Pastor GJ Barnes

Pastor GJ Barnes has impacted many as a Harvard-educated visionary, leader, executive, intellectual, and servant. He is the senior pastor and founder of The Purpose Church, where weekly, thousands hear his messages in-person and online. Additionally, he has served as the Chief Executive Officer for multi-million-dollar organizations, where he has been featured on Fox, CBS, ABC, and MPT for his business and leadership skills. 

Born and raised in Baltimore Maryland, Pastor GJ Barnes is blessed to have served in numerous capacities relating to ministry, community service, wellness and corporate administration. Although he has been preaching for more than 20 years, his passion for entrepreneurship was realized at the age of 15 when he was accepted into the NAACP Regional F. Lewis Youth Entrepreneurship Institute. He would graduate and go on to become one of the youngest successful African-American entrepreneurs in the country. In addition, he has authored the nationally selling book “The Growth Principle: How Ordinary People do Extraordinary Things” and has published many national reports and articles.

All before the age of 30, he led his company to record-growth serving hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. His executive leadership led to partnerships with companies such as AT&T and Capital One, federal government agencies such as the Department of Defense and NSA, and world-renowned educational institutions such as Harvard University and MIT. Pastor Barnes also saw a need for a cutting-edge faith-based learning organization and founded the EML Institute and is a published expert in closing the U.S. Black-White academic achievement gap.

Pastor Barnes has earned numerous academic degrees from world-renowned universities. He holds a postgraduate certificate from Harvard Business School in Business Innovation, completed doctoral studies in leadership at Vanderbilt University, earned a Master's from Georgetown University, another Master's from Washington Theological Union Seminary, undertook a post-graduate assistantship at Johns Hopkins University, and holds a Bachelor’s from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

With all of his accomplishments, Pastor Barnes is most proud to be a husband, father and servant. He is married to the queenly Lady Junetta Barnes, and has three lovely children, Taja, Todd and Caleb. The Bottom Line: Pastor GJ Barnes Loves God and is humbled and honored to serve God’s children.