Tex has 16 years of student ministry experience and most recently was the Student Ministry Director for New Life Bible Fellowship in Tucson, AZ.
Tex’s student ministry philosophy is centered around building a culture that believes students aren’t just future leaders – they are each called by God to lead where they are today. As a leader, he strives to empower students to lead and own their faith.
Tex and his wife, Kelsey, have a daughter, Alexis (2). Tex’s first and favorite ministry is his family, and he believes that the greatest legacy he can build is modeling to his family daily what being an apprentice of Jesus looks like.
Early last year, we put together a search committee for both the Pastor of Family Ministries and the Senior High Pastor. The staff, search committee, and elder board agreed to enlist the help of a Christian search firm, Shepherd Staff. Throughout the intervening months, dozens of candidates were reviewed by Shepherd Staff, and several were presented for each position.
This process brought us Kyle Howard as our Pastor of Family Ministries late last year, and it has now brought us Gary “Tex” Rule as our candidate for Senior High Pastor.
The process with Tex involved multiple rounds of interviews, including a visit to First Free and meeting with key staff and leaders.
After thorough reference checks, our elder board voted unanimously to nominate Tex for this position. An offer has been presented to and accepted by Tex, dependent on confirmation by a congregational vote. He is excited with the prospect of joining our staff team and getting to work with our students.
We will be holding a candidate weekend April 19-21, where there will be multiple opportunities to interact with Tex and ask him questions in forums. We will hold a congregational meeting and vote on Sunday morning, April 21, after second service in the auditorium. Please note that while anyone in our church family is welcome to attend the meeting, only members may vote.
Please join us in prayer that God confirms this direction for our church family and join us for the meeting and vote on April 21!
We are excited for our church family to meet Tex!
We will hold multiple forums to allow our congregation and volunteers to meet Tex, learn more about his heart for student ministry, and ask questions.
There will be a forum specifically for Senior High volunteers – those leaders will receive an invitation with the day and time.
The open congregational forums will be on Saturday, April 20 at 9 am and 4:30 pm in Room 110. Please note that childcare is not available for the forums.
We will vote to confirm Tex as our Senior Pastor at a congregational meeting on Sunday, April 21st, directly after 2nd service in the auditorium.
Please note that while anyone in our church family may attend the meeting, only members may vote.
We will be offering childcare for nursery and preschool-aged children. If you need childcare, please register here.
To review the Senior High Pastor job description, please click here.
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