Julia Dawson

Music has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. From a very young age, I have always loved to sing and perform. Over the years, I was blessed with opportunities to receive formal vocal training and develop my gifts as a vocalist and performer. Singing was something that came naturally to me, something I loved, and something that became a significant part of who I was.

For many years, I viewed singing primarily as a talent and a passion. I never could have imagined how God would eventually take something He had placed in me as a child and use it for His glory. Today, I have the privilege of using that gift as a worship leader at 4041 Church—not to perform, but to help lead others in turning their hearts and their eyes toward Jesus. Looking back, I can see that God was preparing something in me long before I understood what He was preparing me for.

If you had told me a few years ago that I would one day be standing beside my husband, helping lead a church plant and being a worship leader, I probably would have laughed and told you that you had the wrong person.

I grew up in the church, but for much of my life, I never truly felt at home there. As I became an adult, I slowly began to stray. Church became something I knew about rather than something I lived. I never could have imagined where God would eventually lead me—or that He would use my own family to be part of building His church.

Then, in 2023, my husband, Russell, came to me and said, “We should start going to church.”

God graciously brought us under the pastoral care of Dillon Evans, an incredibly faithful and sound theologian. Through the preaching of God's Word, faithful discipleship, and the work of the Holy Spirit, our eyes were opened to the glory of God and the depth of His grace. What began as simply going back to church became something so much greater.

Our hearts were awakened to Him. Our family was changed. We were saved by His grace, and we began to understand that following Christ was not simply about attending church—it was about surrendering our lives to Him.

God then began leading us through seasons we never expected. We experienced church hurt and eventually left the place where we had once felt at home. It would have been easy to see that season as something broken or lost. But God had something else in mind.

Instead of allowing that hurt to pull us away from Him, God used it to stir something deeper within us. We became on fire for Him.

Through prayer, conversations, and the support of family and friends, a small group of believers began coming together with a shared desire: to plant a church in Gloucester that would faithfully preach God's Word, point people to Jesus, and walk alongside those who find themselves in their own wilderness.

That small gathering became 4041 Church.

Originally, we began under the pastoral guidance of Dillon Evans, meeting together in our homes and watching God slowly begin to lay the foundation. What started small began to take root—not because we had everything figured out, but because God was faithfully leading every step.

Then God called Dillon to preach and serve with another church farther north. Once again, we could have looked at the situation and wondered, “What now?”

But God was already at work.

During this season, my husband, Russell, began feeling God's call to lead. At the same time, 40/41 Church was in need of a pastor. Through prayer, counsel, and the support of those God had placed around us, Russell answered that call and stepped forward to lead this church plant.

And here we are.

Not because we planned this.

Not because we were looking for a church to lead.

Not because we had everything figured out.

But because God has been faithful every step of the way.

When I look back at the woman I was before 2023, I never could have imagined standing where I am today. I never would have chosen this path for myself, but I am so thankful that God did.

He took a family that was wandering and brought us to Himself.

He took our wilderness and used it to draw us closer to Him.

He took what could have been the end of our story and made it the beginning of something new.

That is what 4041 means to us.

This church is not our story.

It is God's story.

And we are humbled and grateful that He has allowed us to be a part of it.