A. Staff Members

  Gayle and David Dyke have been in ministry as long as they have been married, and they got married young. David is a graduate of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is ordained non-denominational. Gayle grew up more or less Methodist and they both experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1970.

  Jumping right into the Jesus Movement drew them immediately into outreach ministry. They rode that wave through the 70’s and those wonderful and crazy days were part of the preparation for what God has them doing today. For several years David served as headmaster of a good-sized Christian school, while Gayle focused on their growing family. After that season in education the Lord led David into a unique business opportunity. There he attained some success, enabling him to form his own company which grew large enough to be sold, giving the Dykes financial cushion to start a new work with youth.

  In 1998 the Dykes, along with their current elders, co-founded Refuge, a ministry focusing on drifting youth, largely missed by mainstream churches. During the 90’s and through the beginning of the new millennium, Refuge ministered to hundreds of young people, helping them to meet Jesus and/or become reconnected with their families and the church.

  David and Gayle remain devoted to discipling youth and young adults into service of the Lord. This commitment is evidenced by David’s three year tenure on the board of a local crisis pregnancy center, and current involvement on the board of a regional charter school for at-risk high school students. Gayle’s present call to co-pastor a growing church with David has challenged her to use her gift mix in working with teens, our women’s ministry, and more recently helping lay the groundwork for ex-prisoners to integrate successfully into church family life.
David and Gayle have three adult children, and five really grand grandchildren, so far. 

  Rick and Kathy Wenth are passionate about freedom and life for all. This has been walked out over the past 10 years in their involvement in the Encounter that Open Door City Church offers and in their praying for physical and emotional healing.

Rick currently works fulltime at BAE Systems in Irving in their finance department. His 35 years in the finance field has provided the background to lead the finance department of the church. He also mentors and council’s young leaders in their personal finances bringing the tension of faith and responsibility into balance.

Kathy leads the Servant Leadership Development aspect of the church and is mandated to reproduce committed believers to walk as light and salt of the earth. She teaches various Sunday morning and Wednesday evening classes. Her favorite area to mentor and instruct in is Kingdom Identity, Christ in you the hope of glory, Col.1:27. The tool she uses the most for this is meditating on the word and allowing it to explode Jesus inside of you! 
 

  Rick and Kathy have 7 children, 7 grandchildren and enjoy equipping others through small group interaction in healthy family relationships.
 

  Hi! Here’s Ken and Pat Morton. They were both raised Catholic and grew up in Illinois. Pat joined the Peace Corps after college and was a volunteer working in the Philippines with mentally challenged children. After that season, she worked in an inner city school and also rural school districts with handicapped children.

  The Morton’s were born again and filled with the Holy Spirit in the summer of 1975. Ken was 21, and had a daughter, and Pat was 29, and a single mom. Both were members of a Christian cult, but barely knew each other. Three years after joining, Ken and Pat were “TOLD” to get married and they did!??

  The “cult” died in 1980, but they decided to stay married, even though incredibly broken and hurting. Through a variety of sovereign events, they moved to Texas in 1988 and their marriage got worse. In 1993, through a life-changing teaching on marriage, God did a powerful work and then began to use them to minister life and hope to other couples. It’s the testimony of God’s goodness and power in their lives to press through the stuff that works to strangle the life out of marriage. They love to share with couples how to come to a place of abundance and intimacy, with each other and the Lord.

  Ken and Pat have been a part of Open Door City Church since 2000. God uses them to work with couples, knowing that God’s destiny for marriage is to be a picture of Jesus and His bride. Pat hosts a weekly women’s meeting in their home, Malachi 3:16 Mornings, and oversees the children’s ministry in the church. Ken is active in the prophetic ministry and training, and is called to trumpet the things of the Lord into the hearts of people. Ken also loves having his own business, Morton Realty & Property Management, which is in its sixth year.

  The Morton’s have 3 grown children and 2 wonderful grandsons. Thirty years ago they were a blended family, but God has made them into a “smoothie!”

  I was born in Dallas, Texas and I have lived here all my life. This has not kept me from a bit of exploring though. For a number of different reasons I got the opportunity to go to Hong Kong, London, Brisbane, Amsterdam and the like. Holland would have to be the most beloved place I have yet visited. Maybe that’s because of my heritage – “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much.”

 I was called into ministry at the age of three, as my older brother and I would perform puppet skits for the children’s services within various different churches in which my parents would speak as itinerant ministers. I’m never without support from my family, especially my ever-loving wife Kathryn. She brings out the best in me. We share a wonderful life together including a small princess, our daughter Isabel, and a plump ball of personality, our handsome three-month old son Timothy. Dancing and worship go together in our household (despite the fact that I cannot dance). It’s a common practice of ours that with Timothy in arms, Isabel and I blare some Anthony Skinner and dance before God all before dinner time.

  My background is drumming. I played for around 10 years in a worship team at my local church, while learning to play guitar and sing on the side. My wife, who is classically trained on piano and also has been singing since the age of two enjoying such classics as “A Spoon Full of Sugar”, attended the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship School of Worship and has been involved with worship teams for about as long as I have. We became a part of Open Door around three years ago, and since that time have been leading worship here as an alternate team. It is only over the past few months that we have stepped in as the interim worship leaders for a season.

  We love to worship, and our primary ministry in life and eternity is worshipping Him. It is our desire that our time in this role will be to lead/see our church body caught up into more creative expressions of worship and even greater realms His presence.
 

B. Support

  Gary began pastoring, mentoring and leading small groups in his early 20’s. His college degree is in philosophy and religion and he attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for one year. While in secular employment, Gary worked for 16 years in commercial property management. Gary has served faithfully at every church he has been a part of, from founding a Christian school, Sunday School programs and Children's Church, to helping with Administration.

  Joanne was part of the Jesus movement in California in the 1970’s, giving her great street ministry experience. As a teenager she attended Calvary Chapel when it was only a tent meeting and then joined Jack Hayford’s church in its early days. She was secretary for Larry Norman as well as Randy Stonehill at One Way Records.

  After marriage to Gary, Joanne devoted herself to raising their four children, she also was a children’s church leader at Metroplex Covenant Church and started the Watcher’s on the Wall intercessory group for the service there. Gary and Joanne helped found Refuge Church (which is now Open Door) in the summer of 1998 and served on its board of Elders for eleven years.

  While Gary and Joanne both do RTF (Restoring the Foundations) counseling. Gary also does life group training and leads the Healing Encounter for Open Door.  Joanne finds joy in the prophetic and encouraging others, as well as enjoying her children and grandchildren.

  Gary and Joanne have four grown children they are very proud of and six grandchildren that are the cutest and smartest…of course!

  Mike and his wife, Paula, have 3 children who have grown up while at ODCC. Paula and the kids were a part of our church’s beginnings and Mike caught the vision and started coming in 2005. Their family has been an active part of our church. Together, Mike and Paula lead a book discussion group, SWORD, in their home fostering kingdom culture and relationships to prepare for revival. Mike also serves on the prophetic council.

An exciting growing aspect of our church involves members gathering in homes throughout the week. Each group is free to develop their own style and format, but common ideas would be sharing a meal, fellowship time, prayer, developing spiritual gifts and fun activities for the whole family. Sunday meetings are not enough time to develop deeper friendships. We know a casual place to grow in the Lord will help us all more toward our destiny.

To see a listing of life groups click here.