Dr. CJ Rhodes received his call to Gospel ministry in July 2000, two months after graduating with honors from Hazlehurst High School. At the University of Mississippi, he served in various positions in the student government, co-founded the Department of Minority Affairs, worked with the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, and was appointed to the Chancellor's Committee for Respect and Sensitivity. Ministerially, CJ co-founded two college ministries and was an associate minister to youth and young adults at two Missionary Baptist churches. He graduated in 2004 with a BA in Philosophy. He continued his education at the Duke University Divinity School as both a Dean's Scholar and a Fund for Theological Education Ministry Fellow, and earned his Master of Divinity in 2009. Rev. Dr. Rhodes received the Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership for Transformational Ministry in 2018 from Wesley Biblical Seminary.