 Monty and Teri Kelley
Senior Pastor, NCC
Pastor Monty began in full time ministry shortly after his graduation from high school. He spent four years on the streets of America ministering to people who would not normally go near a church door. From Harlem, New York to East Los Angeles, California; from 4th Ward in Houston, Texas to Belle Isle outside of Detroit, Michigan, Pastor Monty has ministered to the homeless, the drug addict, the prostitute, gang members and many others. God used this time to open his eyes and heart to the needs around him and to the fact that God loves us, no matter who we are, what shape we are in or where we are in life's journey.
Pastor Monty received his ordination into the Assemblies of God in April 1989. He graduated from Southwestern Assemblies of God University with a B. S. in Church Ministries, with a Specialization in Pastoral Studies.
In 1980 Pastor Monty returned home to Port Arthur, Texas to minister to children and youth at at Orange Community Church. It was during this time he was mentored in youth ministry and developed a intense love for hurting teenagers. He ministered in Orange and then Kingsville, Texas. In 1983 he was hired as youth Pastor at Cathedral in the Pines Christian Center in Beaumont, Texas. For the next seventeen years Pastor Monty served as the youth pastor with great success. The youth numbered in the hundreds, at one point 30% of the graduates were entering the ministry, and over a 5 year period Pastor Monty led the youth in raising over a quarter of a million dollars for missions.
It was during the early years at Cathedral that Teresa Waldrop "caught the eye" of the new youth pastor and in November of 1984, Pastor Monty and Teri were married. They have been married now for almost 24 years. Teri has a successful career as a teacher and is a valuable asset to Pastor Monty with her gifts of organization, discernment and counseling. They have one son, Joshua who is a Junior at Texas A & M, where he is majoring in Economics and will attend law school upon graduation from Texas A & M.
In 2000 Pastor Monty resigned the youth ministry and established the Office of Missions and Outreach for Cathedral. The ministry flourished with over 50 people ministering in 25+ ministries "around the corner and around the world". Pastor Monty led mission trips to Mexico, Brazil, Europe, Russia, the Republic of Georgia as well as numerous places in the USA. In the two years as Missions and Outreach pastor, orphanages were rebuilt, church buildings were refurbished, a building for a church in the heart of a communist city was purchased, ministries were started, and a home was established for missionaries to live free of charge while on furlough.
In 2002 Pastor Monty took a position as an associate pastor and in April 2005 was called to be the pastor of Needville Community Church. It has been an exciting three years. The vision Pastor Monty has for NCC is based on the saying of his favorite missionary, C. T. Studd of England; "Some people want to live within the sound of chapel bells. But I want to run a mission a yard from the gate of hell." He believe's "Gods ultimate blessings are on His people at NCC and we are to take those blessings and be a blessing to everyone around us."
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