Joe grew up in Shillington, PA, and attended First EC Church of Reading. He is a 1978 graduate of Governor Mifflin High School. In 1982, he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Millersville University. In the spring of 1982 as a senior in college, Joe committed his life to Jesus Christ. Upon graduation, Joe began his career as an accountant in Trenton, NJ. During this time, he attended Newtown Community Church in Newtown, PA. While attending this church, Joe felt the call to full-time ministry. He left his job to attend Moody Bible Institute for a 3-week seminar on Urban Evangelism with plans to attend Evangelical Seminary in the fall of 1984. When Joe returned from Moody, he began a street ministry in the city of Reading called Inner City Campaigners. From this street ministry, an outreach to children and teens began at First EC of Reading called The Source. This ministry continued from 1984 to 1988 when Joe moved to Philadelphia, PA. Joe began his theological studies at Evangelical in 1984 and ended in 1987. During this time, Joe became a commissioned missionary and a licensed preacher in the Evangelical Congregational Church in May of 1985. In 1985, Joe and Wendy met at Evangelical Seminary while he was working on his Masters of Divinity studies and were married in 1986. Joe and Wendy have five sons. Jared(1987), Seth(1989), Ethan(1989), Aaron (1991) and Adam (1994). The boys were home-schooled from 1991 to 2013. Joe and Wendy have been blessed with four daughters-in-law and eight grandchildren.

In 1988, Joe and Wendy moved to Philadelphia to begin work full time with Open Air Campaigners which lasted until 1992, when Joe began to serve as an associate evangelist with them until 2000. Joe now serves on the board of directors of OAC, Inc. In 1992, Joe became one of the few Evangelical Congregational Church denominational missionaries, which is a status that continued until 2008. In 2009 Joe formed his own 501c non-profit corporation called Open Air Ministries, Inc. Joe’s ministry is primarily evangelistic by nature. Outreach has been conducted at bus stops, subways, college campuses, center city, parades, events, neighborhoods, parks, and other areas in and around the Metro Philadelphia Area. In the past, Joe was involved in the Philadelphia Port Ministry, outreach in inner-city neighborhoods with children, and was a co-pastor for Metro Kids, an outdoor kid’s church in various locations in Philadelphia from 2007 to 2011.

From 2013 to 2021, Joe did weekly outreach in Camden, NJ, and Upper Darby, Frankford, and Olney in the Philly area. In the summer, He was involved in outreach at the New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware beach resorts. During the school year, outreach was also done on various college campuses. In May of 2021, Joe and Wendy have transitioned to the Raleigh, NC area where Joe will continue to do outreach with various organizations and other evangelists at abortion clinics, bus stops, the bar strip, the streets of Raleigh, college campuses, and wherever God may lead. Already, event outreaches have been conducted at the NC State Fair, NC State football games, Comic-Con Festival, and Myrtle Beach Blitz He will continue to travel to national events such as Mardi Gras, Indy 500, Spring Break Florida, Senior Week in Ocean City, MD, sporting events and other venues to share the gospel.