James has been the founding pastor of City On a Hill since January 1984.  James graduated from Baylor University in 1976 with a degree in Ancient Greek. He received His Masters and Doctorate from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1981 and 1988 respectively. James has authored four books. Refuge, Life Change For Every Christian, Life Change for Every Couple, and Everyday Greek. James was also featured in the DVD series The Conquer Series For Men released in 2013. In 2020 James produced and released the DVD series The Fearless Series For Women. James leads a workshop in churches around America called The Safe Place/Safe Process Workshop where he helps churches learn how to minister to the real-life hurts and wounds of people.
James has been married to his wife Laura since 1979. They have two grown children, and they are blessed with five grand-children who have become their world.

Bryan first came to the “Hospital Church” (City On a Hill) as a patient in 1999, which began his journey of recovery and freedom. He is the Freedom groups pastor and has been on staff since 2009. The work he has done on his own addictions and struggles have given him a unique skill to walk through the process with the people of City On a Hill. Bryan is married to Jamie and they have two adult children.

Kelsey has been the worship pastor at City On a Hill since fall 2019. He is passionate about leading people to praise God, and loves that we get to do that through music. Kelsey is a proud graduate of Dallas Baptist University. He enjoys music, DFW sports, and traveling with his lovely wife June. 

Chris joined our staff in 2012 as the student pastor, and has since added the roles of Life Group coordinator and community outreach. Chris is passionate about equipping believers to be missionaries in their common environment, and has enjoyed serving directly in ministry with his wife, Emma, since 2007. You will often find him spending time with their two children, watching 'real football' and enjoying the outdoors.

Aaron has been on staff since late 2020. He got involved with the church while leading worship at summer camp after which he accepted the job as Youth Pastor. He married his beautiful wife Aarin in November 2019. He enjoys nature, cooking, and mudding in his jeep. He is passionate about working with teenagers and teaching them about who Jesus is and the love he has for them. Also he's a huge fan of general shenanigans. 

Originally from England, Emma took on the role of Children's pastor in 2015, after moving to the church with her husband Chris in 2012.  She desires to see the children's ministry be a safe and exciting place. Emma desires to teach kids about who Jesus is and the incredible love He has for them, while supporting parents as they raise their children in the faith. Emma loves to bake, play at the park with her kids, and travel with her husband.

Vanessa and her husband Ron have attended City On a Hill since 1992 and she came on staff part time in 2013. She serves as a mentor, coach, and the primary contact for women needing guidance and support in their emotional/spiritual walk to find freedom and healing from past wounds. She serves alongside Bryan implementing the freedom groups and 12 step groups that COH offers. Vanessa is an avid reader and loves to learn. She is a certified and licensed Belief Therapist. Vanessa and Ron have 2 grown sons and 3 granddaughters.

Sharee has been on staff since 2015. She provides support for fellow staff members, along with other administrative duties. Sharee is married to Michael, together they have three awesome daughters. Some of her favorite things are reading, vintage shopping, traveling, hanging out with people, and eating sushi.

Morgan has been on staff at City On a Hill since August of 2018. She wears many hats. She works with our student ministry, expresses her creative side designing advertisements, and manages our calendar. She aspires to be on Survivor, loves to play games with friends, and will never pass up an invite to eat. 

John has been on staff since 2016. He oversees all building maintenance and construction projects. John enjoys using his skills to make City On a Hill a better place. His past times wood working and working out. He also loves spending time with his wife Sommer and their three children playing board games, and watching movies. 

June Barker is our connections coordinator here at City on a Hill. She has been married to our worship pastor Kelsey Barker for six years, and the two met during their time at Dallas Baptist University. June helps with the student ministry, women's ministries and loves to lead worship on our worship team. When June isn’t up at church, she is home playing with her golden-doodle or trying new looks with her makeup collection. The best way to win over her heart is to bring her a lavender latte and to show her any funny animal video. 

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