John Peel is Denton born and bred. John graduated from Denton High School in 1963 (where he lettered in football) and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas in 1968. John grew up attending Asbury UMC, serving and chairing just about every church committee at one time or another. As a college student, John helped develop and lead a very successful college student ministry at Asbury. It was through this work that John felt called to the ministry, and he headed off to Duke Divinity School, from which he graduated in 1971. Many people in Trinity’s congregation are unaware that John was a 2-time state bricklaying champion, and that he placed 7th and 15th in national bricklaying contests. It is said that confession is good for the soul, and in this spirit Pastor John would like you to know that once as a small boy he drilled a hole in a boat his father had made by hand. In his defense, John claims that he was only trying to learn the proper use of hand tools. Today, Pastor John is a devoted husband to Anna, a proud father to 4 children, and a doting grandfather of 5.
Pastor John says that the best thing about Trinity is “the warmth and friendliness of the people, and the responsiveness to new ideas while holding on to the traditions of our faith.” He says that the most fun he’s had at TUMC was when “we saw the church turning the corner to be a healthy church.” He also couldn’t help but add that the annual church ski trip is always a tremendous blessing.
Those of us who know John realize that he’s always working on many different fronts. He does have some specific goals. John hopes that in the next year we will continue to develop our ministry to younger folks through our contemporary service, and he would love to see us come together to build a house for someone in our community. Five years from now, John would like to see us open our doors even wider, get a handle on the indebtedness of the past, and expand our ministries to change more lives and to transform our community, all while growing closer to Christ. John says this: “I feel very blessed to have served as a minister in the Methodist church and still see people responding to the ministry we have here at Trinity. My sincere desire is to serve here until I retire as long as our ministry is effective. Praise God!”
