Adoring Jesus, Loving People & Equipping the Church

Debra Read, Administrative Assistant to Pastor Paul

Debra Read Photo

Debra grew up in the beautiful countryside of Connecticut, where she thoroughly enjoyed and excelled in her high school business classes.

Her first full-time secretarial position was for Aetna Life & Casualty in Hartford, Connecticut. It was there that she met her future husband Bob. They dated for one year and were married on Valentine's Day in 1976. She states his personality was one of the many things that attracted her to him and, after all these years of marriage, she affirms that they’re still laughing! She credits God for truly blessing their marriage in more ways than one.

Throughout her 20's and 30's, Debra thought what made her a Christian was the fact that she went to church occasionally and was a "good person.” It was at age 40 that she learned the truth. After becoming a Christian, she now readily shares how God freed her from the panic and anxiety she suffered from for eighteen years, how He gave her a new strength and peace that she had never experienced before.

Debra moved with her husband and daughter, Jennifer, to Franklin in 1992. By 1998, she was working for New Hope as their part-time secretary, later becoming a full-time administrative assistant to the Senior Pastor. Debra shares that she was confident that New Hope is where God wanted her to serve Him, adding, "Its normally awkward beginning a new job. But from the first day at New Hope, it was like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers . . . I had such a sense of peace!"

Debra and Bob became official members of New Hope in October of 2006, and are excited to be a part of this warm and friendly church family. They reside in Brentwood.

The latest milestone in their family is that God abundantly blessed them in becoming grandparents to twins Harrison and Anabella on March 15, 2009. These two little miracles have brought incredible joy, and they are loved and treasured beyond words.

She counts Ephesians 2:8-9 as one of her favorite verses:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Contact Debra: debra.read@newhopechurchtn.org

Return to our Ministry Team Overview page.