Pastor John Paul McGee, a gifted young servant of God, is the son of Pastor Steven McGee (Cincinnati, OH) and Carol Bonds (Baltimore, MD). He received Christ at the tender age of five and accepted his call to the preaching ministry at age 12. Pastor McGee was licensed to preach on February 21, 1999 at the New Friendship Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Ralph D. White, and ordained an Elder on June 20, 2007 at Hope Fellowship Church by Bishop Derek T. Triplett. There he served as the Associate Pastor of Music and Ministry Development. Pastor McGee has served at St. James United Methodist Church, the fastest growing African American Church in Alpharetta, GA as Pastor of Worship and Arts until July 2016. In August 2016, God elevated him to become the Senior Pastor at Hope Fellowship Church in Daytona Beach, Florida where he currently serves.
His unique preaching gift and writing prowess was recognized in 2009 when his sermon “Handle Your Business” was featured in the Seminarian’s Issue of the African American Pulpit Journal, the premier publication in the United States for preaching in the African American tradition.
Pastor McGee has served as an adjunct professor in Music and Worship at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Ga, and the International Vice President for The Gospel Heritage Foundation. He has traveled the world as a clinician, workshop facilitator, panelist and speaker on topics such as global worship, church leadership, transformational preaching and music. His contributions were recognized as a 2017 recipient of the “Top 40 under 40” alumni award from Bethune Cookman University.
In addition to the ministry of proclamation, John is also an anointed minstrel of music. At the age of four without any formal training, he began to play familiar hymns and church songs by ear. Pastor McGee’s mother, aware of his special gift, made the sacrifices necessary to ensure that John received official musical training and development. By age of eleven, he was studying piano and pipe organ at the New Shiloh School of Music under the tutelage of the late Dr. Nathan Carter. He graduated in 2002 from Baltimore School for the Arts, a national leader amongst college preparatory arts high schools, with an arts certificate in Piano and Opera Studies.
While growing as a musician academically, John also pursued his musical gifting in gospel music. He began his career in church music at the age of 12 as full-time minister of music at Waters AME church in Baltimore. As a keyboardist, vocal arranger, producer, and songwriter he has been privileged to grace stages on major platforms with many popular gospel and secular artists such as: Patti Labelle, The Isley Brothers, Twinkie Clark-Terrell, Karen-Clark Sheard, Judith McCallister, Byron Cage, Shirley Caesar, Dorothy Norwood, Kierra Sheard, Lecresia Campbell, Tedd Winn, Wess Morgan, Maurette Brown-Clark, Vashawn Mitchell, Stephen Hurd, Steve Lawrence, Jonathan Nelson, Anthony Brown, Dr. Earnest Pugh, Kim Burrell and many others. In 2014, he was signed to EPM records and recorded his first solo musical project “A Christmas With John Paul” featuring his dynamic piano ministry which instantly went to Billboard’s top 10 gospel charts. As a sought-after international musician, he was a featured pianist in the 2017 blockbuster movie “A Question of Faith” featuring Richard T. Jones and Kim Fields.
He is the published author of “Elevate”, a 21-day devotional journey that was released in 2019 with Books 2 Live By Publishing. He simultaneously released an accompanying instrumental project with worship and praise songs.
Pastor McGee is a 2006 graduate of Bethune-Cookman College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music with a concentration in Piano Performance. He is a May 2008 graduate of Liberty University with a Master of Arts in Religion with a concentration in Church Ministries. He is a 2015 graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, Ga with a Master of Sacred Music Degree with a concentration in Pipe Organ Performance. He is currently pursuing his Doctorate of Ministry degree with concentration in Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Ga.
Although his accomplishments are many, Pastor McGee does not want to be known simply as a great musician or preacher. He desires that in whatever form of ministry he executes that God’s people would have an authentic encounter with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.