Tim Hooker

Tim Hooker began leading worship around his mother's living-room table at youth group meetings. He grew up watching his father lead worship at church and wanted to follow in his footsteps. “Musical worship has always been a part of my life. It's how I pray, how I cry, how I get excited.”
When he arrived at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, his first line of business was finding a Christian student organization and trying to play with them. Tim played in the worship team at Inter-varsity Christian Fellowship for his entire education as well as leading for his final 2 years.
After graduating from UNCG in 2002, he joined up with a live Hip-Hop band founded by Christian believers and set his sites on making a living playing mainstream music. They were called The Urban Sophisticates. They were successful, playing bars from Atlanta to Illinois and even showcasing for Sparrow.
During this time, Tim took a job starting a church plant in Greensboro, NC named Central Community Church. He helped grow the church through outreach, organizing fellowship and cell group events, and bringing believers into a deeper worship experience through heading up a worship band. He found help from Joe Musten who had been in the successful signed band Beloved. He was also joined by songwriter and worship leader Dennis Nealy and bassist Jonathan Thompson. They hit it off musically and found a new raw and energetic sound in their worship sets.
As far as Tim's involvement with The Urban Sophisticates - Suddenly, the appeal of mainstream success seemed to fade. “I would play a bar full of people dancing to our music and screaming at the end of every song and wish I wasn't there. I knew I was given a gift by God to use in a more meaningful way.” In early 2006, Tim felt God calling him to fully devote himself to worship and so he quit the Hip-Hop band. Almost immediately, he found following new dreams. He found himself leading at multiple churches, booking conferences, and writing music. In June of 2008 he took a position on staff as a worship pastor with Gate City Vineyard in Greensboro, NC. “I want to live out the plan that God has for me, wherever that may take me. That can be a scary thing to say.” With all of the musical goals a person could have, Tim has one over-arching spiritual goal. “I want to be a real person,” Tim says, “worshiping a real God, leading his followers into authentic worship, and showcasing His great love.”