Jonathan David & Melissa Helser Biography
Who is Jonathan David & Melissa Helser?
Jonathan David and Melissa Helser are American worship leaders, songwriters, and recording artists known for their passionate and Spirit-filled music. As members of the Bethel Music collective, they are perhaps best known for their powerful worship anthem "No Longer Slaves," which won the GMA Dove Award for Worship Song of the Year in 2016. Their music blends lyrical vulnerability with rich, immersive soundscapes, often flowing from personal encounters with the love of God.
Based in Sophia, North Carolina, Jonathan and Melissa live with their two children and serve as leaders of a multi-generational ministry called A Place for the Heart. The ministry, co-founded with Jonathan’s parents, Ken and Linda Helser, is devoted to discipling young people and cultivating deep intimacy with God. Since 2005, they have been leading the 18 Inch Journey, a discipleship school designed to connect the head and heart, helping participants experience transformation through worship, creativity, and intentional community.
Though widely recognized for their music, Jonathan and Melissa view their recordings as a natural extension of the life they live in community. "Thanks so much for wanting to learn more about us," they once shared. "We are worship leaders and songwriters whose hearts bleed to see a generation get wrecked by the love of God. The songs we sing come from the paths we’ve walked. The albums we have recorded come from our collisions with God's love. The dream of our heart is to simply waste our life worshiping Jesus."
Their music ministry is intertwined with their lifestyle. The musicians who travel and play with them are also full-time staff members of the ministry, invested not just in performances but in year-round discipleship and community building. "We do more than just travel and play gigs," they’ve said. "We are leading schools, internships and doing kingdom family community year round."
Their discography includes On the Shores (2012), Endless Ocean, Bottomless Sea (2014), Beautiful Surrender (2016), and The Land I'm Livin' In (2022), each album reflecting a season of depth, surrender, and the presence of God in their lives and ministry.
Through both their worship music and discipleship work, Jonathan David and Melissa Helser have dedicated themselves to helping a generation experience the nearness and freedom of God’s love.