Jonathan Lotson
Listen to the interview (approx. 44 minutes) or download it.
*UPDATE* March 2018: Jonathan has branched out into consulting for religious organizations, and has a professional website.
Graduated in 2012 with a major in Professional Music. Principal Instrument: Piano.
Positions: Youth Minister, and Organist, at New Life Tabernacle Church of God & Christ (Atlanta, GA). Also, administrative assistant at the Salvation Army’s Evangeline Booth College’s School for Leadership Development.
Overview: Growing up, Jonathan was heavily involved in church activities, but he stepped away from that for a while to pursue music. But while at Berklee he got involved with a local (Boston) church and connected with the pastor. By his last year at Berklee, he found that “music wasn’t as much fun as it used to be.” Jonathan did some soul-searching (so to speak) and decided that he wanted to be a minister. He decided that the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta would be a good fit, applied while still at Berklee, was accepted, and started there the following fall, earning his Masters in Divinity after 3 years of hard work. Before he even got to Atlanta he connected with the minister at New Life Tabernacle Church and was hired as organist, his job expanding to Youth Minister once he got his M.Div.
During that first year in Atlanta Jonathan worked mostly at a bank, but his heart wasn’t in it, so he used Indeed to find the administrative job at the Evangeline Booth College.
While working two jobs, Jonathan is taking classes online at Regent University to get his Doctorate in Strategic Leadership, which he expects to complete in 2019.
You can see Jonathan’s LinkedIn Profile here.
Choice Quotes: “I feel called to the ministry, and I love that component in both of my jobs. I also like meeting new people as well as travel, and both of my jobs feature both of these.”
“What would you be if you could drop everything and just be it? What are you naturally GOOD at? In our world today there’s nothing that you can’t make a living off. Jump out on faith and allow what you’re naturally good at to make you a living.”
See the full index of Successful Berklee Grads.