Dr. Howell Burkhead is our Senior Pastor. Howell was born in Houston in 1951. He committed his life to the ministry in 1967 and served as pastor of Valley Center Baptist Church, near Hartshon when he was a junior in high school. Howell attended Southwest Baptist University and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. He also received a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Southwester Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. He met and married Tileta Johnson of Festus, Missouri, while serving as pastor of his first full-time church, in Jefferson County. They have two grown children, James Walker and Emily May. Howell and Tileta have been married 31 years and have served the past 18 years in Texas. Having desired for a long time to return home, they have finally relocated to Houston and live on the farm on Indian Creek where Howell was raised.

Harold Bruening joined our staff as interim Youth Minister in October of 1998 and joined as full time Associate Pastor in April of 1999. He is a graduate of Quachita Baptist University and holds a Master's Degree in Religious Education from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. He worked the last 18 years as manager of South Missouri Baptist Assembly. He and his wife Ann have two grown children.

         Our Ministry Assistant is Sharon Horbyk. Sharon is a graduate of Houston High School and holds a B.A. in Psychology from Southwest Baptist University. She is also a church pianist, leads our children's choir and sings with our Celebration Choir and Praise Team. Sharon is very active in civic and community activities and enjoys spending time with family and friends in her spare time. She has two grown children, Elgin, who lives in Osage Beach, Missouri and Rachel, who is a full time student athlete at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri.

Our Minister of Music is Bonnie McElroy. She and her husband, Jack, returned to the Houston area in 1996.   Bonnie served as Music Director at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park, Kansas for seven years.   She also directed Hand Bell Choir and Children's Choir at First Baptist Sweetwater church in Longwood, Florida.   The McElroy's have two grown children.

Our Facilities Manager is Frank Fry. He is married to Doris for 54 years, has three grown daugthers. He is a Deacon in the church and a past Sunday School Director and teacher.

Our Wee Care Director is Missy Gayer. She became our director in February 2002 and she has worked for us part time since January of 2000. She previously worked for the Houston Elementary School as a Personal Aid while working part time for our church. She supervises a staff of eight part time and full time employees. Missy is married to Brad and they have two small children, a boy and a girl.