Three Strands Leadership Team
Our leadership team brings a wide variety of experiences and knowledge to our ministry. Need to talk to someone who has blended a family, we have that couple. Need to visit with someone who has been deployed overseas, we have that couple too. With over two centuries of marriage experience, we can find someone to help regardless of your situation.
This picture, taken circa 2016 when the ministry started, shows a much younger and fit group. We have since aged, grown beards, gained weight and faced tragedies. But we are still together, working to help each other and others grow stronger, more vibrant marriages. See below for additional information.
Michael and Patty Curtis were best friends in High School and began dating when Patty moved away to college. Michael had fallen for her in middle school but Patty took some convincing. After a few years, she came around and they are now married and living in Lindale Texas. Michael is a Leadership Consultant Trainer as well as the Leadership Catalyst at Colonial Hills Baptist Church. Patty is in full-time ministry trying to keep Michael out of trouble and spending time with family. Michael and Patty have one son, Matthew, who is not assisting them in becoming grandparents.
Patty would say that the secret to marriage is prayer…lots and lots of prayer! Michael would say a good sense of humor.
In reality, both would say that learning to live with Christ as your source is the key to marriage.
Crystal and Brian Hinton were raised in the Australian Alps where Brian learned the art of Yodeling and Crystal became a master Clogger. Periodically you can see them opening for Card 53 in Tyler Texas or cutting a rug during the Tyler Jazz Festival. Crystal is an RN and Brian is a Financial Planner for a local investment firm. They have two children, Cora and Shaun. Brian is a diehard Babylon Bee follower and can often be found laughing at his phone for no apparent reason.
Nathan and Stacy Baron were highschool sweethearts and have been married for 19 years this December. They came to Tyler, TX from Farmington, NM in 2021. Thier oldest child, Atalyse is a talented artist who wants to go on and animate for movies and cartoons. She was an only child for twelve years before her brother Jericho was born. Jericho loves playing, helping, and cooking.
Brittany and Aaron Dickey were married a week after he found her in the Amazon Rain forest during an oil drilling expedition. He decided to marry her quickly before she learned she had better choices and they have been married ever since. Brittany still speaks in broken English but works as a payroll administrator for Southside Bank. Aaron continues trips to the Amazon Rain Forest when he is not running oil operations in West Texas.
Dan and Karen met at Colonial Hills and married in 1996. One of their sons-in-laws commented that they had married into a family of rabbits. As a blended family, they have 6 children, 18 grandchildren with 2 hybrids. Dan is retired from the coal industry and Karen works in the financial industry.
Dan and Karen say the key to a successful marriage is looking to God to meet their needs instead of one another and letting the life of Christ within them express Himself towards one another.
John and Nancy were married in 2003 after they met in the wilds of Africa. John had been raised by apes but never mastered the art of swinging from tree to tree. Nancy found him at the base of a tree one day unconscious. She brought him back to the elephant sanctuary where she had been volunteering that summer and the rest is history.
John works for the family business and Nancy is a substitute teacher. They have three awesome kids, love the outdoors, and are actively involved in several ministries inside and outside the church including Upwards and Scouting.
John and Nancy say the key to an awesome marriage is communication. John still cannot get within twenty feet of a rope or swing without flashbacks.
Rachel and Phillip Terrel met when he was deployed overseas at a top-secret location in 2012. As a music major and an instrumentalist with the US Army Band, he was deployed as part of a hostage rescue team ordered to rescue Rachel and return her to her family in East Texas. Phillip distinguished himself during the operation by taking out over 15 enemy combatants using only a tuba.
Though she refuses to discuss her time in captivity, it is possible Rachel underwent experimental procedures resulting in her super-hero ability to produce boys at an alarming rate. They have four young boys ranging from age 10 years to 6 months. Phillip is currently a reserve non-commissioned officer in the US Army and works for Trinity Mother Francis in Security. Rachel is the receptionist extraordinaire at Colonial Hills in Tyler.