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Carranza is enrolled in FPU’s Bridge to Ministry pathway, which allows students pursuing a career in ministry to receive a bachelor’s in a ministry-related field and a Master of Arts in Christian Ministries in five years or less. In May, he’ll graduate with a BA in Biblical and Theological Studies and a minor in Christian Leadership. He plans to start seminary next spring. After taking a five-year break from college, Carranza says the support he’s received from FPU helped him finally earn his degree.

Despite being raised in a Christian family with a father who was a pastor in Shafter, Carranza didn’t envision himself going into ministry.

When he and his twin brother, Manuel, were 9 years old, their dad told them they could take their pick of instruments he had in his home studio, but they had to learn one. Joe picked keyboard and Manuel picked drums. While listening to cassettes and CDs, the boys taught themselves to play. When their dad traveled around preaching at different churches, the boys led worship. 

The twins were in sixth grade when their father was deported to El Salvador, leaving their mom alone to raise seven children. Their parents divorced when it was discovered that their dad had stopped honoring his marriage vows. After learning of their father’s betrayal, Joe and Manuel took a break from music because they didn’t want to be anything like their dad. Their hearts changed during high school when they got involved with the worship team at Shafter Mennonite Brethren Church and did a worship internship at Mountain View Church in �㽶��Ƶ����. Their youth pastor was an FPU alumna, and she encouraged the twins to visit the campus. Both boys were offered scholarships to run track at FPU, so they enrolled in 2017. 

Carranza began college as a biology major, but after getting Cs in chemistry and biology his first semester, he questioned his choice.

“While processing it with my friends and a mentor, I realized I love music, I love people, I love Jesus—not in that order—but why not make that a job?” he recalls. “And that’s when I learned there’s such a thing as a worship leader, so I changed my major from biology to biblical studies.” 

Carranza joined the FPU worship team and started leading worship at The Well in 2019. When Covid closed schools in 2020, he took a break from FPU as he struggled with the online format. When leadership at The Well learned Carranza and his then-fiancée had fallen into sin, he was removed from his worship leader position while he underwent the church’s year-long restoration plan. He was offered his job back upon completion of the program, but instead spent the next two years working on FPU’s production and tech team.

In 2023, Carranza married Hannah, who works in FPU’s marketing department. The newlyweds moved to the coast, where he led worship at Santa Cruz Bible Church. But their hearts yearned to be closer to their families and Carranza wanted to finish college, so they started praying for opportunities to return to the Valley. There was a worship leader position open at The Well’s Fig Campus, and they welcomed Carranza back with open arms.

The couple returned to �㽶��Ƶ���� in 2024 and now serve together leading worship at FPU and The Well.

Carranza resumed his studies at FPU in the fall of 2025, bringing with him life experience that makes the mission of the church more personal. He says those in the Bridge to Ministry program helped get him across the finish line with their encouragement and space for accountability. “I couldn’t have graduated from FPU without the support of the people in the Bridge to Ministry program,” he says. 

Carranza says you can’t be a worship leader and not like the Psalmist David, whose story he personally relates to. “I think of somebody who is in this constant cycle of being aware and in tune and walking in step with the Spirit in faithfulness to God, yet being very stupid and making some foolish decisions,” he says.

As he’s studied God’s Word at FPU and applied it to his own life, Carranza has become a more thoughtful worship leader who understands the meaning of the words he’s singing.

He’s learned to lead with a focus on ensuring that the values of his gatherings align with God’s. Recalling when he was asked to step down from his first position at The Well, he remembers feeling like his faith was based on what others thought of him. “Through that season, God was forming me into His son, His child, giving me a new name and a new identity that authenticated my own faith,” he says.

Having allowed God to mature him as a man, a husband and a worship leader, Carranza feels ready to walk whatever path the Lord sets before him.

“The challenges I’ve faced have shaped who I am and grown my faith,” he says. “They’ve allowed me to grow in my understanding of people and provide space for sympathy and grace. It’s easier to extend grace when you’ve needed it at one point in your life.”