Meet the Pastor

Pastor Johnathan Illsley

Pastor Illsley 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 19 years, and they have six children. 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 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.