Rev. Paul E. Bauernfeind

Hello! My name is Paul Bauernfeind and I have been appointed by Bishop Max Whitfield to serve as one of the associate pastors here at St. Mark’s. Let me tell you a little about myself.

I was born in Temple, Texas on August 5, 1955 and when I was about five months old, we moved to Abilene. After high school, I attended McMurry University (then College), transferred to Texas Tech, earned a B.S. in geology, there in 1977 and an M.S. in geology from the University of Oklahoma in 1980.

In 1979 I began working in Midland, Texas as a petroleum geologist and had a very rewarding career working for several oil companies and as an independent consulting geologist, “retiring” from the oil business in August 1996 after two years as President of Strategic Ventures, Inc. Two very significant events during this time were meeting and marrying my wife, Barbara. She is an attorney associated with a law firm in Lubbock. A native of Midland, Barbara graduated from Lee High School. She holds a B.A. in government and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, both from U.T. Austin.

In response to a call to the ordained ministry, I entered Perkins School of Theology at SMU in 1996. During my education there, I served as an intern pastor at St. Luke UMC in Midland for nine months and completed a summer internship as a chaplain in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock. I graduated cum laude in 2000 with a Master of Divinity degree and was honored to receive the Jerry W. Hobbs Award in Worship at graduation.

Upon graduating, I served as Associate Pastor at St. Paul UMC in Abilene, Texas for two great years and then as the Senior Associate Pastor at First UMC in Lubbock. My last appointment before St. Mark’s was as Senior Pastor at Asbury UMC in Odessa. I was honored to have the privilege of serving with the lay ministers in all three of these churches. It has been a great blessing in my life to serve the Lord together with these men and women as God’s disciple.

I am honored and humbled that the bishop has appointed me to serve here and that God has called me to be in ministry with the people of St. Mark’s at this time and in this place. My prayer is that God will continue to work in each of our lives and that we may continue to grow in our Christian walk as God’s disciples in the world. May God continue to bless the life of this vital part of the body, as we spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.