Jon Harkness

Born and raised in Wichita, Kansas, Jon had a mixed religious upbringing. With maternal grandparents Bob and Belva Engel, who loved Jesus very much, the household that Jon grew up in was less stable. In his early years, his mother was searching hard for a way to make life easier. There were not many routes that weren’t taken, which opened the door to a great many supernatural occurrences, and a good deal of spiritual chaos. All the while, Bob and Belva did their best to provide a counterbalance of stability to that chaos, ensuing that Jon and his sister made it to worship every Sunday, as well as youth activities during the week. At the age of 11, Jon accepted Jesus as his Savior, primarily out of fear of hell. When things did not get easier in life, however, Jon decided to begin to forge his own path.

At the age of 17, Jon enlisted in the US Army Reserves, attending Basic Training between his junior and senior years of high school. At this juncture in life, Jon told Jesus “I’ve tried walking your way, and things just got harder. I’m going to do things my way.” As one can imagine, this was not a wise choice. In this attempt to set his own course, Jon discovered that he was not that great of a trailblazer, finding himself in locations and situations that his younger self never could have imagined, and none of it for the better. At the age of 22, after hitting rock bottom in poverty and addiction, with a string of bad relationships left at varying places on the path, Jon looked at what was left of his tattered life and cried out to Jesus. “I don’t know if you can do anything with this,” he cried, holding up the battered remains of a life poorly chosen, “but it’s yours to do with as you wish, Jesus.”

At this point, things began to turn around. Jon returned to worship and drew closer to Jesus than he had ever been, seeing that Jesus wants a relationship above all else. Attending worship was no longer filled with duty and obligation, but expectation and joy. Jon began to feel the pull toward formal education, and in late July of 2003, he applied to go to college. 2 weeks later, he was on campus, ready to start classes, to the amazement of his sister, who had been trying to get things together to go to college for months and was still waiting for some paperwork to go through. Unsure of what path lay before him, Jon was simply following Jesus wherever He would lead.

Unsure of what Jesus was calling him to, Jon took a variety of courses, with his primary focus and desire to be focused on learning more about Jesus, and the Scriptures. In the course of study, Jon took a class called “Counseling for Christian Leaders.” The professor came to class one day and shared a statistic that rocked Jon’s world: “1500 pastors a month leave the ministry permanently, due to a moral failure or burnout,” Jon was so rattled by the statistic that to this day he cannot remember anything else the professor shared that day. He cried out in anguish, “Why aren’t you doing something about this,

Jesus?” Every so gently, the Lord began to stir Jon. He said “I have. I’ve created you, and others like you, who have a desire to minister to them.” Over the next 15 years, Jesus prepared Jon for the ministry calling of ministering to pastors. Jon completed his Bachelor of Science in Youth Ministry and Bible, and then continued his education with a Master of Arts in Religion, focused on Pastoral Counseling with Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Jon has ministered as the co-pastor of a small church in Kansas City, Missouri (1.5 years), and as pastor of a small rural congregation in Northbranch, Kansas (8 years). He has ministered through the highs and lows of ministry, had to bury 17 people that he has gotten close to over the years, and ministered through a season of burnout, that ultimately ended with being released from ministry. During all these years, Jon has felt the calling to minister to pastors. After returning to the Engel farm following his release from ministry, Jon began to ask the Lord for guidance in the next steps for this ministry. It was at this time that Jon discovered Standing Stone.

Jon, his wife Emily, and their 4 children are currently living on the Engel farm, just outside of Wichita, Kansas.