Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County

Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County Subhead FROM FRIENDSWOOD TO FAIRFIELD Jason Chlapek Wed, 07/10/2024 - 11:52 Image

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  Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County

  Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County
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  Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County

  Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County
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  Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County

  Pastoral duo answering calls to serve in Freestone County

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Deja vu is a funny thing.

It has people thinking they’ve seen something - or someone else before. There’s a pretty good chance that both Mike McVey and Andrew Wroth have experienced deja vu during their interactions.

They each grew up in the Houston suburb of Friendswood, attended the same elementary school (Wedgewood Elementary School), lived in the same subdivision (Heritage Park) and are both ministers in Fairfield. McVey is the pastor at First United Methodist Church in Fairfield, while Wroth is the associate pastor of youth and recreation at First Baptist Church in Fairfield.

While they have all of these similarities, McVey and Wroth actually didn’t meet until last year. Since that initial meeting, there are times when it seems as if they knew each other since birth.

“We were at a pool party and I asked if he knew (my brother-inlaw) Trey Warnock,” Wroth said. “Mike’s response was, ‘how do you know Trey Warnock?’ I said, ‘he’s my wife’s sister’s husband.’ I immediately called Trey and asked if he knew Mike McVey.”

Sure enough, Trey knew Mike McVey, who had his own story of the common person they knew.

“I was in Boy Scouts with Trey, and I also went to high school and church with him,” McVey said. “He was one of the reasons how we began to find out how similar we were. Trey was a trumpet player like I was. Like me, he was one of those guys that was doing it to do something. He was loved because he was so funny. He had perfect one-liners, and he was so chill. We had a tradition where freshmen were assigned a junior or senior mentor. They would come to your house and take you to breakfast on the first day. I remember it was 5 in the morning and a door opens. I wake up and Trey is standing over me going, ‘hey it’s time to get up. Welcome to band.’ He showed me the ropes. Trey made band fun.”

There were two things that stick out for McVey and Wroth when talking about growing up in Friendswood - fireworks and NASA. The Heritage Park neighborhood in which they lived in is in an unincorporated portion of Harris County, and NASA headquarters is in neighboring League City.

“Shooting fireworks was a big perk for living there,” McVey said. “Both of us grew up knowing people who were involved with NASA. One of the members of our church was the head of mission control. The space program was a huge part of our lives. I went to Space Camp growing up. It was a fun place to grow up.”

“NASA was a part of everything in our community,” Wroth added. “It wasn’t a shock to have people miss church because of a shuttle launch. One of the guys at our church was an electrician for shuttles. I thought it was the coolest thing. I used to work at Space Center Houston as well.”

The event that they remember most about Wedgewood Elementary School took place on Oct. 29, 1998. McVey was in the fourth grade, while Wroth was in second grade.

That was the day that John Glenn went on his second mission into outer space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. McVey and Wroth spent the day watching the event in the WES cafeteria.

“I remember it being a big deal because we didn’t have to go to class,” McVey said.

“There was a big assembly and the whole school went to the cafeteria,” Wroth added. “I’ve had quite a few concussions since then, though.”

Wroth credits his concussions to his football playing days at Brookside Intermediate and Clear Brook High Schools. He even went on to play college football for a year at Texas Lutheran University in Seguin before transferring to Sam Houston State to earn his bachelor degree in business.

McVey attended Brookside Intermediate School in sixth grade before his family moved to another neighborhood in Friendswood that was located in the Friendswood ISD boundary lines. Wedgewood, Brookside and Clear Brook are in Clear Creek ISD.

“I think my parents wanted to get me into a smaller school district,” McVey said.

Like Wroth, McVey has a connection to Seguin. He spent the first two years of his life there before moving to Friendswood.

“I have no memory of living in Seguin whatsoever,” McVey said.

Both McVey and Wroth grew up as active members of their respective churches as well. McVey grew up attending FUMC in Friendswood, while Wroth grew up attending Clear Lake Baptist Church, Crossroads Church (now Cross Creek Church), and Heritage Park Baptist Church.

Wroth was involved in sports at school, and McVey was involved in band. McVey went to Texas A&M after high school, where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets.

McVey also is a member of the US Coast Guard reserve. He serves as a chaplain on the Galveston base.

The irony behind both McVey and Wroth is neither of them planned on going into ministry. They each answered a call from the Lord.

“Both of my parents are involved in church, but I’m actually the first member of my family to go into the ministry full-time,” McVey said. “Going into the ministry is more of a call than a choice. I get really worried when someone says, ‘I really want to be a pastor.’ It’s more one of those things where God interrupts your life and calls you to do it.”

