Pastor Jackman presides over the Easter Sunrise Service at Salem
The Reverend John Jackman
The Rev. John Jackman has served as pastor of Trinity Moravian Church since 2004. A filmmaker and author, he is is very active in Salem Congregation and serves on the Moravian Team for Racial, Cultural, and Ethnic Reconciliation. He and his wife Debbie live in Lewisville with their daughter Abigail, two cats and six very noisy ducks.
Pastor John grew up in Raleigh, NC. He joined the Moravian Church in 1973, and felt the call to ministry while attending college. He attended N. C. State University and then Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA where he received a B. A. in Philosophy. It was while studying at Moravian that he became interested in television and film production. He went on to Moravian Theological Seminary, where he received a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained in 1982 while serving as associate pastor at Christ Church UCC in Bethlehem, PA.
In 1983, he became pastor of Reading Moravian Church in Reading, PA, where he served for over twelve years. While in Reading, he served on the Board of the local Council of Churches, and for many years hosted The Good News People, a cable program sponsored by the Council on BCTV, the first public access station in the country. He was appointed Chairman of the Northern Province Division of Publications, and served on the Provincial Planning Council. During this period he also developed The Moravian Video Magazine, a quarterly video program on Moravian ministries. Following Hurricane Hugo in 1989, John served as work crew coordinator and organized three work crews to rebuild church buildings on St Croix. He was consecrated as a Presbyter in 1988.
In 1995, John accepted the call to serve as pastor of Battle Hill Moravian Church in Union, NJ (outside NYC) and as part-time Director of Video Ministries for the denomination. He served as President of the area Council of Churches, and organized a number of ecumenical activities in the area. He is best remembered in the New York area for his stunt of camping out on the church roof to raise funds for roof repairs.
In 1998, John founded Comenius Foundation and went into video and film production full time. He has become widely known in the industry as an expert on digital production techniques, and was contributing editor for Digital Video Magazine for several years. He has led professional training workshops for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), DV Expo, the American Film Institute (AFI), the Library of Congress, and many universities around the country. He is the author of Lighting for Digital Video and Television (2002, CMP Books) and Bluescreen Compositing (2006, Focal Press). His productions have garnered numerous national awards.
In 2009, John produced and directed the feature film Wesley, about the early life of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Wesley was profoundly influenced by Moravians. This was followed by Newton’s Grace, a feature film about John Newton, the slave ship captain turned pastor who wrote the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace. He is currently working on a documentary about Jan Hus, the 15th century martyr whose followers organized the Moravian Church.
In 2004, John accepted the call to become pastor of Trinity Moravian Church. His work in filmmaking continues, integrated with the program of Trinity. Working together, Pastor John and the congregational leadership have set a vision of increased outreach to the area and ministry through the arts.
