About Brad Jagger

Brad Jagger is a pastor, university professor, author, publisher, and community leader. He is the co-founder of Rebel Faith, the owner of Rebel Rev Press, and the author of both fiction and nonfiction books.

His career has taken him into pulpits, university classrooms, community organizations, interfaith gatherings, and the publishing world. Although these roles may appear different, they are connected by Brad’s lifelong interest in religion, ideas, storytelling, and the ways people learn to understand one another.

That work has deeply personal roots.

Brad was born with an unusual medical condition in which his tonsils grew over his tongue and restricted its movement. Until he underwent surgery at the age of five, most people could not understand him when he spoke. Because his tongue had remained largely immobile during those early years, surgery did not immediately solve the problem. Brad spent much of his childhood in speech therapy, learning how to speak clearly.

He was also diagnosed with dyslexia. At the time, schools often had limited understanding of how to help students with learning disabilities. Brad was frequently advanced through the system without receiving the kind of specialized instruction that might have helped him address the condition more effectively.

For someone who once struggled both to speak and to read, his eventual path was perhaps an unlikely one. He became a preacher, teacher, professor, writer, and publisher—a life built largely around language.

Brad earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, with a minor in Religion, from Kent State University in 1993. He received his Master of Divinity from Emory University in Atlanta in 1997.

Ministry and Congregational Leadership

Brad began his pastoral ministry at Pigeon Run United Methodist Church in Massillon, Ohio. During his five years there, the congregation grew so rapidly that it became necessary to triple the size of the church building.

He later served as Senior Pastor of First Federated Church in North Jackson, Ohio. When he arrived, the church was stagnant and declining. During his ministry, membership and giving increased, and the congregation developed a renewed identity centered on inclusiveness and social justice.

In 2013, the minister of the Northeast Ohio Association asked Brad to become the Senior Pastor of The Church in Silver Lake and lead an effort to revitalize the congregation. The church was nearing closure when he arrived.

Over the next ten years, Brad and the congregation rebuilt the church’s ministry and strengthened its presence in the community. Interfaith cooperation and social justice became central to its mission. The church developed close relationships with the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent, the Akron Area Interfaith Council, and the Akron Interfaith Immigration Advocates.

The congregation also welcomed a Buddhist meditation group that made the church building its home. Through these and other partnerships, the church became a gathering place for people from different religious and cultural traditions.

The Church in Silver Lake survived the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and remained a healthy, active, and vital congregation when Brad concluded his ministry there in 2023.

Brad currently serves as Senior Pastor of Windermere Union Church in Windermere, Florida. His ministry there continues to emphasize preaching, education, community service, inclusion, and social justice.

Teaching and Academic Work

Brad has taught at Kent State University since 2015. He began by teaching Introduction to World Religions and later created a new course titled Moses, Jesus and Mohammad.

Before the pandemic, he developed an online version of that course, along with original presentations, lectures, and digital learning materials. His courses examine religious beliefs within their historical and cultural settings and encourage students to look beyond stereotypes and simplistic comparisons.

Brad also taught Understanding Religion at Cleveland State University. One summer section of the course consisted entirely of international students, creating an especially rich environment for discussions about religion, culture, and identity.

His approach to teaching is influenced by his own experiences as a student with dyslexia. He understands that people do not all process information in the same way, and he works to make complicated ideas clear without oversimplifying them.

Interfaith and Community Involvement

Interfaith cooperation has been a significant part of Brad’s ministry for many years.

He has participated in programs with the Islamic Society of Akron and Kent, including Teatime for Peace, interfaith dialogues, recognition dinners, and public speaking events.

Brad has also worked closely with the Akron Area Interfaith Council and the Akron Interfaith Immigration Advocates. The churches he has served have hosted educational events, immigration information sessions, and opportunities for immigrants to receive free legal guidance.

In 2019, Brad received recognition from the Akron Area Interfaith Council for his interfaith work.

His community involvement has extended beyond religious organizations. Brad served as president of the Stow-Munroe Falls Rotary Club and provided leadership to both its board and membership. After moving to Florida, he continued his involvement through the Windermere Rotary Club.

He also served for six years on the Board of Trustees of the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, helping oversee its finances, facilities, staff, and community programs.

Writing, Publishing, and Rebel Faith

Brad is the co-founder of Rebel Faith, a project created to engage questions of faith with honesty, independence, and a willingness to challenge familiar assumptions.

He is also the owner of Rebel Rev Press, through which he participates in the publishing process and helps bring books and ideas into the world.

As an author, Brad writes both fiction and nonfiction. His nonfiction draws from his experience in religion, ministry, education, and public life. His fiction gives him another way to explore people, conflict, belief, identity, and the choices that shape a life.

Writing is not separate from Brad’s work as a pastor and teacher. It is another expression of the same curiosity that has guided his career: a desire to ask difficult questions, examine inherited ideas, and communicate with people both inside and outside traditional religious institutions.

Finding a Voice

Brad’s story is not simply one of overcoming a childhood speech condition or learning to live with dyslexia. Those experiences remain part of the way he understands communication, education, and leadership.

He knows what it is like to have something to say and be unable to make oneself understood. He also knows what it is like to struggle within educational systems that are not always designed for people who learn differently.

Today, the child who could not make himself understood has spent decades preaching, teaching, writing, and speaking publicly. The student who struggled with words has written books, taught university courses, and founded a publishing company.

That history has shaped both Brad’s work and his belief that a person’s early struggles do not have to define the limits of that person’s life.