My name is Joey Pendergrast. I am 19 years old, was born in Hollywood, Florida and moved to North Carolina when I was 7. I grew up in the church, going essentially every week since I was born, and was homeschooled by my mom with my 3 siblings. I began to understand what a living faith looks like more recently however. I spent the greater part of my life attending church and living how you might expect a Christian homeschooler to live, but it really clicked for me when I had just turned 18 and a friend of mine referred me to work at a bagel shop called My Brothers Bagel.

He told me he was close friends with the manager. Seeing as I was a socially awkward young man, and another friend of mine happened to work there, I found that would be the easiest way to start making money. The crew I met were some of the most loving and down-to-earth people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, all great examples of the love of Christ. We would collectively all hang out after work and they quickly became the backbone of my daily life. The manager, James, invited me to join him and our coworker, Tripp, at Dan Burrell’s [LIFE Fellowship pastor] college group. After a couple of months of spending day in and out with these guys, Pastor Ben’s [LIFE Fellowship pastor] two sons, Sage and Jayden, came home from college and resumed work at the bagel shop where I quickly came to know them very well.

I’ve always loved worship and music, but I kept that aspect of myself mostly private as I grew up very quiet and reserved, afraid to put myself out there for others to see.As I became more comfortable with the Rudolph boys, I began expressing my interest in music and sharing vocal demos with them. They encouraged me to ask around at their church if there were any spots on the worship team. After quite a few weeks of prayer of asking God if I could use my voice to glorify Him, there was one Sunday morning in particular where I remember it being on the forefront of my mind all day. At the end of that service, Pastor Jason encouraged anyone with hands to come sign up to serve, and I felt a deep conviction.

I have been given a new level of peace that passes understanding since beginning to serve on this worship team, and have been blessed in new ways every week since I started serving on LIFE Worship.

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children." - Ephesians 5:1