JAM Newsletter: Jo Beth McTavish

Jo Beth graduated from Howard Payne University in 2006 with a BA in Christian Studies with an emphasis in Youth Ministry and a Minor in Business. In 2008 she received a Master of Arts in Youth Ministry. 

When asked about how Howard Payne shaped her life she said, “HPU really set the base for my view of ministry. From the very beginning, I was welcomed at the table, even as a woman, and my input was actually seen as valuable.”

While in college she volunteered at a now defunct church just outside of Early, TX called Jones Chapel Baptist. After college she moved to Waco, TX with her husband and began the modular MAYM program at HPU. While in Waco she was hired as the Youth Minister at Bosqueville Baptist Church, serving there for almost 4 years. For the last eleven years she has been the full-time Youth Pastor at Kenefick Southern Baptist Church, located in Dayton, TX.  Jo Beth is also a member of the Graduate Program Advisory Committee that helps provide guidance to the graduate programs in the Christian Studies department.

Jo Beth is married to Dustin and they have four children: Dexter 10, Max 8, and twins Jaxon and Paxton who are 6. Jo Beth says their life is full, loud, and crazy.

When asked who her favorite professors were at Howard Payne she said “I was blessed to learn from some of the Youth Ministry greats like Chuck Gartman, Dr. Rusty Wheelington, Dr. Donnie Auvenshine, and Dr. Gary Gramling. They helped to nurse along my love for the history of scripture.”