Shawn has served as a pastor since 2002 when he started as a student pastor in Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after, Shawn and his wife, Tonya, moved to his home state of Texas where he received a Master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2005. After graduating, their family moved to Ohio. Over the years, God began to move their hearts towards families. In late 2016, God made it clear to both Shawn and Tonya that they were to start a church in the surrounding area where they lived. And so, The Journey Community Church was born.

Shawn and Tonya have been married since June 2001, and they have five children. Although they are not natives of the Miami Valley, they intentionally became immersed as locals as quickly as possible and have kept digging deeper in the community since 2006.

Shawn’s biggest passion is outreach. He started his own BBQ food truck (of course, a Texan would do BBQ!), Acrey’s Hog Wild BBQ. He uses that food truck quarterly to feed various communities free of charge. Shawn’s motto is “go immerse yourself where the people are before you expect the people to come and immerse themselves in church.”