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 Bill Yowell, Lead Pastor
Born in Harlingen, Texas, Bill Yowell has been our lead-pastor since December of 2007. He received Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord in October of 1983 at the age of 21. Bill spent most of his childhood years in South Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A & M University at College Station before moving to California for a short time to study acting. He graduated from Texas A & M, Corpus Christi (B.S., 1987/M.A.I.S, 1997). He spent 11 years teaching history and theatre in public schools. In 1984, he began working with youth and ministering through the arts. Bill was called into the ministry in 1992. Before coming to Baytown, Bill served at First Baptist of Portland, Texas as Minister of Children and Families from 1998 to 2007. Bill received his Master’s of Divinity from Hardin-Simmons Logsdon School of Theology in 2005.
Bill believes his primary responsibility as pastor is to love and serve the people of FBC and Baytown. His greatest joys are seeing someone come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and watching believers become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. He finds sermon prep and the creative process an absolute blast. Bill loves being Lead-Pastor at FBC, Baytown and believes he is truly blessed to be serving with Chloe, Carey, Brian, Danny, Robin, and Maurice.
Bill has been married to his incredible wife, Chloe, since 1984. They have two phenomenal teenagers, Caleb and Brenna. Bill, a published playwright, enjoys working out, writing, hanging out with family and friends, and the Dallas Cowboys (when they’re winning). His favorite book of the Bible is Ruth and his life passage is Philippians 1:21: “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
 Carey Froelich, Associate Pastor
Carey is a graduate of Houston Baptist University (B.A., 1969); Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.R.E., 1972), and in May 2002 at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he became the first person to ever be awarded the Doctor of Education Ministries. He served six churches in Texas and Louisiana before coming to FBC, working in youth ministry, Christian education, and church administration.
Carey’s passions in ministry involve teaching and studying God’s Word, and helping the church in its organizational responsibilities. He quotes Ephesians 4: 11-13 as the challenge of ministry before him: It was [Christ, through the Holy Spirit] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Carey’s gifts are also evident in his love of working with the administrative tasks of the church. He played a major role with church’s Transition Team and New Vision Ministry Team in developing a new direction for FBC Baytown during the recent interim period. He recently completed training in Intentional Interim Ministry, and following his retirement from fulltime ministry he hopes to invest his life with local congregations, helping them prepare for the transition to new pastoral leadership.
He is the senior member of the Pastoral Staff, coming to Baytown in April 2004. He loves his work and has been heard to say, “I’m having more fun than at any time in forty-plus years of vocational ministry!”
Carey and his beautiful wife Kaye have been married since 1970. They have three grown children and four grandchildren who all live a long way from Baytown. One of the great joys of their life is getting to spend time with them. Kaye is a semi-retired elementary school teacher who teaches in our Preschool Sunday School and serves as part of the Leadership Team for Upward Soccer.
Away from the church office Carey loves golf, watching college and professional football, reading historical fiction (WW II era novels, particularly), playing Spider Solitaire, and visiting with good friends. He enjoys movies with good stories, and he admits to being a real fan of a few TV series—from Andy Griffith and M*A*S*H, to CSI: New York, NCIS, and Criminal Minds.
 Brian Watson, Worship Pastor
Brian Watson has been FBC’s Worship Pastor since August of 2008. Brian became a disciple of Christ while on a mission trip in Branson, Missouri in 1991. He was a Vocal Performance major at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he has served several congregations in Southwest Louisiana in music ministry and youth ministry. His background also includes a stint with several radio stations, both on-air and in supervisory and administrative roles. Brian says his ministry objective is “to fulfill the call of God on my life to serve in full-time Christian ministry. My desire is to grow in Him and help others experience His love and demonstrate their love for Him through worship, Bible study, and evangelism.” Brian is “pastor and friend” specifically to those in his area of responsibility and to the larger church family as well. He works to develop quality relationships with worship team members (musicians, dramatists, tech crews) with the goal of bringing them together to produce excellent music, dramas, specials, and other worship elements. As part of the pastoral staff team, he assists in planning worship services, and he creates and arranges musical and dramatic work for those activities.
Brian and his wife Jana have been married since 1998 and they have two beautiful daughters, Maggie and Emma. He is an avid duck hunter and he loves fishing and camping with his family. Brian’s favorite book of the Bible is Philippians and his life passage is Philippians 1:9-11: “And this is my prayer: that you love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God.”
 Danny Phillips, Youth Pastor
Danny Phillips has been Youth Pastor at FBC Baytown since 2004. As he would say, “It was truly a God thing the way it worked out”. He started at FBC Baytown as a youth volunteer, spent time as interim Youth Pastor, and two years as part-time Youth Pastor. He was called as full-time Youth Pastor in 2007. FBC Baytown holds a special place in Danny’s heart for this is home church and it was here Danny accepted Christ at age 27. He has been living for the King ever since. Before coming on board, Danny worked long hours at Bayer Chemical for 8 years. He is a graduate of Kaplan University (B.S., 2007).
