HCC Staff
Rev. Dr. Dale W. Patterson
Senior Pastor
dalep@hackberrycreekchurch.com
Hi...I am the pastor of HCC, and I want our church to be about changing peoples lives. Were not here simply to "play church," but to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. Hey, if it can happen to me, it can happen to others, because Jesus Christ changed my life.
Many years ago I was a salesperson for a Fortune 15 company. I prospered, yet in spite of my upwardly mobile career tract, Christ seized my life to be about more than putting in forty years and then retire. I heard other business professionals talk about committing to a Christ-centered lifestyle, a life not only of substance and signficance, but one touched by the power of Jesus Christ. I read the gospel stories and those lives were dramatically touched by the transforming power of Jesus Christ. I wanted that as well. From that ferment, I committed my life to Jesus Christ, and it's never been the same.
Soon thereafter, I sensed that Christ wanted to bring that same vitality to leadership, and the renewal of Christ's Church, until finally some years later, I heeded the call of Christ to be an agent of renewal in the Presbyterian Church. Now, more than twenty years ago, I came to Dallas-Fort Worth to gather around a people who want...
#1 genuinely to grow in Christ, to pursue Christ-centered living.
#2, to build a church not just about meeting people's spiritual needs, but genuinely summoned to be servant leaders in church and community to making a difference in people's lives.
Following Jesus Christ is the most fantastic and significant thing I've ever done in my life. I invite you to come along!
In the spring of 1988, Hackberry Creek Church was born, not simply to meet people's spiritual needs, but to reflect growing discipleship, member by member, in the joy and the power of Jesus Christ. So come on! Join with us. We're about changing people's lives, your life! C'mon. Take the adventure!
Senior Pastor
dalep@hackberrycreekchurch.com
Hi...I am the pastor of HCC, and I want our church to be about changing peoples lives. Were not here simply to "play church," but to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. Hey, if it can happen to me, it can happen to others, because Jesus Christ changed my life.
Many years ago I was a salesperson for a Fortune 15 company. I prospered, yet in spite of my upwardly mobile career tract, Christ seized my life to be about more than putting in forty years and then retire. I heard other business professionals talk about committing to a Christ-centered lifestyle, a life not only of substance and signficance, but one touched by the power of Jesus Christ. I read the gospel stories and those lives were dramatically touched by the transforming power of Jesus Christ. I wanted that as well. From that ferment, I committed my life to Jesus Christ, and it's never been the same.
Soon thereafter, I sensed that Christ wanted to bring that same vitality to leadership, and the renewal of Christ's Church, until finally some years later, I heeded the call of Christ to be an agent of renewal in the Presbyterian Church. Now, more than twenty years ago, I came to Dallas-Fort Worth to gather around a people who want...
#1 genuinely to grow in Christ, to pursue Christ-centered living.
#2, to build a church not just about meeting people's spiritual needs, but genuinely summoned to be servant leaders in church and community to making a difference in people's lives.
Following Jesus Christ is the most fantastic and significant thing I've ever done in my life. I invite you to come along!
In the spring of 1988, Hackberry Creek Church was born, not simply to meet people's spiritual needs, but to reflect growing discipleship, member by member, in the joy and the power of Jesus Christ. So come on! Join with us. We're about changing people's lives, your life! C'mon. Take the adventure!
Barry Frye
Youth Pastor
barryf@hackberrycreekchurch.com
Like a lot of adults, I grew up in church as a child. But things changed with my parents divorce when I was twelve. My mom soon remarried and church became less and less a part of our lives
until it was almost nothing. I went to a weekend youth retreat at the age of 14 to be with church friends I hadnʼt seen in a long time. This is where, for the first time, Jesus came alive to me. I came to understand who Jesus was and, as a hurting teenager, understood the need for Him in my life as I struggled with an absent father and a cruel stepfather.
Unfortunately, I soon went back into the habit of no church involvement. The next major step for me was when I found myself at age 18, living by the California beach with no job, and what little savings I had was quickly dwindling away. It was those lonely times on the beach with my Bible that I rediscovered Jesus in my life, this time with the assistance of the Bible. Christ and His church were once again important for me not as a feel good, but as a necessity.
