Gretchen Martin is an American worship singer, songwriter, devotional writer, and ministry co-founder based in Jacksonville, Florida. She is best known as a founding member of Eleven22 Worship, the music ministry of The Church of Eleven22, and as the wife of founding pastor Joby Martin.
Beyond her work behind the mic, Gretchen has built a quieter but no less influential ministry as a writer, penning multi-week devotionals for women that have walked thousands of readers through Scripture, prayer, and the messy, real parts of following Jesus.
If you’ve spent any time around Eleven22, you’ve probably sung a song she helped write before you ever learned her name. That’s sort of the point.
Gretchen Martin at a Glance
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Known For | Worship vocalist, songwriter, devotional author |
| Based In | Jacksonville, Florida, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Joby Martin (married since 2000; 25th anniversary celebrated February 2025) |
| Children | Two: a son, JP, and a daughter, Reagan Capri |
| Ministry | |
| Church | The Church of Eleven22, Jacksonville, Florida |
| Role | Co-founder; vocalist and songwriter, Eleven22 Worship |
| Denomination | Non-denominational |
| Since | 2010 (worship band origins); 2012 (church launch) |
| Notable Writings | Prepare Your Heart (Lenten devotional); Stand Firm with Gretchen Martin (women’s devotional) |
A quick note before we go further: Gretchen Martin keeps a famously low public profile compared to her husband. There’s no Wikipedia page with her birth date, no press kit, no official “About” bio with her maiden name on it.
What follows is built from her own devotional writing, the church’s official channels, and verified interviews, not from guesswork dressed up as fact.
Early Life and Faith Journey
Gretchen has been candid about the fact that her faith didn’t arrive all at once. In her own words from the Prepare Your Heart devotional, she made her profession of faith at age 12, at a summer camp.
That’s a detail a lot of believers will recognize. The decision happens fast. Understanding what it actually means tends to take years longer.
She’s written openly that her relationship with Jesus stayed “weak and wavering” through her teenage years, even though church attendance was a constant.
It wasn’t until adulthood, through marriage and the work of raising a family, that the faith she’d professed as a 12-year-old became the faith she actually lived.
That gap, between believing something and being shaped by it, shows up again and again in her writing. It’s not a flaw in her testimony. It’s the testimony.
Marriage to Joby Martin and the Early Years
Gretchen and Joby Martin married in 2000, and by February 2025 they’d celebrated 25 years together. Joby marked the anniversary publicly, thanking her for putting up with him and calling her his biggest encourager, which is the kind of line that only lands after two and a half decades of actual marriage, not the highlight-reel version.
Before The Church of Eleven22 existed, Joby served as a youth pastor and later an executive pastor at Beach Church in Jacksonville Beach.
Gretchen was already singing and writing music during this season, and the couple’s path toward planting their own church grew directly out of the worship community they were building together.
Eleven22 Worship: From a Methodist Youth Room to a Movement
In 2010, a small worship team formed at Beach United Methodist Church in Jacksonville. Four people were in the room: Ben Williams, Jonathan Berlin, Maria Dunlap, and Gretchen Martin.
None of them were trying to start a record label. They were trying to lead a room full of people toward Jesus on a Sunday morning.
That team became Eleven22 Worship, and when Joby and Gretchen launched The Church of Eleven22 in September 2012, the worship ministry came with them. The church’s opening weekend, held in a converted Walmart building, drew more than 3,000 people.
Gretchen has been a lead vocalist and songwriter for the group ever since, including contributing to the band’s 2025 album Hymns, a project that reworked older, traditional hymns into something a modern worship service could actually sing.
Here’s what’s easy to miss if you only know Eleven22 as “the megachurch with the Walmart building story.” The worship ministry isn’t a side project bolted onto Joby’s preaching.
It was there first. Gretchen and the original team were already leading worship before there was a church to lead it in. The music came before the sanctuary, not after.
Writing Ministry: Devotionals That Don’t Pretend Life Is Tidy
If Gretchen Martin has a signature contribution to Eleven22 beyond music, it’s her devotional writing. She has authored multiple multi-week series for the church, including Prepare Your Heart, a 40-day Lenten devotional centered on revival, fasting, and prayer, and Stand Firm with Gretchen Martin, a seven-week devotional written specifically for women.
What stands out in her writing is what she refuses to do. She won’t wrap a devotional in a bow that says “do this and your life will be perfect.” She’s said as much directly, admitting the temptation to rewrite every entry so it sounds cleaner than real life actually is. Her devotionals lean into Scripture passages like 1 Corinthians 13, Titus 2, and Romans 5, but the application always lands somewhere specific. Multi-generational friendship. Gossip. The discomfort of realizing you’ve become “the older woman” in the room.
