Meet the Pastor
A Message from Pastor Gene Strother…

Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. (I Timothy 3:1)

I grew up in Oakdale, Louisiana, and God called me to be a preacher when I was 19 years old. I had just completed my first year of college at McNeese State University and God began to immediately change the direction of my life in clear and unmistakable ways.

After earning a degree in Bible and Music from Arlington Baptist College, I continued to serve as Director of Music and Youth at First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas. My first pastorate was at Maranatha Baptist Church in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and I have been the pastor of Bethel Baptist Church since March of 1984. I am excited about Bethel’s joyful spirit of unity and dynamic sense of purpose. Local church ministry has always been my calling and passion and I have never been more committed to ministry than I am today.

I believe that God has truly blessed my life. He has surrounded me with loving people who have consistently shown me His goodness and grace. Their affection, support and loyalty have helped me keep my sense of humor and not lose perspective while meeting challenges and overcoming adversity. He has also given me the privilege of leading and serving a congregation that is growing in faith and making a difference in our world. I have been blessed and I want my life and ministry to be a blessing to others.

Our Staff
At Bethel, we are proud to have a tremendously talented and dedicated staff who whole-heartedly love and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you visit our church, please take the opportunity to speak with them about their vision for our church.

Meet the Administrative Assistant
Julie Haney

I found my true “church home” at Bethel almost 17 years ago. As a young wife and soon to be mother, I was impressed and refreshed by the worship experience that Bethel had to offer, and I began to finally understand what trusting and truly knowing the Lord was all about.

Over the years, I have been able to serve God in different areas of the church, including teaching pre-school Sunday School, volunteering in the nursery, leading VBS, and serving on the Mission Committee. By the grace of God, I was recently hired to come on staff at Bethel as an Administrative Assistant. It is a job that I have quickly grown to love, and I look forward to the opportunities it holds for me to serve God in even more areas of my life and my church.

My hometown is Pflugerville, Texas where I live with my four children, Katie, Hayden, Meg and Logan and an assortment of pets. In my free time, I enjoy reading, exercising, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.

Meet the Youth Minister
Katrina Davis

“I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could” is a fitting statement for me.  I was born and raised in California’s San Francisco Bay area where I spent many of my growing up years singing in choirs and performing on the stage.  In deciding on a focus of study for college, music was a natural choice.  When I’d received my Bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from the University of Redlands, CA, I wondered, “What should I do now, God?”  I remember his response: 

I was looking through a catalog of universities that offered Master’s degrees in music, and my heart got the distinct impression that my next step should be to attend the University of Texas at Austin.  After auditioning, saying goodbye to my friends and family, and moving my few possessions across 1,500 miles of scorching summer heat, I was finally living life “reliant upon God”.  But God had plans for my Christian growth, too.  In walking the halls of UT’s music department, I ran across a job posting for a soprano soloist at a church.  I remember thinking “How perfect!   This will force me not to sleep in on Sundays!”  So I auditioned.  Bethel Baptist Church gave me the job.

I look back at that time as being the beginning of a magical love story between God and myself.  Coming to Bethel was truly the “coming home” I needed in my new surroundings.  I fell in love with the worshipful spirit of the congregation, and eventually, I fell for the guy in the back pew, Daniel.  God has blessed our marriage with a little boy, William.

My favorite Bible verse is “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut. 6:5)   Now that I work with Bethel’s youth, I'm passionate about introducing that challenge to the teenagers.  Go against the grain! Take a step in God’s direction!  Love out LOUD!