Weddings

I first put my trust and belief in Jesus when I was very young. Since then, God has both provided many environments in which my faith was strengthened and nurtured. In my teenage years God impressed upon my heart a desire and need to serve him 100 percent in whatever arena He chose for me. My life is not my own but it is to be spent in worship of my Creator. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1 ESV).
I first heard of Christ Chapel through my parents who became members in 2008. I attended a Cantata performance that year and was so amazed by the joy and celebration. Never did I imagine God would call me to serve with so many excellent and committed musicians. I am married to Emily and we have three awesome kids. We enjoy being outside, plus I love to fix old bicycles, kayak and sail.

I had the great privilege of growing up in a Christian home. At the age of five, I had a simple understanding of the gospel and asked Jesus to rescue me from my sins. Now, decades later, I continue to come back to the beautiful truth that Jesus has made me a new creation and that my hope is safely placed in Him.

I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and was a part of a church that taught me what it meant to pursue Christ. When I was 15 years old, I felt God calling me to ministry and set my sights in that direction. I shortly thereafter found myself a student at Oklahoma Baptist University, pursuing a degree that would set me up for ministry. That step completed, I headed to Fort Worth, Texas and immediately began working on my seminary degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It was there that God connected me to Christ Chapel and in September of 2001, I officially joined the team. I have counted it a great privilege to serve here ever since. In 2018 I completed a Doctorate of Ministry in Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

My wife Holly and I have four kids which provide abundant occasions to laugh as well as to drop everything and pray. When I get a few minutes to myself, you’ll  likely find me going for a run or reading a book on history, but my life’s passion is to be a part of growing the Church and seeing believers take glorious steps toward Him.

I came to know Jesus in my undergrad in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. In college I was surrounded by different who had a relationship with Him and through different conversations that I had with family members and friends of family, I came to a point where I realized that I needed Him. I had prayed a prayer when I was 13, but it really didn’t settle in or mean that I had a personal relationship with the Lord. College was when I really had a huge hunger and when the Holy Spirit started working in my life and gave me a desire for His Word. From there, getting engaged in church really helped me solidify what it meant to know Christ and to have a personal relationship with Him.

While at DTS a professor from one of my preaching classes approached me and told me about Christ Chapel, said that it was an amazing church and that there was a great opportunity. My wife, Natalie, and I had been praying about next steps and dreaming a little bit. This is exactly what we were hoping to have after seminary as a way to get our feet wet in ministry, acclimate and get used to a staff, see how things work and have other folks speaking into our lives. After getting to Christ Chapel and meeting the people – it’s one of the healthiest churches that I’ve experienced. There is an attitude of excellence in everything that is done around here and it’s all for Jesus and for God’s glory. I’m just excited to be a part of that.

As a family, we love anything outside – whether it’s on water, near water, camping or hiking. My wife and I have been married for 11 years and we have two kids, a 6-year-old named Elijah and a 2-year-old named Elliahna.

I trusted Christ in between my sophomore and junior year at the University of Cincinnati. My older brother shared the good news about Jesus Christ with me. He shared from the Bible that Jesus Christ died for my sins and arose from the dead and that I need to personally place my trust in Him for eternal life. I placed my trust in Christ while stopped at a stoplight in Cincinnati.

After teaching full time at Dallas Theological Seminary for 18 years, God opened a new door of ministry for me at Christ Chapel. I moved from DTS to Christ Chapel in 2006.

Patty and I were married in 1973. We have four grown children and four granddaughters. I enjoy reading, writing, spending time with my family and traveling to Israel.

I was a churchgoer growing up, but mostly associated with churches that either didn’t present a clear testimony of the gospel or didn’t hold a high value of the Scriptures. In college, after a particularly difficult time in my life, I started attending a large group meeting of Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as CRU) and responded to the invitation to find out what a personal relationship with Christ was about. I met with a staff person for CCC and responded eagerly to the gospel presentation that made clear the work Jesus did on my behalf. I was especially excited about the fact that this was a free gift, and did not carry with it a burden to perform for my salvation (which was my previous wrong assumption about Christianity).

Though I began working as the Minister of Spiritual Life, as CCBC grew over the years, my role has changed with the needs of the congregation. Currently I serve as the founder and director of the Soul Care Ministry with the title of Soul Care Pastor. Soul Care came about through much prayer, discussion and endorsement of the Elder Board of CCBC. I am greatly thankful for the faith and support of the leadership of this church in entrusting me with such a needed ministry.

I have been married to Nancy since May 1985. We have three wonderful girls, two son-in-laws, and two grandchildren. Ashley and Matt Sherwood live in Denton; Stephanie and Micah Dettmer are on full-time ministry staff with Cru in Denver, and our youngest daughter Anna, has followed her mother’s footsteps as an elementary classroom teacher in a public school district.

I gave my life to Christ at a young age, but it wasn’t until my senior at Arlington Heights High School that I really began to grow in my faith. Through Bible study, prayer, and Christian fellowship, my life began to change. I played baseball at Angelina Junior College (Lufkin, TX), and then at Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, LA). In 2002, after my senior year at Northwestern St., I was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals. During this time I had many ups and down in my Christian journey. Nevertheless, I persevered in my faith with the help of several mentors and a number of close Christian friends.

After being released by the St. Louis Cardinals in March of 2004, I finished the year coaching baseball as a volunteer assistant at my alma mater, Northwestern State University. My plan all along was to coach baseball, but I quickly found out that God had other plans. In the summer of 2004, I took a youth pastor position at a small rural church in Zwolle, LA. While the job was only supposed to be for the summer, I quickly felt that the Lord was calling me into full-time ministry. Over the next several years I worked at two other churches in Louisiana, and I spent three years working for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) as the Central Louisiana Area Director.

