Our Pastor

---

Pastor Gus and his wife Mary have been serving Westridge Fellowship since February 2018.  In that time, the church has seen amazing growth and an even stronger commitment to God!  

Pastor Gus was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area but having lived in Grand Prairie for over 38 years, he feels like a Texas native.  He has served at churches in Illinois, California, & Texas.  Pastor Gus has earned four degrees: AA at Mountain View College; BS at Arlington Baptist University; MA at Louisiana Baptist University; and a D. Min Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Leadership) at ATS. Pastor Gus and his wife Mary have been married for 42 years and have three adult sons: Gabriel, Benjamin, & Timothy.  Timothy is married to Rebeca and they have three girls; Audrina age 9 and identical twins Alayna & Annie aged 5.

Pastor Gus really believes that God has a great plan for Westridge Fellowship and wants to continue to expand its ministry to our hometown of Grand Prairie & the world!

Brian, Maria, Ysabel, and Ethan have been attending Westridge Fellowship Church since August 2019, where Brian is serving as the Church’s Education Minister. Maria and Brian met each other while attending graduate school at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Maria is from the city of Ilo Ilo in the Philippians, and Brian is from Sandusky, Ohio. The Lord called Brian back into the Church when he learned about his family’s historical background, and he started researching that background. Maria also came back to the Lord's Church after seeing the phenomenal growth and recovery process that the Lord has graciously bestowed upon Ethan. Ysabel has likewise faithfully followed the Lord’s calling. The Merk Family enjoys playing musical instruments, family physical fitness, avid amusement, and water park pass holders, and going on regular family vacations. They furthermore have undertaken a family goal of sharing the family’s testimony to help them share the Gospel with other people.

Brian graduated from Dallas Baptist University with a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry in Chaplaincy in Summer 2020. He is in the US Army Reserve Chaplain Corps at the 490th Battalion in Grand Prairie, Texas. He is an associate chaplain since August 2018 in the Interfaith Chaplaincy Program at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Dallas, Texas. His additional ministry involvement includes youth prison ministry with Youth Direct Ministries since 2017 in Dallas, Texas, and as a chaplain for the American Federation of Government Employees Union at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base’s Public Works Department in Fort Worth, Texas since November 2019. He intends to use his chaplaincy ministry experiences to spread the message of the Gospel while working as the Minister of Education at Westridge Fellowship Church in Grand Prairie, Texas. In July 2020, Brian was commissioned as a missionary to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the US Military by Dr. Gus Radzinski.    

Alex came to our church in March 2019 in view of a call to play the piano!  On Easter Sunday of 2019, he became our pianist and worship leader.  

Alex has played the piano for churches for 25 years.  He got his start at a small church in Campbell, Texas at the age of 8.  When he was 10 years old, he came to know Jesus as his Savior and has not slowed down since.  

Alex started as a music major at TAMU-Commerce with a focus on voice and piano performance.  Currently, he is finishing up his college work at T.C.C in Ft. Worth, Texas.

Alex lives in Kennedale and works for Trinity Metro in Ft. Worth, the city bus company.