Jim and Beverly have been at Gambrell since 2013. Before that, he was a Professor of Christian heritage at Carroll Institute. He directed the Marsh Center for Chaplain Studies, the Doctor of Ministry program, and coursework for students in Russia and China. Before then, he taught at Southwestern Seminary and was dean of its Houston campus. Jim is from an Army family with roots in Alabama, where he and Beverly married after finishing Auburn University. After serving in the Army artillery in Turkey and Oklahoma, Jim entered the ministry and studied at Southwestern Seminary and Oxford University. As an Army chaplain, he ministered in Texas, Oklahoma, the First Gulf War, and at the Pentagon. After 9-11, he helped to direct the Family Assistance Center for families of the Pentagon victims. Beverly is a music educator. She has taught at public and private schools in Oklahoma and England, and Jewish and Catholic schools in Fort Worth. After their first pastorate in England, they returned to Texas, where Jim was interim pastor of several churches before coming to Gambrell Street. Their daughter, Jennifer, is a music therapist and counselor at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center. As Christ-followers from an early age, they feel God has called them as a team to share His Good News with all who will listen and to disciple anyone who follows Him. Beverly’s life-verse is Psalm 4:8: “I will both lie down and sleep in peace because you alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety.” Jim’s is Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”
Dr. Jim Spivey
