Jo Batson, the son of a Baptist preacher, was born in 1957 in Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to coming to South Main in August, 1998, Jo served as a Minister of Recreation for ten years at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He has also served churches in Louisiana and Texas.

At the age of eight, Jo accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He was called of the Lord to full time Christian service when he was twenty. After graduating from Louisiana College in 1979, Jo attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he received a Master of Religious Education degree in 1982. Jo and his wife, Jan, have four children.