Danny is an incredible Youth Pastor. He has an obvious love for students and it is reflected by his enthusiastic approach to helping them learn who they are in Christ—and who Christ wants them to be in Him. He has a passion for reaching lost teens for Christ. It is common to find Danny visiting kids at lunch in the local schools, speaking to a high school football team before a game, texting students, or just hanging out with them in his office. In short, he’s always there for them. Danny has spoken at various student events across Texas including disciple events for youth and college students at Texas University at Austin. He leads our youth in an authentic worship experience each Wednesday night.
Danny has been married to his lovely wife Jennifer since 1998 and they have two wonderful girls: Sydney and Quincy. Jennifer is a school nurse for the Goose Creek ISD. She is Danny’s right hand in ministry and works with our toddlers in Bible Study.
Danny enjoys spending time with his family, strength training, and anything having to do with football—particularly the Texas A & M Aggies. He enjoys reading anything by Rob Bell or Erwin McManus. He listens to all kinds of music, but especially enjoys music by Thalon and Israel Houghton. Philippians is his favorite book from the Bible and his life verse is Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come from your mouth, but only what is helpful in building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit all who listen”.
 Robin Cunningham, Preschool Director
Born and raised in Schenectady, New York, Robin Cunningham is our Pre-School Director and the Director of our Wee School. She moved to Texas in 1974 and graduated from Barbers Hill High School the same year. She received her Child-Care State License in 1998 and completed her Associate of Arts in Social Work at Lee College in 2007. She has been a member of FBC, Baytown for over 18 years. Robin has been ministering at the church for ten years. She spends her weekdays directing the Wee School, our daily preschool program, and is the Director of the pre-school ministry at FBC. She also leads our Women’s Ministry.
Robin married Timothy in 1983 and they have three wonderful children: Rachael, Todd, and Regina. She has four grandchildren: Tori, Patrick, Chloe and Talon. In her spare time, Robin enjoys bike riding, sewing, and reading. Her favorite book of the Bible is Ruth and her life Verse is Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome words proceed out of your mouth but only what is good for the necessary edification of others, that it might impart grace to the hearer”. Robin finds it a true blessing to minister to preschoolers and women daily.
 Chloe Yowell, Children's Director
Chloe joined our team as Children’s Director in the summer of 2008. She was born in Eagle Pass, Texas. Chloe grew up in a military family and lived in various places, including Germany, Florida, and Rhode Island. In 1981 she settled in Portland, Texas. In the fall of 1982 an event occurred that literally transformed her life: a friend simply invited her to church and a month later she gave her life to Jesus Christ. A few short months later, she met Bill on a blind date; they married in December of 1984. Chloe received her Bachelor’s degree in education in 1988 and began teaching school. In 1996 she received a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction and began teaching at Texas A & M University, Corpus Christi. Her family moved to Baytown in the summer of 2008.
A mom of two terrific teenagers, Chloe has enjoyed the adventure of settling in her new hometown. She loves spending time with her family playing games, watching TV together, or just simply having great conversation. She’s an avid reader, enjoys all kinds of puzzles, and likes trying new recipes (much to her family’s dismay!). Her favorite book of the Bible is John and her favorite verse is Hebrews 6:19: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” She enjoys leading Children’s Worship each week, seeing the smiles and thoughtfulness on the faces of the children.
 Maurice Villareal, Gen Y Director
Maurice Villarreal has been a member of FBC Baytown for over 9 years and joined the FBC Baytown staff in September of 2008 as our “Gen Y” Director. Maurice’s life changed for our Lord in May of 2004 after participating in “Disciple Now” with FBC. It was during that time he realized that he had more to live for than himself and, so, he received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. God blessed Maurice, known around these parts as simply “Mo,” with a gift of genuine love for others. He continually strives to live his life loving with God’s love, and teaching others of the greatest love of all: God’s love for them. Mo grew up in Baytown, and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School. He received his Associates Degree from Lee College in Visual Arts, and he plans to use his gift as an artist to serve God in any way possible.
As our “Gen Y” Director, Mo teaches, organizes events, leads discussions, and is simply a friend and brother to college/single young adults. His favorite book in the Bible is 1 John, and the scripture he lives by is 1 John 4:7-8: “Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Mo is a newlywed, married in August of 2008. His beautiful wife is Carrie whom he’s known since the sixth grade. Mo says that Carrie is “the greatest blessing in my life and I thank God everyday for putting her in my life.” They’re looking forward to kids in the future, but as of now they are enjoying each other’s company, strengthening their relationship with each other, and their relationship with Jesus Christ. Mo enjoys playing basketball, football, exercising and hanging out with his new wife.
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