John Gillespie
Minister of Missions
I serve as the Minister of Missions here at First Baptist Church Tyler. My role is to equip and encourage our church family to actively engage in ministry and live out their unique, God-given calling to share the good news of the Gospel.
I came to faith in Jesus at the age of seventeen after a few friends from my high school football team invited me to church. That invitation changed my life and set me on a path of following Christ and helping others do the same.
I was born in Marshall, Texas, and after growing up in East Texas and graduating from The University of Texas at Tyler, I spent thirteen years serving in the Texas Panhandle before God called our family back home to Tyler.
My wife, Rebekah, is a dedicated school administrator, and together we have three wonderful children, John, Alice, and Grace, plus a standard poodle named Jax and a manx cat named Kit-Kat.
I love being outdoors, spending time with my family, and going on hunting or fishing adventures (and I’ll never turn down a ribeye, medium rare, with a good cup of black coffee).
My hope for First Baptist Church Tyler is that we will continue to grow as a beacon of hope in our community, meeting both physical and spiritual needs and sharing the love of Jesus with those around us.