During that time working for FCA, I met my wife, Ariane. She was born and raised in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, but came to the United States to play volleyball at Northwestern St. We married in 2008, and we now have three amazing daughters. 

In 2009 we packed our bags and headed to Fort Worth, so I could attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I completed my M.Div. in 2012, joined the Christ Chapel staff in 2013, and earned my Ph.D. in Historical Theology in 2022.

I was raised in a home that loved and modeled the Gospel and was introduced to Christ at a young age. Although I was a pretty good “keeper of the religious rules” growing up, I realize more and more each day just how wicked and weak my flesh really is and how absolutely in need I am of Christ’s saving grace. God’s grace in my life, through the work of Jesus Christ, is not only the most important thing that has happened to me but also the only thing that gives my living actual life. Every good thing I experience is by God’s grace.

In the spring of 2008 a pastor named Joey Turner, who remains one of my heroes to this day, invited me to come and worship at Christ Chapel. My wife and I both felt the Spirit of God doing something remarkable here and we wanted to be a part of what our God was doing, so in May of the same year I accepted a job as the Fifth+Sixth Pastor. In 2011 I got the opportunity to take over the college ministry and start our Christ Chapel outreach to college students at a bar across the street from TCU. Four years later I was able to step into leading our Life Stage Two team which had just launched a broader out reach to any young adults in Fort Worth who were looking for Christ-centered community. There have been several hats I have had the privilege to wear on staff and our family has been blessed tremendously by how God has used this church to show me more of Himself.

My wife Danielle and I have been married since 2007 and she is the greatest earthly blessing in my life. She is my partner in ministry as well as in life. We have two sons (Charlie and Miles) who are our greatest little ministry. We love what we get to do for His kingdom and are so constantly grateful that He uses imperfect people for his perfect glory.

I grew up in a church-going, Christian home right here in Fort Worth. After high school, I attended Texas A & M University and majored in Civil Engineering. While in college, I discovered that Christianity was not about keeping a set of rules, but rather about a real relationship with Jesus as both Savior and Lord.

I don’t remember exactly when I trusted Christ, but I remember going to church when I was in elementary school and adults sharing the love of Christ with me. My faith really came alive in 7th grade when my middle school pastor started pouring into me and teaching me how to follow Jesus. That’s part of why I love sharing Christ with teens so I can do the same for others.

I moved to Fort Worth in 1998 when I came to TCU. Even though I worked and attended other churches, I was aware of the reputation of Christ Chapel as a church that teaches the truth and loves people well. Because of that I was excited when I came on staff 8 years ago as the Middle School Pastor. It’s my life’s calling to help teens find their joy and identity in Jesus and to help other leaders do the same.

My wife, Kara, and I have been married since 2002. We met at TCU and got married just out of college. This past year we welcomed our little boy Knox into the world. We love traveling and trying hole-in-the wall restaurants. When I’m not hanging out with my family or students you can find me reading, running or attempting to play my banjo.

I grew up in a family that occasionally went to church. But, I didn’t embrace what was taught there. In fact, by the time I entered college, I was a self-proclaimed atheist. I claimed that I didn’t even believe in God. I did, however, live in such a way that proved that I believed in other things to make me happy: popularity, girls, partying… I even got into drugs.

But eventually I learned that the things I was trusting in were unable to satisfy me. In fact, some these things threatened my life.  And it was during a life-threatening experience on drugs that I realized that I was living my life in rebellion against a holy God – the very God that created me. God made it clear to me that I needed Christ to save me from my sins. So I asked Him to save me.  He immediately came into my life and began transforming my heart. As my relationship with Christ has deepened, I have experienced such an amazing love in Him that I have an entirely new reason to live. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, my sins are forgiven and I have been able to enjoy a relationship with my Creator.

I began visiting different churches my junior year at TCU. When Ted knelt to do the pastoral prayer, I was drawn to his humility. The deciding factor was the excellent biblical preaching. If memory serves me (though it usually doesn’t), they were preaching through every verse of Romans at the time.

I married Brandi in 2003 (second best decision my life)! We have three kids. We adopted our first two boys: Lincoln and Charlie, and then God surprised us with our first pregnancy. We have a little girl, Lucy Joy!

I accepted Christ as my Savior at the age of twelve. My faith was strong enough to persist, but too weak to thrive until I was finishing my medical residency. At that point, I recommitted my life to Christ and have found an increasing joy, not only in my salvation, but also in serving Him. I have been blessed to have a faithful, Christ following wife for well over four decades now.  Our greatest joy is in serving Christ together.

I have been a member at CCBC for 10 years and on the staff since March 1, 2013. After practicing OB-GYN here in Fort Worth for several decades, I retired and became active in several ministries at CCBC.  It has been my privilege to accept the reins of the Life Stage 6 Ministry from my longtime colleague and friend, Jim Boyd.

God has also blessed me with two daughters, their husbands and six fantastic grandchildren…all of which know Jesus as their Savior. Reading is close to being a vice for me, but it gives me a sense of relaxation that is essential to recharging my energy. Family activities generally take up the rest of my “spare” time.

Ken and his wife Julie have been attending Christ Chapel for more than 26 years. During that time Ken has served as a deacon and elder, and as a Bible teacher in our adult education program. They have six children, two dogs and a cat. Ken spent 30 years as an executive vice president in the advertising industry before coming on staff full-time as the Life Stage 4 Pastor and Minister to Men.

Ken enjoys running, cycling, reading and spending time with his family. He was born in Dallas, but spent most of his school years growing up on Long Island, New York, where his father was a pastor. He and Julie have lived in Arlington since 1993.