Pastor Phil was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, one of twelve children.  His father was a Bible professor at Multnomah Bible College for 37 years, spoke extensively, and led dozens of trips to the Holy Land.  His mother taught at Multnomah and spoke extensively, and was Oregon Eagle Forum Mother-of-the-Year.  Phil attended Multnomah (B.S.B.E., 1979), then Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., ’83).

Phil’s ministry experience began during Bible college, on a ministry team of American Missionary Fellowship (rural church ministry), and in children’s ministry (music) at Hinson Memorial Baptist Church (Portland, OR).  During seminary year, he spent a summer in Nigeria under the auspices of SIM International, preaching and teaching Bible Study methods, and two summers in Saudi Arabia leading the ARAMCO Returning Students “Morale Group” program.  After graduation, he accepted a call to be Youth Pastor at a church near Sydney, Australia.  During his three years there, he met and married his wife Jenny.

During the subsequent 20+ years of ministry, they planted a church (Kansas), Phil taught for 5 years at Adelaide College of Ministries (Adelaide, South Australia), and he was Sr. Pastor of Elgin Bible Church (Illinois) for over 8 years.  They’ve been in New Braunfels since August, 2004, when Phil became the first pastor at NBBC.

Phil and Jenny have 8 children: Sarah, Ben, Rebekah, Joseph, Abby, Lydia, Caleb, and Joshua.  In his spare time, Phil loves sports, music, traveling, reading, and good movies.  He is passionate about the clear, undiluted, and unencumbered presentation of the gospel of grace, the free gift of God of eternal life through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, apart from works.  This focus resulted in him being an active contributor to the Grace Evangelical Society for many years, and active in founding the Free Grace Alliance in 2004.  He has a love for missions and evangelism, and has traveled to Venezuela and the Philippines on ministry trips.  He is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Back to Top

 

Nathaniel Isler-Williams

“My desire is to see students discover who God is, develop a relationship with Him and those around them, and deepen those relationships.”

Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

About Nathaniel:

My best friend is my wife, Shelly.  We were married November 14, 2009 and have been on an amazing adventure ever since.  She’s my very best friend.  We grew up in Georgia, went to college in Tennessee but did not meet until were both at Dallas Theological Seminary! God’s timing is always perfect! 

I also love hanging out with teenagers, helping them grow in their relationship with Christ.  It is an amazing blessing to help this figure this whole thing out, life, and how God wants to not just be a part of it but to be all of it.  New Braunfels Bible Church  has never been about the building or location but has been about real people being real with each other figuring out how to bless the city with the grace truth and love of Jesus.  This is why Shelly and I are here, to continue that legacy, and have a whole lot of fun along the way!

Some of my favorite things are: lazy Saturdays with Shelly, sports, reading, hanging out with people, lasagna, barbeque chicken and ribs, and good Southern sweet tea. 

Education:

B.A. Biblical Studies from Bryan College

Th.M emphasis in Pastoral Leadership from Dallas Theological Seminary

Kelli Boyd

Early Childhood Ministry Director

Although I was born and raised in Texas where seasons tend to blend into one another and not really abide by the lessons we learned in Kindergarten, my life has been full of some very bright seasons as the years have gone by.
 
Growing up in Keller, Texas with my sisters and amazingly supportive parents, the first seeds of Christ were planted as He became my Savior when I was in fifth grade. Being in a church all my life, makes my passion for the kids that come across our paths here, even greater. 

Upon graduating high school, I moved to a different "forest"... Nacogdoches... where I studied to be a teacher (as a hobby, I am afraid).  My season of college years allowed me to stand on my own and put my faith to the test.  God provided friends and situations that allowed me to see Him at work in very tangible ways.  My summers were spend right here in New Braunfels at T Bar M.  Here (in very "hot" seasons), I grew in amazing ways as I was taught how to live out Christ’s greatest commandment, to Love God and Love others, 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Upon graduating, I pursued my career in teaching first graders for three years while dedicating my summers to T Bar M.  Joining the full time staff in 1996 where I took on the position Women’s Director... it was the perfect season of life for me to disciple girls and give whole heartedly as a single gal.  But then a camp "friend" named Robert Boyd took her as his bride in 1999.  Then three gifts came very quickly...Libby (2001), Jase (2002) and Allison (2003). 

The seasons change, much like they do in Texas, quicker than I want them to.  But, God has pruned, watered, nurtured and grown me in each one.  As I enjoy this season of family with Robert and our kids, all kinds of adventures and serving in the community through NBBC and T Bar M, I am grateful to "bloom where I am planted".

  

Jen Adams

J - Jesus Christ is my Savior & I love the exciting life a relationship with Him brings!

E - Enjoyment of cookie dough & some good gut-laughs are a couple of my favorite

      pass-times.

N - Nearly 13 years I've been married to my bestest friend, Cole.  He's such a stud for

       leading our family well!

A - About 9 years ago God gave us our first kiddo, Kate; 6 years ago, Leighton; 3 Lance;  

      and 1.5 Layne.

D - Did you know we adopted one of our kiddos?  Yep.  Layne.  He has a great story & I

       love to share it!

A - A genuine privilege it is for me to serve the families with young children in our

      church.

M - My goals in this position are for children to know & love God and to help their

       parents teach their kids the same thing.

S - So thankful for the chance to know families of our church better through this position.

Karen Lehmann

Mother’s Day Out Director
 
We are blessed to have Karen Lehmann as our Mother’s Day Out director.
 
Professionally, her basket is overflowing from time and experience spent in classrooms, a bachelor degree from University of Texas, and a masters degree from U.T.S.A., all focused on children and their development.

