Jonathan Brooks is a lifelong resident of Chicago, IL. He currently serves as Senior Pastor at Canaan Community Church in the West Englewood nieghborhood. He is also the Director of the joint degree program in theology at Northern Seminary, in cooperation with Trinity Christian College and as adjunct faculty for Chicago Semester, an off-campus program that provides students the opportunity to live, learn, and work in Chicago. Jonathan also served as the Chicago City Director for Mission Year, a one-year service learning program for young people ages 18-30 and before that he taught elementary education in inner city Chicago for over a decade.
As a firm believer in investing in your local community, Jonathan has a deep desire to impress this virtue on the students and young people in his congregation, classroom and community. Through various community partnerships, Canaan Community Church provides youth development, holistic health options, college scholarships, art and music training and continual support to the incarcerated and their families living in Englewood and other Chicago communities.
Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought after speaker, writer and artist. He has contributed to numerous blogs, articles and books and recently released his first book titled “Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods.”