Joshua Harris is Senior Pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD.
Joshua Harris followed his dad Gregg Harris, a well-known leader in the homeschooling movement, into public speaking as a teenager. He was publishing a magazine and conducting conferences for teens when he met C.J. Mahaney, then the senior pastor of Covenant Life Church. Motivated by a desire to be mentored and a growing conviction about the importance of the local church, Josh moved from Portland, OR, where he’d grown up, to Maryland to serve as a pastoral intern at the church. Later that same year his first book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye was released.
In 1999, Joshua founded NEXT (formerly called New Attitude), a worship and teaching gathering for young adults. The mission of the conference is to spread the message of “humble orthodoxy”—a commitment to believe, live and represent biblical truth with humility. The conference has run ever since (with a break in 2005) and is now led by Josh’s friend and fellow-pastor, Eric Simmons.
Josh assumed the role of senior pastor at Covenant Life in 2004. He loves the people of the church and hopes to grow old preaching God’s word there. He serves alongside an incredible team of eighteen other pastors who he counts his dearest friends. Together with the people of Covenant Life they’re seeking to build a gospel-centered and gospel-proclaiming body that makes disciples and loves and serves the community around them.
Joshua is the author of several books including his latest Dug Down Deep.
In addition to being a member of The Gospel Coalition, Joshua serves on the Sovereign Grace Ministries Leadership Team and the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.
Joshua is married to Shannon. They have a boy and two girls, and live in Gaithersburg, MD.