Samuel K. Hunter, Jr. is the Founder and Senior Pastor of The Next Level Church. After graduating high school in Clinton, Ky, he moved to Bowling Green, KY, in 1994. Samuel began working for Sun Products Corporation (Legacy Huish Detergents) during this time and became a Training Specialist. He currently works at Constellium Bowling Green LLC as a Training Manager.
He attended Western Kentucky University in 1997, where he received an Associate of Science degree in Manufacturing Technology in 2001 and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with a Minor in Manufacturing Sciences in 2003. He earned his Master of Science in Human Resources & Organizational Development at the University of Louisville in 2021.
In 1997 Samuel K. Hunter, Jr. married the love of his life, his high school sweetheart Lady Bertha Hunter, “She is my heart, and I love her and our two children Breanna & Jonathan Hunter more than words can express! I thank God for the beautiful family He has given me.”
Pastor Hunter was the pastor of another church in a nearby community before planting a church in Bowling Green, KY. God spoke to him only two years into his initial church, letting him know that he needed to start a Church in Bowling Green. The Lord even gave him the Name of the Church – The Next Level Church.
As God began to “shift” Pastor Hunter, in time, he knew without a doubt that it was time to start The Next Level Church, and in January 2013, with the help of his loving wife and a few prayerfully chosen leaders, the Next Level Church was launched. Since its inception, the Next Level Church has grown @ 400 members.
“The Next Level is the church my family and I always believed a Church should be because we are a church whose focus is on Jesus, loving each other, and helping those in need and that’s what it’s all about, says Pastor Hunter. “We are a “City of Hope” for those who have been hurt, hindered, put down, and pushed to the side whether it took place in a church or the world – Jesus is restoring us to the next level in Jesus.”