Our Leadership and Staff

Back Row left to right: Doug Flowers, Kyle Oliphint (Pastor), Scott Thanisch, Josh Emrich, Duane Brooks, Tim Farrar
Front Row left to right: Tom Browning (Assistant Pastor), Phil Bassett, Andrew Caudal, Brion Ferratt, Derren Pettitt, Jason Patterson

Pastor

Kyle Oliphint | kyle@gracecommunity-pca.org
Our pastor was born in 1962, the fourth of five children, in Amarillo, TX and was raised a Roman Catholic.  It was at age 17, through the circumstances of his parent’s divorce, that God brought him to faith.  God used a number of men and his local church, Christ Covenant, OPC to begin to grow him in his faith.
 
After a couple of years in the restaurant business, he joined the staff of Young Life in Amarillo as student staff, while he pursued his degree in History at West Texas A&M.  He graduated college in 1990 and was brought on full-time staff with Young Life in Amarillo.
 
In 1991, he moved to Jacksonville, FL where he began a youth ministry for a relatively new PCA church, Christ Church. He spent four years in Jacksonville and it was here where God brought to him his wife.
 
Kyle married Lizzie in December of 1994 and moved to Philadelphia, PA in May of 1995 to pursue his theological education.
 
While in seminary, Kyle and Lizzie welcomed their first daughter, Katie, in 1997. Kyle graduated from Westminster Theological Seminary in 1999 with a Masters of Divinity (M.Div), emphasizing in Pastoral Counseling.
 
In October of 1999, while Kyle was serving as Director of Admissions at Westminster, Caroline, their second daughter was born.
 
In September of 2000, Kyle accepted a call as associate pastor of Holy Trinity Presbyterian Church in Tampa, FL.  In January of 2002 the Oliphint’s welcomed their third covenant daughter, Kelly.
 
On January 2nd, 2005 Kyle and family moved to Ft. Worth, TX to begin the work of organizing Grace Community Presbyterian Church, PCA. 

Our pastor is committed to both the public and private ministry of the Word of God for the growth and sanctification of God’s people.  His prayer is that the gospel of Jesus Christ and particularly His cross will shape and form his shepherding ministry and the ministry of Grace Community Presbyterian Church, PCA.  Please do not hesitate to give him a call if there is anything he can do for you.  We hope you will visit our church and worship with us as we together, with Kyle, submit ourselves to God in service to one another.
 

Assistant Pastor

Tom Browning | tom@gracecommunity-pca.org
Tom was born in 1952 in Dallas, Texas. His parents lived in Arlington (his dad was a machinist at LTV) but in those days there were no hospitals in Arlington. Tom grew up attending public school in Arlington. He met his wife Beverly in the first grade at Maxie Speer Elementary. They did not, however, start going together until the seventh grade. In 1970, Tom received a scholarship from the Lion’s Club to attend UTA where he majored in American Literature.

Tom and Beverly got married in 1972 when he was a junior at UTA.

After UTA, took a management position with a national grocery store chain and worked as a store manager at several locations around the Metroplex.

After 7 or 8 years in management, Tom felt a call to ministry and began to take night classes at Arlington Baptist College. Later he was accepted to the ThM program at Dallas Theological Seminary. Around that same time, he was hired as a teacher at Bethel Baptist Christian School in Arlington.

Tom taught school for almost ten years. He taught algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. He also taught Greek, Latin, and American Literature.

He attended seminary the entire time he taught.

In 1986, Tom went to work for Joshua’s Christian Stores working as a store manager. He eventually worked up to the position of Vice-President where he helped grow the company from four to seventy-four stores. He remained with the company until it sold to a national competitor.

When that happened, Arlington Presbyterian Church, where Tom attended with his family, asked Tom to come on staff as a youth minister. He was eventually called by the church as an associate pastor. He remained there until December 2006. He was called as an assistant pastor here at Grace at the beginning of 2008. He is also a teacher at Faith Christian School in Grapevine, Texas.

Tom is committed to the careful exposition of Scripture. A number of his studies have been posted on the web because of their dissemination through Monergism.com. He also has a webpage called Post Tenebras Lux where a number of his studies and articles are available.

Tom considers it an enormous privilege to work and worship at Grace Community. He is especially grateful for the privilege of worshipping here with his kids and grandkids.

