
Rhodes Woolly has served as the Senior Pastor of St. John’s since 2009. Married to Krista, the Executive Director of the Community Care Clinic, they have three children – Carter, Matt and Anna Grace.
For nearly 25 years, Pastor Rhodes has served congregations in Virginia and North Carolina, with particular focus on discipleship, ancient-future worship, global engagement, and finding clarity in the Christian narrative. Of late, he has been interested in leveraging the church as the natural location for “conversations that matter,” and developing a new model that connects faith, vocation, and leadership, especially among early career adults. He has degrees from Lenoir-Rhyne (LR), the University of South Carolina, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary (LTSS), and has recently completed doctoral work at Emory University. In addition to his work at St. John’s, Rhodes chairs the LTSS Advisory Council, serves on the LR Board of Trustees, and visits Isenberg Elementary School every week to spend time with his reading buddy. Currently, Pastor Rhodes is helping to direct a county-wide ministry entitled Racial Equity Rowan and is leading the effort to expand the congregation’s successful 3rd grade reading program to every elementary school in Rowan County.
In his spare time, Rhodes like to be outside, read political journals or total-escape novels, exercise, and enjoy a nice glass of wine with Krista on their front porch.
What he loves most about his job is that it’s not a job at all! And he loves being in the heart of Salisbury, literally and figuratively.
Email: rhodes@stjohns-salisbury.org