“I come from a family of engineers and I wanted to become an engineer,” Wroth added. “I did all of the college planning, and God interrupted my life to say, ‘you’re going into the ministry.’ I was called to youth ministry when I was 17.”

When the call came for McVey, there was a little bit of proverbial kicking and screaming. Nonetheless, he answered it.

“I got the call when I was 19, and did not want to go into the ministry,” McVey said. “I had to put my trust in God and listen to his call. I wanted to go into the military service and teach history when I got out. You’re called into the ministry. It’s never a 9-to-5 because the phone could ring anytime. It could be anything from someone just had a baby to someone just died. The ministry never stops. We try to shed ourselves and put on the presence of Jesus. We both feel called to this community.”

With Wroth receiving the call to ministry at 17, he decided to major in business instead of engineering. After earning his degree from Sam Houston, Wroth was off to seminary.

“After seminary, I was actively looking for a job. Then, COVID hit and shut everything down,” Wroth said. “I was getting really discouraged. Then one day, my mom calls me and said that she was going to fast and pray that God would give me a job in 30 days. That day was my first interview in Fairfield. They wanted me to come and I signed the contract. It was 30 days exactly from my mom praying to signing the contract.”

Following McVey’s graduation from A&M, he answered the call from God by becoming the pastor at FUMC in Iola. Fittingly, Wroth was the youth pastor at nearby Bedias Baptist Church around the same time.

Following his tenure in Iola, McVey became the pastor of a church in North Carolina while he completed his master degree at Duke University. He followed up that tenure with stints at churches in Houston and Pasadena, respectively, before coming to Fairfield.

“In the Methodist tradition, pastors are rotated,” McVey said. “The longest I ever served in a church is four years.”

Both McVey and Wroth pray that God will keep them in Fairfield for the long haul. They each have families of their own and wish to raise their children here.

“When I was called to Fairfield, it was the right time. Immediately, we were welcomed,” McVey said. “I came from a church that had no children and a rapidly-declining youth ministry. I had to build up. Now I’m at a church with youth who are heavily involved. God called me to be here. I’m a traditionalist. Our church is the only Methodist Church in Fairfield.”

“I plan on staying here for as long as God will allow me to do so,” Wroth added. “Going from a high school of 3,000 students to a town of 3,000 was a culture shock. My wife and I both grew up in the Houston area, and we thought Fort Worth was small.”

One thing that McVey and Wroth agree on is the need for churches in the area to work together.

“With 14 churches, we’ve got to start doing more stuff together. We need each other. We need to do things as the Body of Christ,” Wroth said. “One question that every church has is how to attract young families. We’ve got to get people in church, period. If you’re being fed spiritually, it doesn’t matter where you are as long as they’re teaching Christ.”

“There’s a thriving ministry now and it’s all because of the glory of God,” McVey added. “You have to ignore the noise of what’s outside your control and look at what the church can really do. We believe that there is ripe opportunity to grow. We live in a world that is always trying to separate people by categorizing them. We have a good percentage of younger clergy. We need everyone we’ve got. We need you to bring your talents and to bring about the Kingdom of God and share that love with others. A church can have a huge impact in ways that couldn’t be felt in a place like Houston or Dallas. It’s a great place with a lot of opportunity. The world is going to judge Christ based upon how the human institutions who represent Him act. There’s a big difference between those who choose a church because that’s where they’re comfortable theologically and those who choose a church and exclude those who disagree with them. We’re all part of the Kingdom of God. Your denomination does not determine your place in the Kingdom. Your faith in Jesus Christ determines your place in the Kingdom. Faith is a day-to-day experience. You have to equip yourself daily.”

With all of the things they have in common, it’s no surprise that McVey and Wroth have become good friends. They learn something new about each other almost every time they get together.

“Another connection we have is my sister’s husband knows Mike’s younger brother through U of H,” Wroth said. “I can remember something like this happening on two other occasions. When my parents were on their honeymoon, they met a guy named Tex. He said that he was from Clute. My dad is from Lake Jackson. It took going to Cancun to connect. The other is my wife’s family hosted missionaries in Indonesia. When I was in seminary, I met a guy who’s brother-in-law did missions in Indonesia. It turns out, that my wife’s family hosted him. The pastors in town seem to want to work together for the first time in a long time. It’s been great getting to know Mike.”

“We’ll throw out names and every now and then, one will stick,” McVey added. “It’s alarming that of all places, we connected in Fairfield. We never knew each other in Friendswood, but we connected here.”

Funny, isn’t it?