Today we’d like to introduce you to John Sterling Poole.
Hi John Sterling, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
It can be a little tough to briefly walk through anyone’s story! How I got to this position could be tied to my very beginning and even before then, but I’ll spare y’all the amateur theology I could produce. Instead, I’ll cover from my freshman year at the College of Charleston in 2016 to today in 2026.
As a freshman, I found myself lonely and lacking community, something I was quite familiar with back home in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I decided to join a Bible Study with the Charleston Wesley Foundation. This was my first interaction with this ministry. To make a long story short, Wesley quickly became a cornerstone of my college experience: weekly Bible Study, mission trips, retreats, friendships, and the list goes on. Wesley changed my life. It made me into a dedicated Christian, and over the course of my time at College of Charleston, I received a calling out of public education into pastoral ministry in The United Methodist Church. By the time I graduated, I had decided that I would enjoy both callings: I told myself that I would teach for at least four years before going to seminary.
I taught high school English for two years, and I still hold that those two years were probably the most important contribution I could ever have given back to the world. I am proud to have been a teacher. However, there was another calling.
By January 2022, I had applied and been accepted to Duke Divinity School’s Hybrid Seminary program, and I had lined up a job that would work with this graduate degree. It was then that I first received a literal phone call, asking my interest in serving as Director of the Charleston Wesley Foundation, the very same ministry that became a cornerstone of my college experience. To make a long and comical story short: I turned down and refused to entertain the thought for the following months. However, by May, my wife suggested I take the position and serve to the best of my ability. Thank God for her wisdom!
I have been serving in this position for four years now, and I absolutely love this opportunity to minister to college students!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of this was mentioned in the previous passage, but Imposter Syndrome was certainly challenging for me when I started. It was also an interesting position in 2022 when The United Methodist Church began its schism and also finally feeling a post-COVID situation. It wasn’t always easy and fun, but today, we are doing well!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I serve as Director of the Charleston Wesley Foundation which is the UMC’s campus ministry for the Charleston area. I am appointed by the Bishop to serve students, faculty, and staff of any and all higher learning institutions in this area. Charleston has more schools than most folks realize: Trident Tech, The Citadel, Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, MUSC, Charleston Law School, the American College of the Building Arts. I’m sure there are even more!
As Director, I am entrusted with striking out the vision of this ministry, but I am helped by a wonderful Board that helps in a myriad of ways. I also am a pastor; I offer pastoral care for college students in the form of counseling, Sacraments, connection with local churches, and Bible studies. My philosophy is that they are in college to learn, so they will learn when at Wesley!
It is difficult to share what I am “most proud of.” I am proud of my students who graduate and go off to transform the world.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Luck is a tricky term in the Christian lens. If luck is equivalent to blessings, then I’ve been more lucky than I deserve.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wesleychs.org
