To the South District:

I am very proud to be your new District Superintendant. I view my role being a resource, encourager, and fellow servant leader as together we make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. I plan to live it out in community with you.

I grew up in Port Arthur, Texas where my father worked at the Gulf Oil Refinery training supervisors for the plant. I began hearing his presentations for classes when I was about 3 years old, and was his audience till I went off to college at the University of Texas. My mom still lives in Port Arthur and gave me the drive to always better myself this day than I was yesterday. I have two brothers who are both in the medical field.

I met and married Merryl, my wife, while serving Asbury United Methodist Church in Tyler, Texas. Merryl is from the Holly Springs Church near Canton and has been a teacher. We have a daughter, Rebekah, who is one of my greatest joys. She is a Junior at Texas Tech.

I graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School and then the University of Texas at Austin where I got at BA in Social and Behavioral Sciences. I went to Perkins Seminary at SMU and received my MTh in 1982. I was so glad I finished my DMin just before my father died in 2001.

During my time in seminary we learned that becoming the church of Jesus Christ was multilayered and multi-faceted. In my 30 years of pastoral ministry, I’ve served United Methodist churches from the Gulf to the Red River. Those churches have been in Southeast, Northeast, Deep East Texas, and five years in Alexandria, Louisiana. God is definitely multilayered and multifaceted.

I’ve served small and larger churches, and in small towns and large metropolitan areas. Those church people have taught me how to live out the gospel of Jesus Christ in the real world. They taught me to begin with listening. They taught me the true meaning of unconditionally loving as God loves.

In the movie “Mary Poppins”, Ed Winn sings the real purpose of life, “I love to laugh!” That song speaks to a core value I think God has for us as we make disciples. Joy is one of God’s greatest gifts

Relaxation is often a tough thing for a pastor to have, but I am blessed to find peace through family, working, reading, writing, and woodcarving are some of my favorite things. Golf and tennis are occasional distractions for me. I love to work with my hands and get sweaty and dirty through missions programs. Exercise, like running, and biking are ways I try to stay healthy.