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Church Leadership

Church Leadership

First Baptist Church is blessed to have a leadership team who are truly dedicated to Christ and accomplishing His will. Following are brief bio’s of our leadership team and their qualifications for ministry.

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Bil Barkley

Executive Pastor

BilBarkley

Executive Pastor

Bil Barkley

I am the Minister of Education and Senior Adults, with some responsibilities in Missions, and have served at First Baptist Church since January of 2007.

My wife, Brenda and I were married on August 9, 1980.  We have two married children. Brenda works parttime in the field of accounting for a local firm.  She serves as a Sunday School teacher and sings in the choir.

Our son, Drew, and his wife, Rachel, have 3 children.  Drew is a math teacher and assistant varsity basketball coach for Mount Pleasant High School.  Rachel works at the Child Development Center as a trauma specialist.

Our daughter, Meagan Smith, and her husband, Weston, have 5 children and live in Longview, TX.  Meagan works for Longview Christian School as the Parent Liaison and Communication & Development Coordinator.  She also teaches Home Economics. Weston is a pilot and owns his own aviation company, managing about 20 aircraft.

I was born and raised in Maryland, where I graduated from Thomas Stone High School in 1976.  I moved to Texas and graduated from East Texas Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1981.  I also hold both a Master of Arts in Christian Education and a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Counseling degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, graduating in1992.  I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas and have received training as a Life Coach.

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Richard Chandler

Minister To Families

RichardChandler

Minister To Families

Richard Chandler

I serve as the Minister to Families, working with our children and their parents, since June of 2005.

I have been married to my wife Crystal since June 1st, 1996. We have 4 children Paul (1998), Lily (1999), Samuel (2001) and Rose (2005).

I graduated from Howard Payne University in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art. In addition, I graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2005 with a Master of Arts in Christian Education with concentrations in Childhood Education and Communications.

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Support Staff

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Stanley Veasley

Custodian

StanleyVeasley

Norma Corona

Custodian

NormaCorona