Leadership

Barry Jude serves as lead pastor for The Oaks Church.  A native of West Virginia, Barry brings diverse and deep experience to the pastoral team at The Oaks.  His prior ministries have included pastoring churches in Kentucky, Florida, Arizona, Alabama, and Ohio.

“Life in Christ and as a pastor has been an adventure,” according to Barry.  “Being open to God’s call has taken me places I never imagined I would go and developed my life in such amazing ways.  My prayer is that God uses the experiences He has entrusted to me to enrich The Oaks and our community.”

Barry treasures his family as the greatest of his earthly blessings.  He and his wife Kima are the parents of four adult children and the grandparents of three young children.

Barry graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a master of divinity degree and from Luther Rice Theological Seminary with a doctor of ministry.  He loves sports and is an avid football fan—he attended Liberty University on a football scholarship and proudly proclaimed himself a Dallas Cowboys fan long before he settled in Texas.

His favorite pastime, however, has always been sharing Christ and seeing Him change people’s lives.  “Jesus saved me.  Through Him, I learned confidence, found purpose and, live in peace and with great joy.  It gives me enormous satisfaction whenever I share salvation with others and help them experience the abundant life I’ve found in God.” 

Tiffany is originally from Florida but grew up in Oak Cliff, Texas. Tiffany was saved at 7 years old and then radically surrendered her life to Christ at the age of 18, in what would become the best decision she ever made. She studied Neuroscience and Psychology at Baylor University and completed a double Master's in Christian Ministry and Worship Studies at Dallas Baptist University.
 
Tiffany prayed the Lord would call her into leading and teaching others how to encounter Him through worship. Tiffany has been involved in ministry for more than a decade and enjoys spending time with her son, Isaiah, serving in the church, and passionately singing for the Glory of Jesus. 

Bill was raised in Fort Worth in a family that was very active in a Baptist Church.  He was saved at age 8 and called to ministry when he was 14. He formed a folk gospel trio in high school that sang together until they finished college at Texas Tech.  Bill worked as a pianist and arranger in a recording studio in Lubbock before spending 10 years in evangelism with his best friend, Russ Murphy.  Bill has served as a Baptist music minister in Lubbock, Brownwood, and McKinney, where he now lives. Bill has been widowed twice, in 2005 and 2017.  His daughter, Erin, her husband, and three children live near him in Allen.  Bill loves to entertain church groups playing piano, guitar, and banjo and plays keyboard with the 150 voice Singing Men of Texas, who minister in North Texas and on overseas mission trips. Bill believes in the local church as a place to grow and serve others.  He wants to see people use their God-given talents for the Lord in worship here at The Oaks.

Rebecka was born in Iowa and moved to Texas with her family when she was 7.  Her family lived in the Austin area until the summer of 2020, when they moved out near Salado, Texas.  She is one of 10 children and has had the privilege of being raised in a Christ-centered home.  As a result, she has grown up serving in her local church, first with her parents and later on her own.  Rebecka was saved at the age of 4 and committed her life to full-time ministry in high school.  She is currently a Christian Studies major and Music minor at Dallas Baptist University with plans to pursue an accelerated Master’s degree.  Rebecka has served in children’s ministry for many years and has been a part of programs such as Awana, the North Central Texas Awana Missionary Team, and was a Children’s Ministry Intern at Matthew Road Baptist Church.  She enjoys spending her time discipling others, serving her church, listening to or making music, drawing, writing, reading, and spending time with family and friends.  Rebecka is super excited to love on God’s precious little ones and share His amazing word with them!

Austin was born in Dallas, Texas, and lived in Austin for about 13 years. Before his eighth-grade year, his family moved to Parker, Colorado. While in Colorado, Austin found the Lord at his home church and gave his life to Christ. Austin attended Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, where his faith was developed in a mighty and powerful way. The Lord blessed Austin to attend MidAmerica Nazarene University on a collegiate baseball scholarship, where he studied Pastoral Ministry to pursue his call to ministry. However, Austin's career-ending injury forced him to give up the game he loves and switch universities. This change led Austin to Dallas Baptist University, where he studied Biblical Studies and graduated in 2020. He now attends Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, pursuing a Master of Theological Studies. Austin has had three years of church work experience before accepting the Youth Pastor position at The Oaks.  Austin is excited by the opportunity to pour into your students' lives and cannot wait to see what God has in store for the Rooted Youth Ministries!