Shortly thereafter I was married and in my twentyʼs when the youth pastor of our church talked me into just teaching the high school guys Sunday school class... but that was going to be all. Well, things grew from there as I got more involved with this youth group. I was soon asked to play guitar in Young Life- but that was going to be all.
Both of these evolved and at one point I was the volunteer youth pastor of our new small church as well as the volunteer leader for a brand new club Young Life club. It was at this point, and for the very first time, God literally called me to be more than a volunteer. I had no previous notions of going into youth ministry as a vocation until an “interesting trip with teenagers” (long story). It was after this trip that God yelled at me and woke me up to serve him by serving teenagers full time.
I went to my area director of Young Life and asked what to do. He said to get myself into seminary. Check; did that. I didnʼt expect anything right away, at least until I finished. But my youth pastor friend that got me started in all of this, told a church looking for a youth pastor with Young Life experience about me. That was Hackberry Creek Church where I still serve to this day.
In between all of these stories I have had a wife that has not only stood by my side but has been a volunteer from that very start all they way to this day. We now have two teenagers of our own, so it is not only a full time vocation but is full time all the time.
My goal in our church and for our teenagers is to educate them about the Faith, excite them about the Faith, and give them that support that I so desperately needed at their age. I want them prepared to take their faith and continue to grow Godʼs universal church with the love He offers; the love He has given me.
Youth Pastor
barryf@hackberrycreekchurch.com
Like a lot of adults, I grew up in church as a child. But things changed with my parents divorce when I was twelve. My mom soon remarried and church became less and less a part of our lives
until it was almost nothing. I went to a weekend youth retreat at the age of 14 to be with church friends I hadnʼt seen in a long time. This is where, for the first time, Jesus came alive to me. I came to understand who Jesus was and, as a hurting teenager, understood the need for Him in my life as I struggled with an absent father and a cruel stepfather.
Unfortunately, I soon went back into the habit of no church involvement. The next major step for me was when I found myself at age 18, living by the California beach with no job, and what little savings I had was quickly dwindling away. It was those lonely times on the beach with my Bible that I rediscovered Jesus in my life, this time with the assistance of the Bible. Christ and His church were once again important for me not as a feel good, but as a necessity.
Shortly thereafter I was married and in my twentyʼs when the youth pastor of our church talked me into just teaching the high school guys Sunday school class... but that was going to be all. Well, things grew from there as I got more involved with this youth group. I was soon asked to play guitar in Young Life- but that was going to be all.
Both of these evolved and at one point I was the volunteer youth pastor of our new small church as well as the volunteer leader for a brand new club Young Life club. It was at this point, and for the very first time, God literally called me to be more than a volunteer. I had no previous notions of going into youth ministry as a vocation until an “interesting trip with teenagers” (long story). It was after this trip that God yelled at me and woke me up to serve him by serving teenagers full time.
I went to my area director of Young Life and asked what to do. He said to get myself into seminary. Check; did that. I didnʼt expect anything right away, at least until I finished. But my youth pastor friend that got me started in all of this, told a church looking for a youth pastor with Young Life experience about me. That was Hackberry Creek Church where I still serve to this day.
In between all of these stories I have had a wife that has not only stood by my side but has been a volunteer from that very start all they way to this day. We now have two teenagers of our own, so it is not only a full time vocation but is full time all the time.
My goal in our church and for our teenagers is to educate them about the Faith, excite them about the Faith, and give them that support that I so desperately needed at their age. I want them prepared to take their faith and continue to grow Godʼs universal church with the love He offers; the love He has given me.
Joel Costa
Director of Christian Education
joelc@hackberrycreekchurch.com
I grew up in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo and immigrated with my family to the USA just before turning 10. Always very involved and active in church as a pastor’s kid, I very early on felt a divine call to make ministry my life’s work. During my teenage years I was given many opportunities for training, leadership and missions work through our church in South Florida, and several other chances to further explore my calling. I treasure those formative years immensely. I eventually came to be employed by the ministry and served for years in South Florida, Nebraska and Texas. It was during this time that my passion for Christian education became increasingly solidified. I believe that in a world where we take for granted a continuous bombardment of profoundly conflicting narratives, values and worldviews, solid spiritual and intellectual formation and a passion for truth should be elevated as crucial priorities.
