Dr. Larry Bethune - Senior Pastor
The Rev. Dr. Larry Bethune has been Senior Pastor at the University Baptist Church in Austin since 1987. He is also the president of the Ministers Council of the American Baptist Churches of the South. Raised in the Houston area, he earned a B.A. in Greek and religion from Baylor University, M.Div. in communication and teaching from Princeton Theological Seminary, and Ph.D. in Old and New Testament Theology, also from Princeton. Ordained in 1973, Dr. Bethune has taught Hebrew, Religion, and Bible at Princeton, Baylor and Southwestern University, as well as seminary extension courses in New York and Austin. He has pastored churches in Texas, New York and New Jersey. His wife Gina is a Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisor in the Seton Hospital System in Austin. They have three children, Kara, Zachary and Andrew.
Rev. Jackie Saxon - Associate Pastor
Jackie Saxon joined UBC in August of 1998 as the associate pastor with responsibilities for students, children and their families and Christian education for all ages. She received her M. Div. from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in May, 2000 and was ordained as American Baptist in March of 2001. In addition, she has recently been elected to the General Board of the American Baptist Churches, USA and currently serves on the board of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. She holds a B.A. in business administration with an emphasis in finance and banking from Howard University in Washington, DC, and worked for IBM as a financial analyst in New York and Texas for more than 12 years.
Ms. Helen Miers - Choir Director
Helen has been the diriector of the Chancel Choir since 2000. She is also the director of San Marcos High School's choir.
Charles Barnett has been the organist since 2004. He also plays piano for Temple Beth Israel on Saturday mornings.