Miguel A. Arzate serves as Pastor/Leader for The Oaks en Espanol. A native from Mexico City, Miguel brings a multicultural experience. Miguel has served in Amarillo, Plano, Dallas, and Fort Worth Texas.
Miguel graduated from West Texas A&M University with a Bachelor's degree in Education and from Southwestern and Southern Seminary with two master degrees in Theology and Divinity. Currently Miguel is working on a doctor of ministry degree from Midwestern Seminary.
Miguel has a goal in life, which is to use his leadership skills to guide and make leaders of all nationalities and generations, teaching truth with passion and dedication.

Riley was raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. She has attended The Oaks Baptist Church for over 20 years. She has worked with several different ministries at The Oaks throughout the years, but started working in Communications after obtaining a Public Relations degree from Dallas Baptist University. She also is a part of The Oaks' Classic and Contemporary worship teams. She works at The Dallas Arboretum as a Wedding Sales Manager and loves being a part of the wedding industry. Riley also owns her own photography business. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their doodle, and family.

Bio coming soon. 

Gary was born and raised in a Christian home in Memphis, Tennessee where he accepted Christ at an early age.  After serving 6 ½ years in the Navy, Gary moved to Dallas where he met and married his wife Brenda in 1977.  Gary and Brenda were the first new members at First Baptist Oak Cliff when the church moved to the Westmoreland location in August 1979.  Gary is a deacon and has served on various committees over the years, including the audit and finance committees.  Gary and Brenda have two children, Tommy and Cyndi, a daughter-in-law Shalley and three grandchildren, Kinkaide, Kynleigh, and Kenzington.  Gary worked in the business world as an accountant/auditor for over 30 years before coming to The Oaks as the office manager in September 2017.  Gary enjoys playing golf and watching his grandkids participate in sports.

Connie was born in Washington D.C. and has lived in Texas since she was 8 years old.  She was raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ at the age of 11.  She is married to Jerry, and they have a son and a daughter and five grandchildren (plus a grandson-in-law and four great grandchildren).  She enjoys spending time with all her grandchildren attending their various sports and other activities and cruising with Jerry.  Connie has attended The Oaks since 1983 and has been serving on staff since December 2015.

Derek was born in Dallas, Texas and grew up in Grand Prairie.  He accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior at 8 years old.  He began attending The Oaks with his family in 2002.  After having attended and served at The Oaks for years, he was offered the position of Facilities Maintenance Associate in 2020.  When he’s not serving at the church, Derek enjoys being outdoors, camping, and playing video games.

Barry was born in Longview, TX, but spent most of his first 6 years in Oklahoma, until his family moved to the Oak Cliff area of Dallas in 1954. He lived in Oak Cliff until moving to Grand Prairie in 1971. It was in Grand Prairie, through the influence of a next-door neighbor and the prayers of his three brothers, that he came to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior in October of 1972, shortly before his 25th birthday. Shortly after his conversion to Christ he answered the call to the gospel ministry and began preparation for the ministry, first at Bible Baptist Seminary in Arlington, TX and completed his studies at Dallas Baptist College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Religion and Philosophy, in 1977. Over the years since, he has served as bi-vocational pastor in two churches (one BMA church, and one SBC church). He has also served as a deacon, teacher, associate pastor, radio broadcasting and other areas of ministry in various churches. Christian ministry must involve the local church, where we can not only “walk the talk,” but can also “talk the walk”* though fellowship with believers of all ages and phases of Christian maturity. Barry's latest ministry is here at the Oaks where he has been attending (off and on) since 2008. At the Oaks he has shared teaching duties in various classes and is now serving as Director of Senior Adults through the Solid Oak Seniors ministry. It is Barry's belief that there is no retirement from serving Christ and we are to keep pressing on because “the Lord Jesus is not finished with us yet!” Psalm 71:17-18.
*Justo L & Catherine Gunsalus Gonzalez, “Heretics for Armchair Theologians