Ruling Elders

Doug Flowers
Doug grew up in Minnesota as a pastor’s son and it is hard for him to remember a time where he did not feel God’s presence in his life. God used the persistent witness of his boss to enlighten the truths of reformed theology as revealed in Holy Scripture. Doug studied economics as an undergrad at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and has an MBA with concentration in finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern. His first job led him to Columbus, Ohio, where he met and married Karen. In 1987, Doug and Karen moved to Fort Worth, where Doug is a money manager for a private family hedge fund. Doug has served as the treasurer of previous churches, has taught numerous Bible studies and Sunday school classes, and was a Deacon at Fort Worth Presbyterian before joining the core group that became Grace Community. Doug and Karen have been on several short term mission trips throughout Mexico and Central America. Running (marathoner in younger years), climbing/hiking (successful summit of Kilimanjaro and soon Everest base camp), and golf (consistent duffer), are Doug’s most enjoyable distractions. Doug and Karen are the proud parents of two very active teenage boys.

Scott Thanisch
Scott grew up in the Baptist church where his father served as chairman of deacons and his mother ran the church school. At an early age he professed the faith of his parents as his own, and God has worked in Scott's life to grow and nurture that faith. While attending University of Texas at Austin, Scott married his high school sweetheart, Dawn. It was during another stint in school in Southern Methodist University's MBA program that Scott and Dawn learned the truths of the reformed faith through the radio ministry of RC Sproul. Scott has served in Baptist and Presbyterian churches in teaching roles and Dawn has served in children's ministry. They joined Grace Community in 2005. Scott and Dawn have three sons aged 11, 5, and 2 and one precious daughter aged 8. Scott works in finance for a local travel technology company and Dawn cares for and schools their four children. Scott, Dawn and the kids enjoy traveling, playing games, and riding motorcycles.

Andrew Caudal
Andrew is Rebecca's husband, and daddy to three beautiful children (2 girls, 1 boy) who are all growing up way too fast for his taste. He grew up in the Philippines, and moved to the US for college. God used the faithful witness of a number of young men in high school and college to bring Andrew to Himself, and is using the ministry of the Church to continue to teach him. After attending college at Angelo State University in ruggedly beautiful West Texas, he attended graduate school at Columbia University in New York City. Finding the call of Texas irresistible, Andrew and Rebecca moved back to Texas and to the Dallas area in 1995 immediately after graduate school. He found gainful employment, and she took a turn in graduate school. The Caudals moved further west to Tarrant County and joined GCPC in 2005, after Andrew's employer, an Internet company, moved to the area. Andrew has previously served as a men's, co-ed, and family Bible Study leader in three churches, as well as a deacon at GCPC and at Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas. He is also an unrepentant world missions junkie. He enjoys coaching the world famous Atomic Fireballs and Hello Kitties recreational kids soccer teams, traveling, eclectic movies and music, and reading.

Philip Bassett
Philip Bassett was born in San Antonio, Texas and grew up in a nearby hill country town called Boerne. He earned his B.A. in English from Belhaven College where he meet his amazing wife, Christine. After graduating, he taught English, history, and journalism at Mt. Salus Christian School, in Clinton, Mississippi, from fall 2005 to spring 2007. In the summer of 2007, he and Christine moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and he enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Dallas. Having finished his coursework there, he is now working on his thesis, which considers the relationship between law and nature in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Though he has been a believer as long as he can remember, it was not until he began attending Reformed University Fellowship at Belhaven, that he discovered the joy of the Lord. He is both honored and eager to serve Grace Community.

Josh Emrich
Josh grew up in Huntsville, Alabama as a son and grandson of an elder in a Presbyterian church. As a child he never believes there was a time that he didn't know the Lord. God used various Sunday School teachers, Youth Directors, and Youth Pastors, to encourage him in God's Word. Growing up he spent most of his time in various PCA churches. He has spent time serving as a youth director/assistant in two churches. Josh studied at Covenant College in Chattanooga, TN for one year before transferring to Georgia Tech to complete his Mechanical Engineering degree. While he was there Josh met his wife Lisa. After graduating in 2005, Josh moved to Fort Worth and began attending Grace Community Presbyterian Church where he is now actively involved with teaching the youth, and working with the young married couples. He has been on a variety of missions trips including, Jamaica, Mexico, and Uganda. Josh currently works as a design engineer for Bell Helicopter. He loves sports including basketball, baseball, and golf. He also likes to travel and read in his spare time.

Deacons

Brion Ferratt
Brion and his family came to GCPC in April 2005 from Virginia as a result of a job change. Brion recalls his dad leading him at age 10 to Christ. At Virginia Tech, Brion was very active in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. He graduated in 1987 with a degree in Marketing and is now a Contracts Administrator for a large aerospace company. Brion has served previous churches as a youth leader, small group leader, auditor, moving crew organizer, Sunday school teacher, and officer search committee member. He enjoys reading (especially Flavel and Edwards), photography, and cycling. He and Laura were married in 1992 and have two sons-John and Bowen. They reside in Heritage with their two cats and a Boston Terrier.

