Donald, Chell, Kierra, London Cherry

 

Youth Minister - Paul Fletcher

I was born in Norman, OK to Ron and Pam Fletcher on June 8, 1972.  My Father Ron has been a Church of Christ preacher my entire life. He is still preaching in Butler, OK where he has been preaching for over 20 years. My dad as well as my brothers and I have all been a part of the University of Oklahoma Sooner Football team. 
We grew up in Clinton, OK where my dad served as the preacher for a Church of Christ there for eight years.  I was 12 years old when we moved back to Norman.  Christmas day, 1984, I was baptized by Willie Franklin at the Westside Church of Christ.  I graduated from Norman High School in 1990. 
The summer immediately following my high school graduation I took classes at the University of Oklahoma and the following spring joined the Sooner football team.  I went through the off season program, spring ball, two-a-days and was a part of the 1991 9-3 Gator Bowl champion team under Gary Gibbs.
Throughout my life, I traveled with my dad and Willie Franklin throughout Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas and Missouri to various speaking engagements. I saw the way they preached, but also how they did personal work, leading people to Christ! These men had passion and were hard fighting soldiers for Jesus! I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing the same thing! They were making a difference in the lives of people for the greatest cause possible! Although I'd been given so much, for a long period of time I made many sinful choices, leading me into slavery of a very sinful lifestyle. It was a time of rebellion and sin that came with severe consequences.  When I was 26 years old, my life came crashing down and I hit a severe rock bottom. In June 1999, by the grace of God, Jesus Christ set me free from the slavery that held me captive for many years.  I made all this known and received help and accountability from the Butler, OK Church and the Westside Church of Christ in Norman.  It's at that time I taught my soon to be wife Dory Monroe the gospel.  Dory and I were married on December 11, 1999 and have been on a mission for Christ ever since!
From 2000-2004 we served as Youth and Family Minister for the Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Van Buren, AR. Dory and I had our two children, Caleb and Shiloh, in Ft. Smith during that time.  In 2004 Nancy Rankin, Jimmy Allen and Bobby Parks were instrumental in helping send me to the Harding School of Biblical Studies in Searcy, AR, along with many other loving family, friends and supporters.  We graduated from the School of Biblical Studies in July 2006. We served with the Crossroads Church of Christ in Bradford, AR the first year while in school and with the Downtown Church of Christ during the second, along with a few trips to Poteau as well.

While at Harding we heard from Marvin Crowson about an opportunity to do a Church Revitalization work with the Lake Merced Church of Christ in San Francisco, CA. We served in that work from 2006-2010. In addition to being a missionary with the church in San Francisco, I worked a fulltime job as a teacher/coach at Bridgemont Christian High School.
As of September 2010 we are now serving as Youth and Family Minister for the Poteau Church of Christ. We are excited and passionate about this work and we thank and praise God for all of this!