Jonathan Brooks is a lifelong resident of Chicago, IL. He currently serves as Senior Pastor at Canaan Community Church in the West Englewood nieghborhood. He is also the Director of the joint degree program in theology at Northern Seminary, in cooperation with Trinity Christian College and as adjunct faculty for Chicago Semester, an off-campus program that provides students the opportunity to live, learn, and work in Chicago.  Jonathan also served as the Chicago City Director for Mission Year, a one-year service learning program for young people ages 18-30 and before that he taught elementary education in inner city Chicago for over a decade.

As a firm believer in investing in your local community, Jonathan has a deep desire to impress this virtue on the students and young people in his congregation, classroom and community. Through various community partnerships, Canaan Community Church provides youth development, holistic health options, college scholarships, art and music training and continual support to the incarcerated and their families living in Englewood and other Chicago communities. 

Pastah J, as he is affectionately called, is a sought after speaker, writer and artist. He has contributed to numerous blogs, articles and books and recently released his first book titled “Church Forsaken: Practicing Presence in Neglected Neighborhoods.”

Jonathan is also an accomplished artist who performs a variety of genres. He is featured on Canaan’s debut gospel album called "Recommend Jesus" which was released in 2015 to be used as an avenue to share faith as an integral component in community transformation. Pastah J has also recorded four hip-hop albums with the group Out-World and is currently curating a music project to accompany his new book.

Jonathan has a Bachelor of Architecture from Tuskegee University, Master of Arts in Teaching from National Louis University and Master of Divinity from Northern Seminary with an emphasis in Christian Community Development. He continues to merge his academic knowledge, practical tools, variety of gifts and ministry training in order to turn his convictions for transformation into tangible solutions. His hope is to help change the Englewood neighborhood for future generations.

Jonathan and his wife, Micheal, have two beautiful girls, Jasmine and Jade, and reside in West Englewood steps away from the church campus.