Jon has served as transitional pastor for Bethany since October 2021 following the retirement of Rev. John Johnson. He comes to us from Chicago, where he served several Presbyterian churches in the Chicagoland area. Jon is a spouse and a dad. His spouse Caroline is also a Presbyterian pastor. Jon’s education includes a Master of Architecture from Montana State University and a Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary. He is currently still working on a PhD from Chicago Theological Seminary. When not in the midst of a pandemic, Jon enjoys officiating roller derby.
Mr. Bagley, a native Baltimorean, was initially introduced to the world of music and theater when his father started teaching him piano at age 5. He also played the trumpet, clarinet and saxophone throughout his school years. He performed instrumentally and vocally with both the All-City Band and Chorus in Baltimore and the All-State Band and Chorus in Maryland.
Chris has served many protestant denominations as a choir director, accompanist and soloist not only in Baltimore, MD but in Houston, TX, Wichita, KS, Chicago, IL, Richmond, VA, Oxford, NC and Winston-Salem, NC. He has acted in, directed, musically directed or accompanied over 50 theatrical productions throughout the country. Among his favorite onstage roles are Hoke in Driving Miss Daisy, Charlie Brown in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Nick in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
After spending years in the nonprofit executive management and fund development fields, Chris has most recently served as a full-time director of church music for 10 years and is now Director of Music at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Graham, NC. He keeps his hand in the nonprofit world with his company, FundAbility, as a fundraising, strategic planning and board development consultant to small nonprofits and is President of his theatrical production company, United in Music, Inc. UIM produces shows based on preserving the legacy of Paul Robeson.