As a young adult I became very interested in the history of Christian thought and, in particular, the Protestant Reformation. I read everything I could get my hands on about that great and generative period in time, and fell deeper and deeper in love with the beautiful theological insights of the reformers. The persistent, all-encompassing, no-holds-barred, overwhelming, baffling, commanding and radically transformative nature of God’s unconditional love in Christ took fast hold of my heart and turned my world upside-down. It was during that time that I married the love of my life and we decided that I should further my education. During my time in college I worked for another Brazilian ministry in South Florida and, after graduating with a Bachelor’s in Philosophy and History, was offered a scholarship to pursue my interests at Yale Divinity School, where I got my Master’s in Religion and Philosophy.
I came on staff at HCC in the summer of 2017 and one of my favorite things about our church is that it is absolutely non-apologetic about prioritizing authentic discipleship, spiritual formation and Christ-centered living. My primary goal as DCE is to work closely with our leadership and congregation to provide ongoing development of and support for abundant and meaningful educational opportunities for all ages – opportunities that include Sunday school, small groups, Vacation Bible School, our well-stocked resource library and many others to come. On my downtime you’ll probably catch me playing board games with my wife and two girls, reading old books (the new stuff is overrated), watching nerdy movies and cooking.
Dave Ervin
Music Minister
davee@hackberrycreekchurch.com
I grew up in Seattle, son of a salesman, grandson of a Minister of Music in the local Presbyterian church. Life was idyllic for me it seemed. I had a great family life, cousins just around the corner, all involved in the local church with granddad. Then, my parents divorced. We stopped hanging out with the family, stopped going to the local church and and in general, stopped doing everything we had been doing.
While I didnʼt really understand it all, I started spiraling out of control. I got in to drugs, started hanging out with the wrong people, and generally became anti-social. But God did not give up on me. About my senior year of high school I snapped out of it, cut off my friendship with the people Iʼd been hanging out with, and began a slow process of re-evaluating my life.
It took years, but I started opening up to God more and more. Eventually, I answered an alter call at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and over the next few years became more and more involved in the church. Still, it wasnʼt until I had a family that I really saw I was living a bit of a double life. I had not jumped in all the way. God is so wise. I had a passion for music, but if God had allowed it to flourish early, I would not have been ready to handle it. It would have gone to my head, Iʼm sure.
Instead, God slowly groomed me for full time ministry. I began volunteering at our local church in California as the sound engineer. Then, pretty soon I was playing guitar and singing with the team. Over time, the music leaders of this church started asking me to help lead. Each year, it seemed God allowed me a little more responsibility, until finally I was asked to lead a small church music team on a part time basis.
Currently, I lead our church praise band here at Hackberry Creek Church, and it has been a huge blessing. I love working with volunteer musicians here at HCC, hopefully helping to groom them in the same way God used the friends I had in California to groom me. I have a beautiful wife of twenty five years and two fantastic girls, much wiser than I ever was.
God is so good. Looking back, it is clear God had this plan all along, but I would have never guessed this would be the direction my life would take. I pray that I am open to Godʼs call on my life for the rest of my life. And may God use me in this local community to touch others lives for His purposes.
Music Minister
davee@hackberrycreekchurch.com
I grew up in Seattle, son of a salesman, grandson of a Minister of Music in the local Presbyterian church. Life was idyllic for me it seemed. I had a great family life, cousins just around the corner, all involved in the local church with granddad. Then, my parents divorced. We stopped hanging out with the family, stopped going to the local church and and in general, stopped doing everything we had been doing.
While I didnʼt really understand it all, I started spiraling out of control. I got in to drugs, started hanging out with the wrong people, and generally became anti-social. But God did not give up on me. About my senior year of high school I snapped out of it, cut off my friendship with the people Iʼd been hanging out with, and began a slow process of re-evaluating my life.
