Ethan Gregory is a life-long United Methodist. He grew up in Mineral Wells, TX, attending the First United Methodist Church of Mineral Wells. In high school, through being active in his local church youth group, attending summer mission trips, and eventually becoming involved with the Central Texas Conference Student Leadership Team, Ethan began to hear and experience God’s call to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church.

Ethan is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies with a minor in Business Administration in 2013 and receiving his Master of Divinity (summa cum laude) from the Perkins School of Theology at SMU in 2016. Ethan is familiar with local churches, both large and small, having served previously as pastor at FUMC Ferris and Bristol UMC in Ferris and Bristol, TX and as the Director of Communication at Arborlawn UMC in Fort Worth, TX, and currently as the pastor at FUMC Gordon and Cedar Springs UMC in Gordon, TX. Ethan has also served the broader United Methodist Connection as a lay delegate to the 2012 General Conference of The United Methodist Church and as the first reserve lay delegate to the 2016 and 2019 General Conferences.

Ethan is passionate about following Jesus in the Wesleyan tradition—our individual pursuit of Christian Perfection and our common pursuit of doing the work of love and justice in the world. Ethan loves traditional worship and leading others in deep conversation about faith in a way that makes us think and enter even deeper into the mystery of our God.

In his free time, Ethan loves being in the kitchen making great food or out somewhere eating great food. He also enjoys getting away when time permits to visit his brother, who is a grad student at the University of Chicago.

Ethan’s oppointment at First Church begins on July 1, 2020.