SENIOR PASTOR

Rev. Dr. Jonathan C. Richardson

Pastor Richardson was appointed as the senior pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church (UMC), Downtown Baton Rouge, LA, in 2023 where he presently serves as senior pastor.

The Rev. Dr. Johnathan Carlton (J.C.)  Richardson has served in pastoral ministry for 21 years.

After high school, Richardson obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Bethune-Cookman College, now Bethune Cookman University, in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 2001, he obtained both a Masters of Divinity in Theology and a Masters of Divinity in Church Administration and Leadership from Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
He is also an alumnus of Duke Divinity School where he obtained a Master of Theology in 2012 and a Doctorate of Ministry in 2020.

Dr. Richardson is the author of Taking Jesus Seriously: Messages for a Deeper Christian Life –Volume 1 and is working on the second volume and another book on the Holy Spirit and Christian social ethics. His work has the distinction of being featured on the cover of the Christian Century numerous times. In both his scholarly and pastoral work it is his desire to help
Christians understand themselves better. He has been published in both Church periodicals and Newspapers including Duke Divinity Faith and Leadership, the Times-News, and the AME Christian Recorder.

Dr. Richardson and his wife, Charique, have been married since 2003. They have three sons, Solomon (15yrs) and twins Silas and Julian (12yrs).