College Street Church of Christ. A Church That Cares.

Paul O'Rear

Involvement and Education Minister

I met my beautiful wife Susan on Valentine's Day 1981, proposed to her a year later on Valentine's Day 1982 (she said "Yes"!), and married her on October 16, 1982 in Round Rock, Texas (I didn't even have to look that up; I knew it right off the top of my head.)

We have been blessed with two children: Ashley was born in 1987, and died of cancer in 2001 at age 14. My heart is still broken, but heaven is so much more real now that she is there. I know I'll see her again, and that hope, along with the wonderful memories of her fourteen years with us, balance out the pain. I have a memorial web page at http://www.orear.com/ashley. Justin was born in August 1989, just a few months after we moved to Waxahachie. He grew up in Waxahachie and right here at College Street. Justin graduated from Waxahachie High School in 2008. He is currently attending Lubbock Christian University, and plans to be a High School Ag Teacher.

We came to College Street in 1989 and have been here ever since, except for about a year-and-a-half when we lived in Georgetown, Texas (1992-1994), when I worked for a health care company in Austin. I served as College Street's Youth Minister from 1989 to 1992, then again from 1994 to 2008. I am now serving as Involvement and Education Minister.

I love music, enjoy photography, tinker with web page development, and have written and recorded a song that has actually made it to Amazon.com. My favorite food is probably Chinese, with Mexican food running a close second (although a good batch of guacamole takes top honors any day!). I've met Chuck Norris and the cast of "Walker, Texas Ranger" (even have a picture of my family with Chuck) when we served as "extras" for the filming of an episode of "Walker". I have been fascinated with genealogy since I was in junior high. One of my great-great-grandfathers was named Canute Canuteson. His parents came over from Norway in 1871.

I attended Texas A&M University (Whoop!) for three semesters in 1980 and 1981. That's when an opportunity presented itself to begin working in full-time youth ministry, and I jumped into ministry and never went back to finish my college education. No regrets, though. God has blessed our lives tremendously as we have labored in His kingdom all these years. I began my ministry with the Weber Road Church of Christ in Corpus Christi, Texas, serving as Youth Minister. I had served that congregation for a little over seven years when I was given the opportunity to move to Waxahachie and begin working at College Street. It has been an amazing ride, and we look forward to many more years of ministry.