From a very young age, Ted Gocke knew his calling in life - reaching people for the Lord.
Born in Louisville, Ky., in 1967, Ted had been raised in church all of his life. His parents, Ted and Patricia Gocke, made sure their son had a good foundation and it was no surprise that Ted was called into the ministry at age 17. Being the oldest of four boys, Ted knew how to fall into a leadership role. With Ted’s dad being an engineer and working a lot while his mother was a stay-at-home mom, Ted played a supportive role in his family.
While growing up attending Farmdale Baptist Church, Ted saw several youth pastors come and go. “The church would hire a seminary student and the student would come in for a year or so and then leave. Some would be called to another church, while others realized they really weren’t responding to a call.” When Ted was 17 his church was holding a youth week where the students would participate in the services to show their leadership potential in the church and this is the moment he felt called to the ministry, “Our youth pastor had resigned a week before we held youth week and the pastor came up to me and asked if I would lead the services. I realized during this experience that this is what God wanted me to do for the rest of my life.”
In his college years, Ted became the assistant youth pastor and became friends with Amy Sarver. “She was one of the high school students and I was in college. I thought. ‘I can’t date one of the students’ so for the longest time I didn’t, but one day I went to lunch with friends who encouraged me to ask Amy out. I did and we dated for some time and then married. We have been together ever since.” They moved to North Georgia and served in churches while beginning their family.
Ted and Amy have three children; the oldest, Lauren and Trevor, are both in college on soccer scholarships. “Lauren, who is 20 now, is an exercise science and health major and wants to become a P.E. teacher, a coach or personal trainer. Trevor is a freshman and his chosen career path is to go into federal law enforcement. He would like to work with secret service or FBI,”
Ted continues, “Chipper is still undecided. He is a sophomore in high school. He is hearing disabled. I don't think he was born that way. He was always a very light sleeper… started having ear infections and we decided to take him to a specialist. They did a brain scan to test his hearing and found that he had significant hearing loss in one of his ears and a profound loss in the other. He began learning sign language and reads lips very well. He wears one hearing aid and most people don’t even realize that he is hearing impaired. Chipper never meets a stranger. He ran cross country and plays tennis. ”
Ted and his family had always cared about fitness. In fact, one of the things on Ted’s “bucket list” was to compete in a body building contest, and later he was able to compete in the “Battle for the River”. Ted trained with a friend who put him on a rigid diet that changed his whole lifestyle for the time he trained.
“Amy put up with a lot in supporting my desire to see this through. She was getting frustrated that I was never home, that I didn't eat what the family ate and I told her that if she would just let me get through this I would not do another one again…. unless she let me,” Ted laughs. “When you get up on stage and you are in the best shape of your life – up against other guys that are in the best shape of their lives, it can get addicting. I got fourth out of five, so I didn’t lose.”
While a youth pastor at South Seminole Baptist Church in East Ridge, Ted was able to take the youth on a mission trip to Jamaica. “This was not the area where most people think of as a vacation spot. There were real needs to be reached. It was a very poor area and to watch our kids show such love - sharing the message of Christ - was life changing for me.” Being a minister, Ted has also had the honor of baptizing all of his children as they made a step in their faith as well as preaching at his father’s funeral.
During the years that his children were growing up, Ted realized that being a youth pastor was a very tough job, taking him away from his family often. Ted was a DJ with J-103 on and off over the last 17 years. He decided that in order to spend more time with his family and to be a hands on dad he would let go of the youth pastor position he held at The Church of Catoosa.
Ted is now the development director and director of special events and host of the Morning Show at J-103. One of the station’s biggest events is “J-fest” is coming up on its 14th year and the station is coming up on its 17th year. J-103 reaches all of Chattanooga, and up to Knoxville, Gatlinburg, Fort Payne, Calhoun and other surrounding areas. “We get phone calls from people who share what a certain song meant to them and how it helped them get through a hard time in their lives. We are dedicated to providing music with a positive message,” Ted says. He states that the station has even had calls from people who had thought about taking their life. but that listening to the music on J-103 brought them out of that despair. “It is such a blessing to hear of accounts where we played ‘just the right song at the right time’ for someone… God does that.”
Ted has been able to meet quite a few celebrities while hosting events with J-103 and DJing other events. One opportunity he had was to introduce his childhood hero, Pete Rose. He also has met Steven Curtis Chapman, ‘Smitty’, Third Day, Casting Crowns just to name a few and Ted and his son Chipper, were privileged to meet Lou Ferrigno at one local event, “It was really cool to watch Chipper and Lou interact.“
Ted has also met Kirk Cameron, Steven Baldwin and Amy Grant, “Being with J-103 has given me many opportunities to meet very interesting people. The music is not like it used to be – it’s relevant, positive radio that the whole family can listen to. It brings kids and parents together.”
When asked what else he may like to venture into Ted laughs, “I think it would be cool to be a game show host or someone like Ryan Seacrest.”
To learn more about J-103 and its ministry, visit the website at: www.j103.com and listen live or tune in to J-103 on FM stations 102.7 and 103.1 and 105.9.
Jen Jeffrey
jen@jenjeffrey.com