Reverend Joseph “Joe” Hill was born in 1975 to William and Patricial Hill in Wheeling, WV. The church of Rev. Hill’s early years was Simpson United Methodist Church. When Joe was ten years old, the family moved to Huntington, West Virginia. He graduated from Marshall University before marrying his wife, now of 26 years, Christina Overstreet Hill. The couple moved to Maryland in 2000 to work for State Farm Insurance, where God placed several mentors in Joe’s path that encouraged (harrassed) him to respond to a long-resisted call to pastoral ministry. He began seminary at the Lutheran Theological School in Gettysburg and found himself reintroduced to the United Methodist Church in his teaching parish. At the same time Christina felt a call to complete her graduate work to become a counselor. Then with a young daughter, the family decided to return to Huntington in 2008 to be closer to family as they completed their graduate studies.
During seminary Joe worked as an in-school mentor and tutor to at-risk youth, then as Minister of Youth and Christian Ed at First UMC, Huntington. He paused seminary to take advantage of a year-long residency offering in clinical pastoral education at St. Mary’s Medical Center. As the residency was winding down, Joe resumed seminary, began his ordination process, and received his first appointment as Associate Pastor to Johnson Memorial UMC with Rev. Jack Lipphardt as Senior Pastor. Joe was next appointed as Senior Pastor to Cross Roads UMC with Associate Pastor Rev. William DeMoss. In June he concludes his term as a District Superintendent. He is grateful to have had the opportunity to care for more than 130 pastors and more than 200 churches in three different districts in the past eight years, but he and Christie are excited to get back into ministry together in the local church and in the community. Their daughter, Majesty Christine Hill, is 23 years old. She completes her nursing degree in May and begins working at Charleston Area Medical Center thereafter. Joe and Christie hope that, when they move, Majesty will keep at least one of the three cats she has talked them into keeping over the past fourteen years.