Who Is John Stanko?

John Stanko was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Duquesne University where he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics in 1972 and 1974 respectively.

Since then, John has served as an administrator, teacher, consultant, author, and pastor in his professional career. He holds a second master’s degree in pastoral ministries and earned his doctorate in pastoral ministries from Liberty Theological Seminary in Houston, Texas in 1995. In 2011, he completed a second doctor of ministry degree at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh. John has taught extensively on the topics of time management, life purpose, and creativity, and has conducted leadership and purpose training sessions throughout the United States and in 42 countries.

John founded a personal and leadership development company, called PurposeQuest, in 2001 and today travels the world to speak, consult and inspire leaders and people everywhere. From 2001-2008, he spent six months a year in Africa and still enjoys visiting and working on that continent where he is now focusing most of his efforts with his ministry partners in Kenya. John is currently a part-time instructor for Ottawa University in Kansas where he teaches Bible and leadership classes.

John is a prolific writer and has published 60 books—including a verse-by-verse commentary on the entire New Testament—as well as numerous articles for publications around the world. He serves as a creative and life purpose coach for people in many nations, and his daily and weekly blog posts have a large following, as does his work on other social media outlets. He is currently working on an Old Testament commentary called the Purpose Study Bible.

John has been married since 1974 to Kathryn Stanko, and they have two adult children and two grandchildren. In 2009, John was appointed the administrative pastor for discipleship at Allegheny Center Alliance Church on the North Side of Pittsburgh where he served for five years. In 2014, John founded Urban Press, a publishing service designed to tell stories of the city, from the city, and to the city.

Office Tour Video