The Reverend J.J. Martinez was appointed pastor of University United Methodist Church (and Church of the Cross) by Bishop David Wilson of the Great Plains Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2025.
About Pastor J.J.
The Reverend Juan Josue “J.J.” Martinez is the pastor of Church of the Cross and University United Methodist Church in Salina, Kansas.
J.J. earned a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry, summa cum laude, from the Boston University School of Theology, where he was a graduate assistant for the School’s Raíces Latinas Program on Theology, Leadership, and Research. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, summa cum laude, from The University of Texas at El Paso, and was a research fellow with the university’s Humanities Collaborative.
While in seminary, J.J. was president of the Wesleyan Student Association for two years, preached at the historic Marsh Chapel, and was awarded the Student Leadership Award for Wesleyan/Methodist Spirituality. His studies focused on Wesleyan historical, liturgical, and sacramental theology, as well as the histories and doctrines of various American Protestant denominations.
J.J. was commissioned as a provisional elder in the New England Conference of The United Methodist Church in 2025.
Born and raised in El Paso, Texas—the largest binational and bilingual community in the Western Hemisphere—J.J. finds joy in a hot mocha, a good book, and Handel’s Messiah and Vivaldi’s Gloria.