Biography

The son of a sharecropper and a housewife, Joseph Larry Myles was born March 21, 1948 in Columbia, Tennessee. Joseph is the thirteenth of fifteen children born to the union of the late William Howard Taft Myles and Laura Bell Lockridge Myles. There were ten girls and five boys; and Joseph is the fourth of the five boys.

Raised on a farm, Joseph learned to work alone and with groups of people depending on the need. Joseph learned that work can be fun or tedious. His dad taught him that all work is done with a goal in mind and the goal must be accomplished through ethical and moral means so that the outcome can be safe and secure from all criticism and opposition.

Joseph attended Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church with his family where Rev. John Raymond Lockridge was the pastor. At the age of 10, Joseph accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior and became a member of Mt. Zion. His mother stressed the need for Bible study and his parents saw to it that their children attended Sunday school.

Joseph was educated in the Maury County Tennessee public school system. He attended College Hill Elementary School for grades one through six and Carver-Smith High School for grades seven through twelve. Joseph attended Columbia State Community College for one year, but he left school and enlisted in the United States Army. He served in the military for four years and received an honorable discharge.

After discharge, Joseph moved to Cleveland, Ohio where he began to work as a Nurse Assistant at the Veterans Administration Hospital. He entered Cuyahoga Community College and graduated with an Associate Applied Science Nursing (AASN) and was licensed by the state of Ohio as a Registered Nurse. While living in Cleveland Joseph became a member of St. Timothy Missionary Baptist Church. It was under the mentoring of Deacon Cleve Taylor that Joseph began to teach in the Sunday school, Vacation Bible School and other teaching opportunities. Deacon Taylor taught Joseph the value of getting involved in ministry outside the four walls of the church. His pastor Rev. Dr. John T. Weeden encouraged Joseph to become active in leadership positions and provided opportunities for him to develop his skills.

After nine years Joseph moved to Nashville, Tennessee. He continued to work as a RN at the Veterans Administration Medical Center. He attended Tennessee State University and graduated with the Bachelor Science Nursing (BSN). Joseph became a member of the Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church in May 1982, and he continued to teach in the Sunday school and VBS. Joseph accepted and announced his call to preach on December 27, 1987. Pastor James “Tex’ Thomas licensed him on June 26, 1988 and Joseph was ordained October 21, 1990. Under the watchful eye of Pastor Thomas, Joseph learned three important tasks that make effective preaching and teaching: 1) Know who you are, 2) be honest with the text, 3) know your audience. Joseph received the Bachelor Theology (Th.B.) from American Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee and the Master Divinity in Christian Education (M.Div) from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Joseph has served in the position of Associate Minister/Children and Youth Liaison at Fifteenth Avenue Baptist Church (Nashville, Tennessee) under the pastor, Rev Dr. William F. Buchanan. He then moved on to serve as Director of Christian Education at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church (Nashville, Tennessee) under the pastor, Rev. Elton Lee Waller. Presently, Joseph serves as an Associate Minister and teaches Sunday school at Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church.

Joseph writes Sunday school and Vacation Bible School books in the children and youth divisions and has submitted articles for the Union Review for the R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation, Nashville, Tennessee. He has also worked as editor for RHB. Joseph has taught in The National Baptist Sunday School Congress. Joseph fondly remembers his two mission trips to Haiti in 2002 and 2003.

Joseph is married to Marilyn Denson Myles, a blessing for twenty-six years. Joseph and Marilyn are the proud parents of Jamil E. Matthews and Abra LeAndra Myles.