.Reverend Dr. Jerry Lee Love Jr., a native of Savannah, Georgia, accepted his call to the Gospel ministry in 2005 and was baptized at Jonesville Baptist Church in Savannah.

Pastor Love faithfully served in several ministry roles at First Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. In April 2013, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Dumas A. Harshaw Jr., he preached his initial sermon and was licensed to the Gospel ministry. In 2015, he began serving as an Associate Minister at First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. That same year, under the leadership of Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Fredrick A. Davis, he was ordained through First Calvary Baptist Church and the East Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Association as he entered professional ministry as Senior Chaplain at Orange Correctional Center and Executive Director of Alamance Orange Prison Ministry. In 2016, he was also ordained through the American Baptist Churches of the South (ABCOTS).

Pastor Love earned a diploma in Marketing Management from Savannah Technical College and later received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and Philosophy, with a minor in Sociology, from Shaw University. He continued his theological education at Campbell University Divinity School, where he earned both a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry degree.

His doctoral project, “Seeking Justice for Ex-Offenders: Holistic Ministries of Re-entry,” was shaped by both his personal experiences and professional work addressing the realities of mass incarceration. To further strengthen his pastoral care ministry, he also completed four units of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) through UNC Hospitals in Hillsborough and Chapel Hill.

Throughout his ministry, Pastor Love has faithfully served as both a prison and hospital chaplain, offering spiritual guidance, compassion, and support to offenders, patients, staff, and families. His ministry is deeply rooted in Luke 4:18–19:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

Pastor Love resides in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife, Dr. Shelly-Ann M. Love, and their three children: Jerry (Jeremiah), Talia Rose (“Tally”), and Sarah Joy (“SJ”).