Rev. Benji Mendoza was called to serve Hillcrest as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship in April 2026. In this role, he serves our students and works with the Senior Pastor to enact the mission of Hillcrest in how we can lead people to find life in Jesus. He is a Morristown native and grew up in a neighborhood just up the road from the church! Called to ministry at 15, God has given him various opportunities and roles throughout high school and college serving in student ministry, campus ministry, mission trips, and discipleship ministries. Now a recent graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (B.A. in Communication Studies), Benji’s one and only goal is to glorify God in everything he does, and he is passionate about walking with people in their next steps with Jesus.
Benji is engaged to his beautiful fiancée Stephanie who is a Kindergarten Teacher at Alpha Primary School, a former college softball player, and has served on staff at FUGE Camp for a few summers! They love serving Jesus together and they are excited about this next chapter of marriage and ministry! Furthermore, Benji loves his time outdoors, eating delicious food, drinking good coffee, cheering on the Vols, and spending time with people.
"So then just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him, being rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude." Colossians 2:6-7
