Jarrett Stephens spoke at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event as a 17-year-old in Bossier City, La., and he knew at that moment that he was called to the ministry. Up until then, his ambition had been to play college football and pursue a coaching career. As a college student in 1997, he attended the Southern Baptist Convention and heard Pastor Jack Graham preach for the first time. That’s when he knew he wanted to be a preacher.
And he is grateful for the call to this date.
Jarrett graduated from Ouachita Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies and Psychology. He received his Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2006 and his Doctorate of Ministry from Liberty Theological Seminary in January 2012.
He began his ministry at Prestonwood as an Intern to Married Adults in 2000, and then served as Associate to Young Singles and Minister to Young Singles.
For the past six years, Jarrett has served as Teaching Pastor at Prestonwood. He is part of the Preaching Team and preaches during the Saturday Worship Service at the Plano Campus and on various Sunday mornings at all three campuses. Jarrett also oversees the Internship Program, which includes more than 30 interns at any given time, and the Prestonwood Network, which gives support to ministers all over the world who are leading churches planted by Prestonwood.
“Pastor Graham has had a profound influence on my life,” Jarrett said. “Just listening to him, going on hospital visits with him and working through sermons together, has been such a blessing. Now, I am able to invest in others, the way he invested in me. I’ve always said that I learned my theology from seminary but I learned leadership and how to effectively lead a church and influence people through Pastor Graham.”
Jarrett and his wife, Debbie, live in Lewisville and have four daughters, Riley, Kelsey, Cameron and Landry.
