Rev. Joseph Fortunato is a long time resident of New Jersey, born and raised in Metuchen. He committed his life to the Lord in 1979 at a Catholic Charismatic Prayer Meeting in Stubenville, Ohio. In 1984, he visited Faith Fellowship Ministries World Outreach Center (FFMWOC), now in Sayreville, NJ, where he became a member and served faithfully in various areas of ministry for almost 20 years, as well as on Crusade Teams to Haiti, Trinidad, St. Maarten and Jamaica. He especially enjoyed organizing outreaches to the local community and ministering to the addicted through Victory in Jesus. Rev. Fortunato is also a graduate of the Advanced Christian Training School at FFMWOC. In 1992, he was ordained as a minister by his pastor, Dr. David T. Demola, and became a minister on staff in 1998, and remains vitally connected to FFMWOC. He not only teaches at their Faith International Training School, ministering to men and women of God from all over the world, he was also appointed by Dr. Demola to serve on the Apostolic Team through Covenant Ministries International (CMI), reaching out to local and international pastors and ministers. As a representative of CMI, he has had the tremendous privilege of ministering at conferences in Ghana and Gabon, Africa, and other parts of the world as new opportunities arise.
In 2002, Dr. Demola sent Joe to Southern New Jersey to oversee a church in Mullica Hill. Later that same year, he and his wife, Natalie, and their two children moved to Mullica Hill, founded Faith Fellowship Ministries of Southern New Jersey (FFMSNJ), and held their first service in the Harrison Township Elementary School gymnasium. To this day, FFMSNJ remains ethically, spiritually, and morally accountable to CMI as their ministry covering.
In 2004, they purchased a building in Sewell, New Jersey, where the church remained for nine years. In 2010, Pastor Joe established the South Jersey Dream Center, a ministry that provides food, clothing and supportive services to individuals and families in Southern New Jersey who can't afford the basics in life. As this area of ministry became the central focus of FFMSNJ, in 2013, the church left Sewell, and has now settled in the West Deptford, New Jersey area with plans to purchase property and a building to fulfill the vision of both the South Jersey Dream Center and Faith Fellowship Ministries of Southern New Jersey.
In 2016, Joe enrolled in Charis Bible College Continuing Education for Ministers Program, an outreach of Andrew Wommack Ministries, and graduated from the two year program at the beginning of 2018. In March, 2018 he began a weekly Charis Bible Studies that is currently operating and thriving. In August, 2018, Joe enrolled in the World Outreach Global Training School at Charis Bible College in Woodland Park, CO, and graduated in May, 2019. In the fall of 2019 he began a 10-month internship at the Ann Arbor, MI Charis Bible College. In the summer of 2020, Joe began Charis Healing University via Zoom. In the fall of 2021 he began a second 10-month internship at the Phoenix, AZ Charis Bible College. (read about his amazing journey to Charis here).
Joe has a genuine passion to see lives changed and the lost saved through the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. He believes that God has an amazing plan for every person, filled with health, abundance, hope and victory. His purpose in life is to share God's unconditional love, grace, and the goodness of God, both in word and deed, everywhere he goes and to every person he meets.