our teacher

John Stevens was born in Detroit but spent most of his childhood in Hollywood, Calif. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1960. After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, he attended Princeton Theological Seminary, where he graduated with a master's degree in divinity in 1965. John was awarded an honorary doctorate by Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska.

John served as an associate pastor for the East San Diego United Presbyterian Church from 1965-69. He accepted an associate pastor position at the First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs in 1969 and became senior minister two years later. He served the church in this position for 34 years until his retirement in 2006. Under his leadership, the church added about 2,000 members, grew to a body of about 5,000, and expanded and renovated its facilities. As a result, First Presbyterian is among the five largest congregations in Presbyterian Church U.S.A.

John has always been a leading conservative voice in the community. He was instrumental in launching First Presbyterian's numerous outreach programs. The church was one of the region's first to offer a singles ministry and its youth programs are considered among the city's strongest. The church has offered divorce workshops for more than 28 years, one of the first churches to do so. More than 10,000 people have attended the workshops since their 1977 inception, and most attendees have no affiliation with the church.

John married Gail Louise Stevens in 1966. They have two sons, Stan and Tim, both married to young women from First Presbyterian, and three granddaughters, all living in Colorado Springs.