I strive for a vulnerable, casual speaking style while engaging in rigorous theological and social reflection tailored to each event. Whether you’re looking for someone to help your team connect to God while on retreat, preach to a diverse congregation, or speak to a room for full of high school students, I’d love the chance to speak.
Email me with questions or availability.
Check out previous teachings here:
iTunes Podcast | Church Website
Here’s what people are saying:
For almost 25 years I’ve been a student of preaching, listening to literally thousands of sermons from dozens and dozens of different preachers. Joe Graves is one of my all-time favorites. He has an uncanny ability to unpack a biblical text and present it in compelling ways that both engage his listeners as well as challenge them. His teaching is fresh and insightful in its approach and he relates to a broad demographic of people. It would not be an exaggeration for me to say that I believe Joe Graves is one of the top young communicators alive today.
– Paul Risler, Central Avenue United Methodist Church, Athens, OH
Joe is a very gifted communicator. He has a way of making everyone feel a connection. Whether through story or topical teaching, he delivers.
– Brad Aycock, Director of New Church Development, West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church
Joe led an afternoon session of our annual staff retreat. He worked directly with the leadership of our staff to discern what our community needed at that time. The result was a time of focus on the Breath of God that was nourishing, restful, and refreshing. Joe used a story-telling style that inspired us to interact with scripture and personalize it. He engaged us in small group conversation which deepened our relationships with one another. Finally, we had a time in which we were invited to remember our baptisms–that sacrament which separates us from our sins and unites us to one another in Christ.
– Good Works, Inc, Athens, OH
Pastor Joe shared his gift to preach to a gym full of teenagers about what it means to Abide in Christ. With the aid of a small tree, Joe elicited a collective gasp as the tree was snapped away from its roots. There was no mistake that that meant death for the tree. The power of this message will not be forgotten as they left the room with that vivid image of the consequences of separation.
– Jean Schafer, New Albany United Methodist Church, Transformation Zone
Joe Graves 