Member Spotlight >> Rev. Erin Dickey
Even in elementary school, the Rev. Erin Dickey knew she wanted to be a pastor.
“I used to baptize my stuffed animals and give them communion. I’d read my Bible to them,” she said. “I mean it was like the way that other kids played school. I played church.”
Erin, who will join Kingwood Christian Church in May as associate pastor for youth and community engagement, grew up in Lake Charles, La., attending a Disciples church. She’s at least the third generation of her family who have belonged to Disciples congregations.
Attending church camp as a youth had a huge influence on her. There weren’t many children in her home church so she ended up taking on a lot of leadership roles in middle school and high school. “Camp became like my youth group that I only got to do a couple times a year.”
Her dream job, even back then, was to become a full-time youth minister. When she attended Texas Christian University, she earned bachelor’s degrees in both religion and social work. She initially thought of social work as a backup if she couldn’t find a full-time youth ministry job, but ended up falling in love with it too.
In college, she said, “religion helped me understand the background of why I wanted to be a pastor but then social work gave me the tools to be an effective pastor.”
She earned a master’s of divinity degree from Brite Divinity in Fort Worth and also earned a master’s in social work from TCU.
In seminary, she worked part-time as a youth minister at First Christian Church in Gainesville, Tx.. After finishing seminary, she also began working part time as director of recovery ministries at First Christian Church in Wichita Falls, Tx. She worked with domestic violence survivors, people with substance abuse problems and people in court-mandated anger management programs.
In 2016, Erin’s first full-time job was as a senior pastor at Riverside Avenue Christian Church in Jacksonville, Fla., where she currently works. She first heard about the job from a friend, who happened to be the son of the Senior Pastor at FIrst Gainesville.
“It was an open and affirming church that focused really strongly on children. And I thought if I can’t be a full-time youth minister, then I want to be at a church that focuses strongly on camp, children and youth.”
She told her pastor at First Gainesville that while she was very happy there, she felt she was being called to the Jacksonville church. Even though she had no senior pastor experience, he told her she was ready for the job. “It kind of all fell into place and I went on a limb, hoping they’d want to hire a 27-year-old with no senior minister experience.”
At the time, she was dating her future husband, Justin. They met counseling church camp in February of 2015 at Disciples Crossing while he was the Youth Minister at First Christian Church Wichita Falls, which is what led to her eventually serving there. He was looking for new opportunities and found a job in Jacksonville, where he works as the clinical director at the Florida Autism Center. In April, he’ll begin a similar job working with children with autism in Humble.
Erin said she’s known about Kingwood Christian Church for a long time. When she worked in Wichita Falls, her supervisor was Rev. Renee Hoke, a former KWCC pastor.
“She spoke really highly of it and it sounded like the type of church that I would want to be part of,” she said, “especially as a woman in ministry to know that a church has already broken that barrier makes it a lot easier. I was the first woman at my church here and I was also pretty young so that was a big learning curve for everybody.”
Kingwood also brings both Erin and her husband closer to their families. Her mom and dad still live in her childhood home in Lake Charles. She has a brother in Conroe and a brother in Oklahoma City. Justin is from Wichita Falls.
And she’s attracted to Kingwood Christian because of its emphasis on family and community. When she was researching KWCC, she realized her childhood youth minister was part of the church’s Facebook group.
It turned out that her youth minister’s connection to Kingwood Christian Church is a reflection of that sense of community. Apparently years ago, her youth minister’s aunt was at the Houston airport when she fell and broke her hip. They called the closest Disciples church, which happened to be Kingwood Christian. The church sent people to the hospital to be with the aunt until her family could arrive. “So I thought that’s pretty incredible and that’s the kind of church I want to be part of.”
And the dual youth minister/community outreach role is perfect for her.
“I had a strong youth minister when I was a kid, even though I was pretty much the only kid. But I recognized that the church was my safe space when I was growing up,” she said. “And so I want to be able to provide that same safe space to other people. It welcomed me whenever I was at my lowest. I can see the beauty in church and what it can do for teen-agers. They already go through so much on their own that they need to be affirmed for who they are and have that constant safe space where they’re not constantly trying to perform or trying to excel. They can just be themselves and rest and be celebrated.”
She’s one of those rare people who loves working with middle schoolers. “Middle school is probably my favorite age group because they’re still enjoying the innocence of elementary school, but they’re starting to really develop their own ideas and their own personalities.”
She’s also excited about working with the homeless through Family Promise and working to support foster families in her community engagement role. She has experience with both in Florida.
“I’m excited to see what opportunities Kingwood already has going on,” she said, “and how we can serve the community together.”
Erin and Justin are already working with a realtor, looking for houses in the area. They’re bringing their three dogs - a standard Poodle named Waffles, a Golden Retriever named Maple, and an Australian Shepherd named Maggie. They also have an indoor cat named Queso and an outdoor cat named Chip. They’re still debating whether Chip, a feral cat who is resistant to coming inside, will be up for the move.
