Pastor Bob DeGray
Hi! As senior pastor, I'm excited about the mission and vision of Trinity Fellowship as we strive to make mature disciples (devoted followers of Jesus) in the Friendswood area. I hope that you will give our worship service a try, and meet our friendly, caring people.
Here's a brief biography: I became a follower of Jesus in my teens and grew in my faith as I studied engineering in beautiful downtown Hoboken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from the (then) World Trade Center. I spent the early part of my career as a mechanical engineer working for (then) Exxon, which moved me to Texas in 1981. In 1986 I left to form my own company, doing engineering software and consulting. That business was successful enough that when I sensed God leading me to seminary I was able to pay for school with the proceeds of the sale of my business, and do consulting with the new owners to pay for food and such. I attended seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, near Chicago Illinois, and graduated in 1992.
My wife Gail and I were married in 1979, and we have eight children - Bethany, Abigail, Hannah, Ruth, Johnny, Bobby, Christina and Michael. Bethany is married to Jeff Cheng and they have two children. Abbie is married to Tim Rask, and they have five. Ruth is married to Joseph Bauer. They have two. Hannah is married to Darin Beachy, they have one. Tina is married to Paul Bauer, and Johnny is married to Robyn. In case you were counting, that's ten grandchildren at this point.
In 1992, after I completed seminary, Gail and I returned to join with a group of people from the Clear Lake area in starting Trinity Evangelical Free Church (now Trinity Fellowship, but still an Evangelical Free Church), with a vision to reach those who do not yet know Jesus and to build up those who have come to know Him.
My philosophy of ministry is simple: 'Preach the Word and love the people.' My attitude toward preaching is also simple: I want to say again for contemporary hearers what God has already said in the Bible. One of the unique ways I address a contemporary audience is through visuals that accompany the sermon with the goal of saying again visually what I'm already saying about the text in words.