Derren Pettitt
Darren grew up in a loving Christian home and has been a believer from a very young age. He remembers praying with his father at age 6 and professing his faith in Christ. Darren was born and raised in Oklahoma and was a public school teacher for 10 years before making a career change that eventually led to a move to Texas in 2005. He currently works for a local travel technology company. Although a graduate of Oklahoma State, Darren managed to put differences aside and marry Paula (a University of Oklahoma alum). They have two wonderful boys, Parker and Peyton. Paula also taught public school for ten years and now teaches the boys at home. After moving to Texas, Darren visited Grace Community Presbyterian while it was still meeting in Bette Perot Elementary. He found exactly what he was looking for in a new church home for his family -- a church where the gospel is preached every Sunday and the sacraments are rightly administered. Darren has always been involved in church ministry and has enjoyed teaching Sunday school, small groups, putting in a few tours of duty as a youth sponsor, and playing his trombone in worship services.

Duane Brooks
Duane was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico and grew up in Lubbock, Texas. The latter of which is where I attended school from kindergarten through graduate school, as well as where I met my lovely future wife Bethany at the tender age of 16. When I was 18 years old, I was brought to Christ's table through Bethany and her recent calling via Intervarsity Christian Fellowship at Texas Tech University. We married in the summer of 1999 and moved to Fort Worth in the summer of 2006. I am currently a teacher of Advanced Placement Art History and Advanced Placement European History in Fort Worth and Bethany is an transactional attorney for a firm downtown. Bethany and I have been very active in our previous church homes, having led bible studies, small groups, etc. I am a history junkie, specifically intriguing to me is the Later Roman Republic (former Latin teacher), the Early Middle Ages, and Renaissance/Reformation.

Tim Farrar
Tim moved around a lot growing up but spent most of his childhood on the eastern shore of Maryland. He was raised in a Christian home and professed his faith at an early age. Tim went on to graduate from LeTourneau University in east Texas. After several consulting jobs he took a permanent job with Motorola in Atlanta, GA. He joined a large PCA church and served in the Junior High as a small group leader. It was at the church singles group where he met his wife, Sarah. In November of 2005 they moved to Keller, TX and quickly found a home at Grace Community Presbyterian. Tim and Sarah enjoy hiking, camping, and playing games with their three boys. In the evenings Tim takes pleasure in spending time with his wonderful sons; Evan, Karl, & Bryce.

Jason Patterson
Jason has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, here in the DFW area, all his life. He does not remember a time when he did not know the Lord. Jason grew up attending Covenant Christian Academy in Colleyville. He met Brandi at age 16. They were married in 1996 and have three beautiful daughters- Deanna, Taylor and Faith. Jason served as a deacon at Redeemer OPC for two years (2002-2004). After the church closed its doors they joined Grace Community PCA in 2005. The family continues to grow in faith as they serve the church in multiple ways. Currently, Jason is co-teaching the 5th and 6th grade sunday school class. In his free time he enjoys watching old westerns, the Stars play hockey and spending time with his girls.

Music Director / Ministry Coordinator
Barbara Haun

Barbara Heidbrier Haun considers her life a journey of grace. She was born in Lubbock, contracted polio in Houston at the age of 2, and begin music lessons early as therapy. She has studied with nine teachers, but considers her most influential teacher to be an immigrant from Germany who had been schooled by a line of J.S. Bach students named Katherine Schotta.

Barbara remembers always being intrigued by Christian ministry. While in high school, she spent summers on staff at Sky Ranch, a Christian camp near Denton. Then she attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago as a music-Biblical studies major, and went on to study piano under Don Wyrtzen at Dallas Bible College.

While raising her three children, Christopher, Tiffany, and Julianne, she maintained music ministries at various churches - for a total of over twenty-five years - mainly at McKinney Memorial Bible Church and Fort Worth Presbyterian Church, PCA. She led several CEF Good News Clubs, various Moms-in-Touch prayer groups, and a ladies' Bible study. After teaching private piano for twenty-some years, she worked as office manager for the Hymn Society of the U.S. and Canada while it was housed at TCU, and she worked for the FWISD as secretary of the Advanced Academics Department.

She is thrilled that God has led her to be a part of Grace Community Presbyterian Church now, where she senses God's Spirit at work; where she can get to know and serve the wonderful people who attend, as the Music Director and Music Coordinator. God continues to mystify her with His faithfulness and desire to transform seeming setbacks into opportunities for true progress within His perfect will.