“I used to baptize my stuffed animals and give them communion. I’d read my Bible to them,” she said. “I mean it was like the way that other kids played school. I played church.”
Erin, who will join Kingwood Christian Church in May as associate pastor for youth and community engagement, grew up in Lake Charles, La., attending a Disciples church. She’s at least the third generation of her family who have belonged to Disciples congregations.
Attending church camp as a youth had a huge influence on her. There weren’t many children in her home church so she ended up taking on a lot of leadership roles in middle school and high school. “Camp became like my youth group that I only got to do a couple times a year.”
Her dream job, even back then, was to become a full-time youth minister. When she attended Texas Christian University, she earned bachelor’s degrees in both religion and social work. She initially thought of social work as a backup if she couldn’t find a full-time youth ministry job, but ended up falling in love with it too.
In college, she said, “religion helped me understand the background of why I wanted to be a pastor but then social work gave me the tools to be an effective pastor.”
She earned a master’s of divinity degree from Brite Divinity in Fort Worth and also earned a master’s in social work from TCU.
In seminary, she worked part-time as a youth minister at First Christian Church in Gainesville, Tx.. After finishing seminary, she also began working part time as director of recovery ministries at First Christian Church in Wichita Falls, Tx. She worked with domestic violence survivors, people with substance abuse problems and people in court-mandated anger management programs.
In 2016, Erin’s first full-time job was as a senior pastor at Riverside Avenue Christian Church in Jacksonville, Fla., where she currently works. She first heard about the job from a friend, who happened to be the son of the Senior Pastor at FIrst Gainesville.
“It was an open and affirming church that focused really strongly on children. And I thought if I can’t be a full-time youth minister, then I want to be at a church that focuses strongly on camp, children and youth.”
She told her pastor at First Gainesville that while she was very happy there, she felt she was being called to the Jacksonville church. Even though she had no senior pastor experience, he told her she was ready for the job. “It kind of all fell into place and I went on a limb, hoping they’d want to hire a 27-year-old with no senior minister experience.”
At the time, she was dating her future husband, Justin. They met counseling church camp in February of 2015 at Disciples Crossing while he was the Youth Minister at First Christian Church Wichita Falls, which is what led to her eventually serving there. He was looking for new opportunities and found a job in Jacksonville, where he works as the clinical director at the Florida Autism Center. In April, he’ll begin a similar job working with children with autism in Humble.
Erin said she’s known about Kingwood Christian Church for a long time. When she worked in Wichita Falls, her supervisor was Rev. Renee Hoke, a former KWCC pastor.
“She spoke really highly of it and it sounded like the type of church that I would want to be part of,” she said, “especially as a woman in ministry to know that a church has already broken that barrier makes it a lot easier. I was the first woman at my church here and I was also pretty young so that was a big learning curve for everybody.”
Kingwood also brings both Erin and her husband closer to their families. Her mom and dad still live in her childhood home in Lake Charles. She has a brother in Conroe and a brother in Oklahoma City. Justin is from Wichita Falls.
And she’s attracted to Kingwood Christian because of its emphasis on family and community. When she was researching KWCC, she realized her childhood youth minister was part of the church’s Facebook group.
It turned out that her youth minister’s connection to Kingwood Christian Church is a reflection of that sense of community. Apparently years ago, her youth minister’s aunt was at the Houston airport when she fell and broke her hip. They called the closest Disciples church, which happened to be Kingwood Christian. The church sent people to the hospital to be with the aunt until her family could arrive. “So I thought that’s pretty incredible and that’s the kind of church I want to be part of.”
And the dual youth minister/community outreach role is perfect for her.
“I had a strong youth minister when I was a kid, even though I was pretty much the only kid. But I recognized that the church was my safe space when I was growing up,” she said. “And so I want to be able to provide that same safe space to other people. It welcomed me whenever I was at my lowest. I can see the beauty in church and what it can do for teen-agers. They already go through so much on their own that they need to be affirmed for who they are and have that constant safe space where they’re not constantly trying to perform or trying to excel. They can just be themselves and rest and be celebrated.”
She’s one of those rare people who loves working with middle schoolers. “Middle school is probably my favorite age group because they’re still enjoying the innocence of elementary school, but they’re starting to really develop their own ideas and their own personalities.”
She’s also excited about working with the homeless through Family Promise and working to support foster families in her community engagement role. She has experience with both in Florida.
“I’m excited to see what opportunities Kingwood already has going on,” she said, “and how we can serve the community together.”
Erin and Justin are already working with a realtor, looking for houses in the area. They’re bringing their three dogs - a standard Poodle named Waffles, a Golden Retriever named Maple, and an Australian Shepherd named Maggie. They also have an indoor cat named Queso and an outdoor cat named Chip. They’re still debating whether Chip, a feral cat who is resistant to coming inside, will be up for the move.
This is one in a series of occasional profiles, written by Susan Bullard, on members of Kingwood Christian Church. Love 101: Do Your Part.