Ernest joined the First Baptist staff team in 2018. He and his wife Julie have 3 children and 7 grandchildren. After attending 3 years at Baylor University, he completed his Bachelor’s degree at Dallas Baptist University, then completed his Master of Divinity Degree at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and his Doctor of Ministry degree at Luther Rice Seminary. After serving the local church as a Senior Pastor for 32 years, and 3 years as Professor of Evangelism at Union University, he now serves as Teaching Pastor of Equipping. His current areas of ministry responsibility are: evangelism training, staff development, theological power luncheon, staff workshops, Wednesday night Bible studies, decision team counseling, theological publications, and consulting for the executive team. He enjoys writing and publishing, hunting and the outdoors, and coaching a little Track and Field during track season.