JEFF SNYDER

A Journey Of Music Ministry

Jeff Snyder was born and raised in Owensboro, Kentucky. Jeff was saved as a young teenager during a revival at his home church. His earliest memories of growing up in the church were singing with his father and brothers. Music and ministry have always been a passion in his life and one day that passion became a calling on his life. It was during a camp meeting service in Louisville while the song evangelists, Phil and Kim Collingsworth, were singing that Jeff sensed God calling him into music ministry. “I will never forget”, Jeff recalls, “People were worshiping all over the tabernacle, it was like God was speaking directly to me telling me this is what He wanted me to do.” After graduating high school in 1997, Jeff enrolled as a student at Kentucky Mountain Bible College where he would travel representing the college across the country in public relation services, revivals, and camp meetings. He graduated from KMBC in 2000 with a degree in Biblical Studies. In the fall of 2001, Jeff transferred to the historic God's Bible School & College where he studied Church music and represented the school in public relations. After a brief time back home, Jeff would move to Kodak, Tennessee and start traveling full time in gospel music with Crystal River. While he was on the road with Crystal River he met his future wife, Melissa. Jeff says, “Outside of my relationship with the Lord, Melissa is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm so glad God led our group to sing at her church that Sunday morning! It was no accident. It was ordained by God.” The two would go on to court for several months and eventually they got engaged on the steps of the church where they met. Jeff and Melissa were married in the summer of 2006. In the fall of the same year Jeff started traveling with The Bowling Family, formerly known as Mike & Kelly Bowling. Based out of Nashville, the group would go on to have radio success with multiple number one hits from their freshmen album “Faith To Believe” which included songs like ; “Your Cries Have Awoken The Master”, “We Have A Savior”, “A Miracle Today”, and “Notified”. After his tenure with Mike and Kelly, Jeff went on to sing with the legendary family group, The Greenes, based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. “Traveling with Tony, TaRanda , and John Jeffrey was an exciting time in my singing career.”, recalls Jeff. During his time in full time gospel music, he appeared on TBN's Praise The Lord program, the main stage at The National Quartet Convention, The Brooklyn Tabernacle, and Gaither Homecoming videos. After coming off the road, Jeff and Melissa felt called to short term missions. They were privileged to have the opportunity to serve in Cameroon, located in Central Africa. The couple served together in the children's ward of Mbingo Hospital for a month; Melissa as the head pediatric physician and Jeff as the ward's chaplain. In 2016, Jeff would go on to join the staff at his home church, Valley Forge Church, in Elizabethton, TN where he remains the Worship Leader to this day. “Valley Forge has been an extension of that calling I felt over 20 years ago during that camp meeting in Louisville.” says Jeff. After several years of planning and discussion, Jeff and Melissa felt it was time for him to make a solo album. In 2019 Jeff recorded his first solo album entitled “Keep The Faith”. Jeff and Melissa, along with their sons Ezra and Jonah, reside in nearby Johnson City where Melissa is a pediatric physician. Throughout this journey of music ministry many changes have taken place, but one thing remains the same. The changeless Christ that saved Jeff many years ago in that revival has been the main motivation in his life. Jeff's desire is to see people come to Christ through his music, the church would be encouraged to keep the faith, and God would receive all of the glory for it!