Raymond & Michelle McHenry

Raymond has been the senior pastor of Westgate Memorial Baptist Church since 1998. Previously he was the pastor of Gulf Meadows Baptist Church in Houston, Texas from 1987 to 1998. He grew up in Arizona and graduated from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. His Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees were both earned at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Additional training was taken in Clinical Pastoral Education at Baptist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas and Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. 

Raymond enjoys sports of all kinds and occasionally thinks he's still an athlete.  He's an avid reader and writes a publication called In Other Words, which he founded in 1991 and is used by Christian leaders throughout the world.  He has three published books - the latest of which, The Innkeeper's Journal, was released for Christmas 2018. Raymond and Michelle walk several miles together almost every day and enjoy trips that include hiking.  He likes to tinker with things so you can ask him about the gym he built in their walk-in attic - workouts are a bit hot in the summer and quite cold in the winter.  Sometimes he thinks like an engineer so that's why he holds a U.S. patent for his invention of a picture hanging device.

Michelle grew up in Dickinson, Texas, which is between Houston and Galveston.  She went on to graduate from Baylor and then earned her Masters at Southwestern Seminary.  She loves to play the piano so she not only plays for Westgate, but teaches lessons as well.  Every day includes exercise, which is her big stress reliever.  She runs several miles on her treadmill and then gets energized by walking and praying outside.

Most of their meals are enjoyed at home, but when it's time to go out... Mexican food is always among the top choices.  On special occasions, you'll usually find them at Pappadeaux's splitting a large fried shrimp dinner.

Raymond and Michelle met during their years at seminary and were married in Michelle's home church (First Baptist) in Dickinson in 1986. They are the proud parents of two grown children, Meagan & Myles, and Emmy & Pappy to four granddaughters & one grandson.   Meagan married Ben Lacey in 2013 and they live in Ft Worth with their five children.  Ben is the founding pastor of Trinity River Baptist Church that began in 2023.  Myles resides in Dallas where he works as a Certified Financial Planner and coaches clients for the challenging certifications required for that industry.

Raymond and Michelle both became Christians early in life and each felt a call to ministry as teenagers.  They love reading through the Bible each year and that's why Raymond regularly encourages people to pick up a copy of The Yearly Bible Reading Calendar and begin doing what he has found to be the single most spiritually transformational practice in his own life.  Their life verse is Psalm 34:3, "Glorify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together."  In addition, Raymond leans heavily on Romans 5:8 as a definitive statement about God's amazing love: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

You can contact Raymond at REMcHenry@aol.com