Reverend Stephen Schmidt has served as pastor of First Methodist Gatesville since July of 2018. Stephen has been in ministry in the Methodist Church since he first felt the call to full time Christian service at the age of sixteen.
His first official appointment in the United Methodist Church was serving as a student pastor at Ireland and Levita United Methodist Church. He served as a pastor in the Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church for 37.5 years before retiring in 2022.
Pastor Stephen led our congregation through the process of disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church in 2022. When First UMC Gatesville voted to unite with the Global Methodist Church in October of 2022, Pastor Stephen Schmidt became one of the first full time Elders to transfer his clergy orders to the Global Methodist Church. He has since served as a Presiding Elder in the new denomination and currently serves on other Conference Committees including the Conference Leadership Team and the Board of Ministry.
Stephen and his wife, Karen, recently celebrated 45 years of marriage. God blessed them with three beautiful daughters, Sarah, Samantha, and Stephanie who now have families of their own. They are grandparents of eight grandsons and great grandparents of three boys and one great granddaughter. Pastor Schmidt plans to retire from full time ministry in September of this year after 45 years of service in the Church. His hobbies include working on the family farm and his new homesite, fishing, supporting his grandchildren at sporting events, and traveling with Karen.
Pastor Stephen’s desire is to help every member grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
