If Pastor Janice Marshburn could use one word to describe her life, it would be “simple.” This simple life is one that many people would recognize, and others might dream about. Pastor Janice was born and raised in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and she has a deep love for her family, calling them “intertwined.” She has two sisters, both still living in Jacksonville, with one just a stone’s throw away.
Sisters: Judy, Joyce, and Janice
Pastor Janice was raised by Godly parents: “My heritage is rich in the church. It’s my favorite place. We were those children who never asked if we were going to church. Wednesday or Sunday, that’s where we were gonna be. Church came first.”
Rev. and Mrs. James Hansley with Joyce, Judy, and Janice
Pastor Janice’s Parents: Rev. and Mrs. James Hansley
Pastor Janice as a Child
Pastor Janice describes her father as “a simple grease monkey,” a mechanic, and her mother as a “domesticated woman,” a homemaker. She said she wouldn’t call her family poor, but there were no “frills.” When she was a teenager, her father was called into ministry and began serving bi-vocationally at a small church, Sneads Ferry PH Church, in a fishing village located about 40 miles from their home. Here, her family would love on and serve congregants in a small church with no air conditioning or indoor plumbing. It was at Sneads Ferry PH Church that her father called on her to preach her first sermon in 1970.
Pastor Janice married her high school sweetheart during her senior year. After their wedding, Gary was drafted into the military during the Vietnam War and sent to Korea. Gary and Janice’s families supported them during this time, and she lived in her parents’ home, and sometimes in Gary’s parents’, as she awaited his return.
Janice and Gary Marshburn
Janice and Gary Marshburn
Once back stateside, Gary left the military, but he and Janice both worked as civil servants on the military base at Camp Lejeune, from where they eventually retired.
Janice and Gary Marshburn
Pastor Janice shares that while they never had biological children, they do have two spiritual children, both missionaries with IPHC: Melanie Ross in Kenya and Al Argo in the Philippines. She explains the benefits of having spiritual children in this way: “I didn’t have to go through the birthing process, the terrible twos, or put braces on their teeth!”
Pastor Janice with Her Spiritual Children, Missionaries Melanie Ross and Al Argo
Pastor Janice has been working in ministry for many years, focusing on women’s ministries. She began working with the Women’s Auxiliary at the conference level in 1980, when Mrs. Faye Leggett, wife of former Bishop James Leggett, invited Janice to join her. Since then, she has continued working with women’s ministries in many capacities at the local, conference, and national levels. In the local church, she has worked as the Women’s Ministry Director, Sunday School Teacher, VBS Director, Music Coordinator, and Praise & Worship Team member.
Pastor Janice’s Ordination Service
Ministry, and life in general, brings hardship and trials from time to time, but Pastor Janice’s greatest battle began in 2016, in the midst of a getaway with her husband at one of their favorite places in the world: Little Switzerland, NC. Pastor Janice had just stepped outside onto the balcony surrounding a restaurant they were visiting when she “felt as though someone pushed” her from behind. The fall she took resulted in a catastrophic break in her femur, “the longest, strongest, and heaviest bone in the body: the thigh bone.” While she was recovering from the initial break, where her femur went through the socket, she was in physical therapy when her femur head broke off completely. This second surgery necessitated a blood transfusion, and Pastor Janice describes herself during this time as “completely broken.” Following the stint in the hospital, Pastor Janice found herself in a fight for her life, where she was combatting crippling anxiety and depression daily, even thinking of taking her own life.
This mental health battle was one that she was completely unfamiliar with. She kept thinking if she just had enough faith, she would be restored. She was adamantly against seeing a doctor or taking any medication; after all, in the past, she had looked down on those who had done so. She was an ordained minister and a women’s ministry director; she couldn’t take medication! Pastor Janice continued to fight her battle in isolation, with very few, except her beloved husband and a few close friends, aware of the depth of the issue.
Finally, after 18 months or so, she was ready to listen. A special friend said to her, “Janice, if this was a cancer, would you refuse medication and condemn yourself, saying, ‘If only I had a little more faith?’” No. If this was cancer, she would pray, but she would also seek out the best medical help that she could find. So, she did. She saw “a doctor God specifically chose to help lead” her through that. Her miracle wasn’t instantaneous; it came slowly over the course of two years. But during those two years, Pastor Janice learned so much about herself, her Lord, and the devil’s desire to take out the ones the Lord uses.
Pastor Janice says that she would not have made it through the fight of her life in 2016 if it wasn’t for her husband. She tells of receiving a vision from the Lord of Gary holding back the serpent who was intent on destroying her. She is very thankful for his love and support throughout their marriage, especially in that season. Pastor Janice’s beloved Gary was her very best friend, always one to stay in the background where he felt most comfortable. He loved driving Pastor Janice around to her speaking engagements, even designing and printing a business card that described himself as “Driving Mrs. Janice.”
Gary’s Business Card
The Marshburns were married for 52 years and nine months, and sadly, in late 2020, Gary was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. She described him as deteriorating quickly, and she cared for him for 17 months before he passed away.
Janice and Gary Marshburn
Pastor Janice misses Gary terribly, but she has found that she can drive to her engagements alone. She uses her “old five-speed” car to travel to various ministerial opportunities and enjoys the time spent on the road. Although she loves to preach and is confident in her calling, she often reminds herself that she can’t say “yes” to every engagement that comes her way. Pastor Janice admits, “I get so nervous.” However, she encourages herself and others by saying, “When the Lord calls, we have to obey, or we’ll be miserable. I don’t want to be miserable. I might be scared, but I ‘do it afraid.’”
Pastor Janice Marshburn Today
Whatever the Challenge, Pastor Janice Is Ready!
At a recent event, the National Pastors Conference, where Pastor Janice spoke to IPHC women who hold credentials, she cautioned them: “We must not be ignorant to the extent that the devil hates us.” She knows this all too well, telling of the lengths he will go to silence those who love and serve the Lord. But Pastor Janice is quick to remind us that God wins in the end and that we needn’t sit idly by. We have the power of the risen Son of God living within us!
Pastor Janice’s “simple life” has been full of the goodness of God. As often as she can, she speaks to women and men across the country and around the world about all that God has done and can still do. She never would have imagined what would come from that first sermon preached in her little childhood church in Sneads Ferry, North Carolina, but she is so thankful. She will keep going for as long as she can and as long as the Lord will continue to use her. After all, in her words, “I love to preach!”
Pastor Janice Preaching