Personally, her heart is overflowing as a mom of three children, a loving wife and a joy in seeing children grow as Christ wants us to… in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.

Sean was born and raised in South Austin. Sean’s family did not attend church regularly when he was growing up. After experiencing difficult life circumstances, his parents began attending Fellowship Church Southwest and were baptized together in 1999.  Sean attended church reluctantly, with the prodding of his parents and a long-time friend. On December 12th, 2000, Fellowship Church’s youth pastor shared the gospel of grace with Sean over lunch. He prayed to receive Christ that day, and has been following Him since.

He moved to San Marcos in 2002 to attend Texas State University where he became involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. During a crusade conference, God laid leading worship music on Sean’s heart. He began leading worship for crusade’s Thursday night campus meetings in the Fall of 2002, and began leading for Fellowship Church’s youth group simultaneously.

In the summer of 2004, Sean had the opportunity to be Fellowship’s worship ministry intern under a seasoned, full-time worship pastor. He learned a great deal about worship ministry and his passion for leading worship continued to develop. That same year, Sean met his wife, Kristine, after she was invited to Fellowship by a friend and joined his small group. They were married in 2006, and have two sons, Owen (2008) and Caden (2010).

Sean received his degree in Communication Studies in 2007, and moved his family to New Braunfels in 2009 for a job opportunity. In his spare time, Sean enjoys reading, listening to and playing acoustic guitar and watching movies with Kristine. He is thrilled that God has called him to usher the Church into His presence for worship, and loves seeing God’s people develop as worshippers and grow in their love for Him.

Mike Diver
Church Administrator

Mike was born and raised in a small town in the Northwest Montana Rockies called Whitefish near Glacier Park.  He grew up fishing and hunting and enjoying all forms of summer and winter activities.  He attended high school in Minot, North Dakota and undergraduate college in Moorhead, Minnesota.  While attending college, he worked as a night and weekend butcher and shift manager for a small family owned neighborhood grocery store and as a manager trainee in a local family owned hardware chain.  After earning his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Management, Mike entered the U.S. Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Intelligence Corps.

Mike met and married his wife Karen in El Paso, Texas after a tour of duty in Vietnam as a reconnaissance and surveillance pilot.  They have three children, Nathan (1985), Riley (1987), and Kaitlin (1991).

After serving 29 years in Army Intelligence and fixed wing aviation, Mike retired from the Army in 1999 as a Colonel.  While in the Army, he served in various staff positions throughout the world and commanded intelligence and aviation units at all levels, most notably at the NATO military headquarters in Mons, Belgium during the crises in Bosnia and Desert Storm and the fall of the Berlin Wall.  As a capstone assignment, he served as Director of Intelligence for Joint Staff Force Six in El Paso leading 65 men and women from all services in providing intelligence, analytical and architectural support to law enforcement agencies nationwide in the fight against illegal drug production, distribution, and use.

After retirement from the Army, Mike served for a year as the Archuletta County Veteran’s Affairs Officer in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and subsequently moved his family to New Braunfels in 2001.  He soon entered Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos to earn his Masters in Secondary Education.  After a brief period as a high school math and business teacher in Schertz and New Braunfels, in 2004, Mike began working as the Church Administrator and bookkeeper for New Braunfels Bible Church.  Mike and Karen are Charter Members of the church, having been part of the original group to spawn from Northeast Bible Church in Garden Ridge in 2003.

Mike and Karen have lived throughout the U. S. as well as overseas in Germany, Belgium, Italy, and Japan, and Mike has also served in the Republic of Vietnam and Honduras.  They have traveled and enjoyed many other foreign countries in their 12 years of overseas living.  Mike also has a second master’s degree in Electronic Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, California.  Karen has worked in administration, banking, and real estate, has a flair for foreign languages, and enjoys meeting new people.

Mike has served as a volunteer in other locations in a multitude of church ministries; as a deacon, council president, secretary, and treasurer, church school superintendent, bible teacher for 2 year old through adult, and AWANA leader.  He has also served as a Scout leader and little league and adult softball coach.

Sharon Ogrin

Sharon was born in San Antonio and has remained a Texan ever since.  She grew up with four brothers and sisters enjoying water sports, camp outs with the girl scouts, and playing in the band.  She got involved with VOE in high school and has since worked in the secretarial field.  Before coming to the church in 2005, she worked with her husband in Houston at High Meadow Ranch Golf Club.  She has also been employed by Stone Oak Development, Frost Bank, Guadalupe Valley Telephone Co-op. and substitute taught at NBCA. 

She is married to David and has four children, Amy Powell (1988), Jessica (1989), Dana (1992) and Clark (1993) and one grandson.  Amy, married to Christian, is currently employed at Texas A & M, her father’s alma mater.  Jessica is raising her son, Danzig, and referees soccer games in her spare time. Dana is attending the University of Texas at Austin, and Clark attends Canyon High School, working at various jobs on the weekend.

Sharon and her husband David, a professional golfer, have traveled for most of their 25 years of marriage on the PGA Golf circuit.  Her most memorable trip recently was to Ireland for the Ryder Cup.  Her favorite cities visited are Monterrey, California and Williamsburg, Virginia where she has made many life-long friends. 

She has volunteered in the past with MOPS as craft chairman and child-care coordinator, AWANAS as a Cubbie listener, and Young Lives as a mentor.  Her favorite things in life include cooking, sister trips, floating the rivers, long lunches with girlfriends, and spending time with her family and their activities. 

Sharon continues to grow closer to the Lord through exciting, and sometimes challenging experiences in her life.  Through it all, she still remains faithful to our ever-loving God and welcomes opportunities to share with others.