“As I approach 50, I realize that I am now the older woman… I’ve learned from some truly godly women, and I am deeply grateful.” — Gretchen Martin, Stand Firm with Gretchen Martin
That one line tells you most of what you need to know about her voice as a writer. She’s not lecturing from a stage. She’s talking to you the way a friend a few years ahead of you talks, with enough honesty that you trust the rest of what she says.
Family Life
Joby and Gretchen Martin have two children, a son named JP and a daughter named Reagan Capri, both of whom have grown up inside the church their parents built.
Reagan has been described as an active student worshiper involved in leadership at Eleven22, and the family has appeared together publicly, including a Christmas episode of Joby’s Deepen podcast where the whole household talked through what the holidays look like in the Martin home.
Gretchen and Joby have also sat down together for interviews about marriage itself, not just ministry. In one joint conversation, the couple walked through what 1 Corinthians 13, the “love chapter,” actually looks like after 25 years of real marriage, real sin, and real grace, which is a far more useful framing than the version usually read at weddings.
Ministry Philosophy
Gretchen’s approach to ministry, both in song and on the page, centers on a few consistent convictions. Worship exists to glorify God, not to perform for an audience. Scripture should be lived before it’s quoted. And honesty about struggle isn’t a contradiction of faith, it’s often the doorway into it.
The Church of Eleven22 itself is non-denominational and connected to the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, a framework that emphasizes gospel-centered preaching and reproducing churches rather than a single dominant personality.
Gretchen’s role inside that structure, leading worship and writing devotionals rather than preaching from the main stage, reflects a fairly traditional division of ministry labor within that movement.
It hasn’t stopped her from shaping the church’s spiritual culture in ways that are easy to underestimate if you’re only counting sermons.
Influence and Legacy
The Church of Eleven22 has grown from a single 2012 launch service into a multi-campus church across Northeast Florida and South Georgia, with attendance numbers that regularly place it among the fastest-growing churches in the United States.
None of that growth happened without a worship ministry that could hold a room, week after week, across multiple campuses and an online audience.
That’s Gretchen’s lane, and she’s held it since before the church had a name.
Her devotional writing has extended that influence past the worship set list. Thousands of readers have walked through Stand Firm and Prepare Your Heart on their own time, in their own kitchens, which is a different kind of reach than a Sunday platform. It’s slower. It’s also stickier.
Interesting Facts About Gretchen Martin
- She was part of the original four-person worship team that formed at Beach United Methodist Church in 2010, two years before The Church of Eleven22 officially launched.
- She made her profession of faith at age 12 at a summer camp, a detail she’s shared candidly in her own devotional writing.
- She contributed vocals and songwriting to Eleven22 Worship’s 2025 album Hymns.
- She and Joby celebrated 25 years of marriage in February 2025.
- She writes her devotionals from a self-described aversion to false promises. Her own words admit the pull to make every entry end too neatly, and her refusal to do that is part of what readers connect with.
Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Marries Joby Martin |
| 2010 | Co-founds the worship team that becomes Eleven22 Worship at Beach United Methodist Church |
| 2012 | Helps launch The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida |
| 2025 | Celebrates 25th wedding anniversary with Joby Martin; contributes to the Hymns album; releases Stand Firm with Gretchen Martin devotional |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Gretchen Martin?
Gretchen Martin is an American worship vocalist, songwriter, and devotional writer who co-founded The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida, alongside her husband, lead pastor Joby Martin.
She leads worship and writes music with Eleven22 Worship and has authored several multi-week devotionals for the church.
Is Gretchen Martin married to Joby Martin?
Yes. Gretchen and Joby Martin have been married since 2000 and celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in February 2025.
Does Gretchen Martin sing or write music?
Yes. She is a founding member of Eleven22 Worship and has served as a lead vocalist and songwriter for the group since its origins in 2010, including contributing to the 2025 album Hymns.
What devotionals has Gretchen Martin written?
She has written Prepare Your Heart, a 40-day Lenten devotional on revival and prayer, and Stand Firm with Gretchen Martin, a multi-week devotional written for women, both published through The Church of Eleven22.
Does Gretchen Martin have children?
Yes. Gretchen and Joby Martin have two children, a son named JP and a daughter named Reagan Capri.
What church does Gretchen Martin attend?
Gretchen Martin co-founded and attends The Church of Eleven22, a non-denominational church based in Jacksonville, Florida.
