About Will
Will's mission in life is to see this generation come to worship God.
Will was born in Barnwell, South Carolina to a crop farmer and a teacher. Will grew up living the typical small-town American life: playing sports and working on his father's farm. Will is the baby of his family and has one sister, Shanda.
In 1995, Will graduated from Barnwell High School and left to study Human Resource Management at Georgia Southern University, where he earned his Bachelors of Administration. Raised as a church-going Presbyterian, he arrived at college with strong morals but no faith. Will joined Sigma Nu fraternity where he was named Man of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Rush Chairman, Chaplin, and Vice Commander. Most importantly, Will established a friendship with one of his fraternity brothers, Phil Mullinax. Under Phil's leadership and the care of Campus Outreach Ministry, Will surrendered his life to Jesus on January 31, 1996. Subsequently, Will was baptized at First Baptist Church of Statesboro, GA by his college minister, Stewart Moody.
Also in 1995, Will met the love of his life Tarah Toy. Tarah, a spunky young woman from Miami who loved to play sports with the guys, met Will on a volleyball court near Will's dorm. A friendship grew into a beautiful relationship and the two were married on October 9, 1999. The big-city girl from Miami and the farm-boy from small town U.S.A. set out to start a life together. Initially, Will felt God's call on his life was to be Christian businessman, so they started their life together in Atlanta, Georgia. While in Atlanta, Will attended a worship service for young adults. It was on a Tuesday night at Northpointe Community Church attending a ministry named 7:22 where Will surrendered to God's call to ministry. There in Alpharetta, Georgia the Lord spoke to Will saying, "I want you to spend the rest of your life seeing your generation come to worship me."
Will was born in Barnwell, South Carolina to a crop farmer and a teacher. Will grew up living the typical small-town American life: playing sports and working on his father's farm. Will is the baby of his family and has one sister, Shanda.
In 1995, Will graduated from Barnwell High School and left to study Human Resource Management at Georgia Southern University, where he earned his Bachelors of Administration. Raised as a church-going Presbyterian, he arrived at college with strong morals but no faith. Will joined Sigma Nu fraternity where he was named Man of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Rush Chairman, Chaplin, and Vice Commander. Most importantly, Will established a friendship with one of his fraternity brothers, Phil Mullinax. Under Phil's leadership and the care of Campus Outreach Ministry, Will surrendered his life to Jesus on January 31, 1996. Subsequently, Will was baptized at First Baptist Church of Statesboro, GA by his college minister, Stewart Moody.
Also in 1995, Will met the love of his life Tarah Toy. Tarah, a spunky young woman from Miami who loved to play sports with the guys, met Will on a volleyball court near Will's dorm. A friendship grew into a beautiful relationship and the two were married on October 9, 1999. The big-city girl from Miami and the farm-boy from small town U.S.A. set out to start a life together. Initially, Will felt God's call on his life was to be Christian businessman, so they started their life together in Atlanta, Georgia. While in Atlanta, Will attended a worship service for young adults. It was on a Tuesday night at Northpointe Community Church attending a ministry named 7:22 where Will surrendered to God's call to ministry. There in Alpharetta, Georgia the Lord spoke to Will saying, "I want you to spend the rest of your life seeing your generation come to worship me."
With no theological education and little-to-no ministry experience this young couple gave themselves to finding a place of ministry. Will was given his first ministry opportunity as the Youth, Children, & Activities Minister at First Baptist Church, Williston, SC. Will and Tarah were able to see God's hand in their ministry calling, witnessing the student ministry grow at FBC-Williston. Will could not shake the feeling that he needed to take seriously theological education, so the couple moved to Louisville, Kentucky and Will began to study at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. While in Kentucky, Will was hired as a Youth & Young Adults Minister at First Baptist Church, Mount Washington, KY. Once again, the couple was able to witness God grow the ministry in their care.
While in Kentucky, Will completed his Masters of Divinity at SBTS in Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth with an emphasis in Church Planting. It was during this time, and his time in Williston, where Will and Tarah became close friends with Clay and Erin Jernigan. These two couples heard the call from God to be church planters. In March of 2007 twelve adults and their children moved from Kentucky to Summerville, SC to plant the Journey Church. While planting the Journey Church, Will continued his doctoral studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary completing a Doctorate in Ministry in Great Commission Studies.
After several months of planning, praying, and serving Journey Church was off the ground. On September 30, 2007 the Journey Church had its first worship service. Over the course of the next several years the church grew from a dozen people in the Brownings' living room to a thriving, church planting church. Under Will’s leadership the church grew to serve 1,000 weekly worshipers, deploying people as missionaries across the Charleston Metro area. Journey planted nine churches in its first 14 years of existence and has trained dozens more church planters through its church planting coaching center and residency program.
In 2021, God called Will and Tarah to serve in California. Will is the director of Send California and the chief church planting strategist for the city of Los Angeles with the North American Mission Board. He and Tarah have three children: a daughter who is a nurse; a son in the Marine Corps who is married to Audrey and gave Will and Tarah their first grandbaby on Tarah's birthday December 30, 2023; and a son who is a high school senior.
In 2021, God called Will and Tarah to serve in California. Will is the director of Send California and the chief church planting strategist for the city of Los Angeles with the North American Mission Board. He and Tarah have three children: a daughter who is a nurse; a son in the Marine Corps who is married to Audrey and gave Will and Tarah their first grandbaby on Tarah's birthday December 30, 2023; and a son who is a high school senior.
