Pastor James Ford Jr.

Pastor James Ford Jr. and his wife Leslie have been serving the Lord at Christ Bible Church of Chicago (formerly South Shore Baptist Church), located on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, for 28 years. They have been married 40 years and have three sons, James III (Tenille), Nathaniel (who went home to be with the Lord November 26, 1999) and Jonathan. They also have nine grandchildren.

Pastor Ford is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and completed his Master's degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Pastor Ford has served on several boards, including the Baptist General Conference's Board of World Missions and the Board of Overseers, Board of Directors of the Ada S. McKinley Special Educational Services, Board of Directors of Fellowship Christian Academy, and the Alumni Board of Moody Bible Institute.

Pastor Ford is the senior pastor of Christ Bible Church of Chicago as well as the president of Impact Ministries, which is an outreach ministry of Christ Bible Church committed to strengthening families in the South Shore Community of Chicago. Pastor Ford provides the messages of Impact Ministries' radio broadcasts "Treasured Truth For Troubling Times", which is aired daily over WMBI AM-1110 and WMBI 90.1-FM, as well as over 160 WMBI syndicate and affiliate stations nationwide and in some U.S. territories. He is featured once a week on Gospel Radio 1390 AM.

Pastor Ford has been honored as "Pastor of the Year" (1993) by Moody Bible Institute and has been a speaker at Moody Bible Institute's annual Founder's Week. Pastor Ford is a contributor in the book "Heart For the City", published by Moody Press. He is an international conference speaker, seminar leader, and author. His first book "When a Man Loves A Woman" was published in July 2004. His second book "Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage" was released in October 2009. His third book, "When A Woman Loves A Man" was released in March of 2011. He has been an Adjunct Professor at Moody Bible Institute, an instructor for the Pacific Garden Mission's Bible program in Chicago, Illinois and is a special instructor at Ecola Bible School in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Pastor Ford has a very strong passion for building up the body of Christ through the expository preaching and teaching of the Word of God (Col. 1:28). He is especially burdened for Christian marriages and has a strong desire to help believers see marriage as God intended. He is above all else a lover of Jesus Christ, submitted to His Lordship.