As the Executive Director of Dallas Willard Ministries, John Carroll is planning, organizing and directing the ministry’s overall operations, finances, and programs. He has been working to develop additional internal infrastructure while keeping an eye on how to best serve people through our website and other external resources. In all of this, his great passion is for the two “ships” in life: DiscipleSHIP and RelationSHIP.
John first joined our team in 2020 as the Director of the School of Kingdom Living, and in his 6-year tenure he has taken on increasing DWM responsibilities supporting volunteers, staff, and board members in a way that reflects our core values and enhances our culture of love, respect, generosity, and transparency. While the Lord has been blessing and expanding the work of DWM, John has been naturally growing into the role of Executive Director.
John accepted the appointment of Executive Director in February 2024. At the annual DWM Board Retreat on August 3, 2024, Board co-chair Terri Taylor led the DWM team in blessing and commissioning John in his role of leading the next steps of DWM. She presented him with the gift of a beautiful engraving of Dallas’s “My Prayer for You” (pictured at left). It was a sweet time of expressing our gratitude to God for bringing us John, and for the many blessings the Lord continues to pour out on DWM as we seek to use Dallas’s teaching to light the way for Christ's apprentices around the world to live more deeply in the Kingdom.
With a Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida and a Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, John brings a unique blend of experience to Dallas Willard Ministries. He worked in the healthcare industry for 11 years before answering the call to ministry in 2010. John has a shepherd’s heart and is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church.
It's an incredible honor to serve DWM as Executive Director. Like many of you, Dallas has had an immense impact on my life and how I understand the call to follow Jesus. With God's help, I will steward this opportunity with every fiber of my being.
As I moved into this new role, I began thinking about character and leadership. Americans are obsessed with leadership development. It's an $80 billion industry. But I have come to believe that there isn't an issue facing leaders today that apprenticeship to Jesus doesn't address and ultimately solve.
The Gospels offer the greatest guidance on the toughest issues through the teachings of Jesus. My apprenticeship to Jesus means I live my life as he would live it if he were me. Over time, practicing the way of Jesus not only makes me a better leader, but I become a person with better character.
As a leader, I’m reminded of Dallas’ wisdom, “The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become. That’s what you will take into eternity.” Our world today is starving for leaders with great character.
If you’re in a position of leadership, whether that’s at home, at church, at the office, or all of the above, remember that you’ll always reproduce the person that you are (Heb. 13:7). And if there’s a gap between what you say and how you live, the people around you will notice.
What’s the key to being a follower of Jesus and a leader of people? Again Dallas would say, “You must arrange your life so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.” That’s the invitation today. Pray for it. Ask God to help you with it. And watch your life bear the fruit of the Kingdom.
Grace and Peace,
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