church pianist and his parents were very involved in singing music ministry when he was growing up. He was saved when he was 15 years old and called to preach while he was attending church camp at the age of 17. He graduated from Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City in 2009. He met his wife, Erica, in college and they have been married for 21 years. They have six children ages 20 to 7 years old. He worked on staff in New Mexico as a music director for six years before moving to Phoenix. While helping in a volunteer ministry position God began moving in his heart toward church planting in the Phoenix Valley. In May of 2019, he began Hope Baptist Church in central Phoenix and served there as a bi-vocational pastor until he was called to be the pastor of Buchanan Avenue Baptist Church. He was voted to be the pastor in November of 2022 and took the pastorate on January 1, 2023.

Pastor Illsley is wholly dedicated to honoring the Lord in traditional style of worship and music and in studying and preaching in an expository style, passage by passage, through different books of the Bible. His experience as a business manager, a police chaplain, growing up in a Baptist home, as a father, and an avid lover of old history all contribute to his illustrations and applications in his preaching. In his spare time, you would find him cheering on the Oklahoma Sooners football team and spending time with his family. He is also is involved in helping train and teach Bible college students in the Philippines. After having been a church planter, his heart is to help the North Central area begin new Baptist churches and helping men and their families keep reaching the local areas with the good news of Jesus Christ.