It took years, but I started opening up to God more and more. Eventually, I answered an alter call at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and over the next few years became more and more involved in the church. Still, it wasnʼt until I had a family that I really saw I was living a bit of a double life. I had not jumped in all the way. God is so wise. I had a passion for music, but if God had allowed it to flourish early, I would not have been ready to handle it. It would have gone to my head, Iʼm sure.
Instead, God slowly groomed me for full time ministry. I began volunteering at our local church in California as the sound engineer. Then, pretty soon I was playing guitar and singing with the team. Over time, the music leaders of this church started asking me to help lead. Each year, it seemed God allowed me a little more responsibility, until finally I was asked to lead a small church music team on a part time basis.
Currently, I lead our church praise band here at Hackberry Creek Church, and it has been a huge blessing. I love working with volunteer musicians here at HCC, hopefully helping to groom them in the same way God used the friends I had in California to groom me. I have a beautiful wife of twenty five years and two fantastic girls, much wiser than I ever was.
God is so good. Looking back, it is clear God had this plan all along, but I would have never guessed this would be the direction my life would take. I pray that I am open to Godʼs call on my life for the rest of my life. And may God use me in this local community to touch others lives for His purposes.
Jaycie Skidmore
Music Director/Children's Music
I grew up in a musical family and don't remember a time when music was not a part of my life. My father is a trombone player and my mother is a pianist so it wasn't a matter of if I would play an instrument, but what. I began studying flute at age 12 at Coppell Middle School East and received several awards and accolades through high school. I earned a scholarship to Baylor University where I completed a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 2007. Upon graduating, I knew that I wanted to pursue further music education with the ultimate goal of acquiring a university-level teaching position. However...
God brought me to Hackberry Creek Church when I was finishing up my student teaching semester here in the DFW area. I had never experienced such a true representation of a "church family" and I began serving on the worship team from day 1. I never intended to stay in DFW permanently (I had to go get on with my education, of course...) but God had other ideas and plans and I have grown deep roots into the foundation of this wonderful church.
I was honored to be named the Children's Music Director here at Hackberry Creek almost four years ago and hope that I can continue to build a program where children feel a connection to Jesus Christ through music and learning how to worship. Our goal is not to learn how to perform, but how to praise.
I taught private flute lessons full-time for the past eight years but have found a new calling as a Musikgarten teacher for newborns-age 10. I am incredibly lucky to be a part of Cathy Mathia's Musikgarten studio, East Dallas Children's Music, and look forward to the fun of the future! I hope to continue to teach private flute lessons as well but for now, I am very content serving where God has me
In whatever spare time I can scrounge up, I enjoy cycling, reading, watching movies, baking and cooking, and spending time with my husband, Donald, and two dogs, Chloe and Trixie.
Music Director/Children's Music
I grew up in a musical family and don't remember a time when music was not a part of my life. My father is a trombone player and my mother is a pianist so it wasn't a matter of if I would play an instrument, but what. I began studying flute at age 12 at Coppell Middle School East and received several awards and accolades through high school. I earned a scholarship to Baylor University where I completed a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 2007. Upon graduating, I knew that I wanted to pursue further music education with the ultimate goal of acquiring a university-level teaching position. However...
God brought me to Hackberry Creek Church when I was finishing up my student teaching semester here in the DFW area. I had never experienced such a true representation of a "church family" and I began serving on the worship team from day 1. I never intended to stay in DFW permanently (I had to go get on with my education, of course...) but God had other ideas and plans and I have grown deep roots into the foundation of this wonderful church.
I was honored to be named the Children's Music Director here at Hackberry Creek almost four years ago and hope that I can continue to build a program where children feel a connection to Jesus Christ through music and learning how to worship. Our goal is not to learn how to perform, but how to praise.
I taught private flute lessons full-time for the past eight years but have found a new calling as a Musikgarten teacher for newborns-age 10. I am incredibly lucky to be a part of Cathy Mathia's Musikgarten studio, East Dallas Children's Music, and look forward to the fun of the future! I hope to continue to teach private flute lessons as well but for now, I am very content serving where God has me
In whatever spare time I can scrounge up, I enjoy cycling, reading, watching movies, baking and cooking, and spending time with my husband, Donald, and two dogs, Chloe and Trixie.
