Josie Rudd

Josie has been on staff at Burnt Hickory since 2014 and now serves as Director of Childhood and Special Needs Ministries. She advocates for families, equips others for ministry, and creates opportunities for everyone to experience the love, joy, and belonging found in Christ. Her work rests on a simple conviction: every person bears the image of God and deserves to be seen, known, loved, and included. She’s quick to say the ministry goes both ways. “They teach us the purity of love, service, and joy,” she says. “We think we are ministering to them, but we walk away ministered to.”

Josie grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia, on a 90-acre homestead that has been in her family since the Revolutionary War. She started working with kids while still a kid herself, helping run her church’s puppet ministry and serving on its bus ministry team. She studied Early Childhood Education at Pensacola Christian College, where she became fluent in American Sign Language, and later earned a degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology from West Virginia University. She then spent several years as a sign-language interpreter. She and her husband, Kenny, have two daughters, Jenna and Lydia.