Dr Ross brings a wide experience of pastoral and missionary work to the position and in his relatively short time in the pastoral ministry of the Free Church has commanded widespread respect.

Early in his ministry he spent four years from 1972 in Nigeria as a missionary with the Qua Iboe mission, before being ordained as the minister of Knock Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Belfast, in 1976. While in Northern Ireland, he planted a new church at Richhill, Co. Armagh, in 1983, and was Assistant Editor of the Evangelical Presbyterian magazine from 1979 to 1986. Due to the missionary links between the two denominations, he also pursued his missionary interest through membership of the Free Church Foreign Missions Board (as it was then known) from 1981 to 1986 and was a member of the Council of Management of Christian Witness to Israel (CWI), 1984–86.

Dr Ross was accepted as a Free Church missionary for the Indian field in 1984, but was refused a visa in 1986. But in that year he was appointed as the first Assistant to the General Secretary of CWI with special responsibility for CWI’s UK missionary operations. During this period he was also Interim Moderator of the Cambridge Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales (1987–88).

In 1991 John Ross was appointed General Secretary of Christian Witness to Israel. This involved being Chief Executive as well as having pastoral oversight of all CWI Staff and a leading role in the international advocacy of Jewish evangelism. From 1992 to 2000, Dr Ross was European Coordinator of the Lausanne Consultation on Jewish Evangelism and in 2001 he was the founder of Nachamu Ami (a Hungarian mission to Jewish People).

John married Elizabeth in 1972 and they have three married children—Sarah, Stuart and Helen, and four grandchildren—Angus, Conor, Emily and Harry. His interests include fly fishing, hill walking, birdwatching and classical music.