We’d like to introduce you to Pastor Kurt Green
Hi Pastor Kurt, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Interview answers provided by Pastor Kurt Green – pastor of Austin First Church.
It all started at 19 in East Texas, attempting to get my business degree at a local college, when I couldn’t shake a voice inside telling me, “you will not be content living to build your kingdom.” I knew what this was. This was a call to do more with my life from a God I was raised around but knew little about. In time, I would learn more about who He was and His plan for my life. I took a step of faith and enrolled the next year at Texas Bible College (TBC) in Lufkin, TX. It was here that I began to study the Bible and get to see my potential. I began to see the power of our God, Jesus, in our Bibles and that he could use me to bless others. After a few years of training at TBC and marriage to my God-given wife, Lori, we were invited to work for a powerful church in Dallas, TX. It was here, for 10 years, my wife and I would serve as the Assistant Pastor / Music Director. My wife graduated from TBC in music and was incredible at leading the musicians and singers in unity. We were also the Youth Pastors. This was a blast!
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
It wasn’t smooth, but it was necessary! This East Texas boy fell in love with the diversity and broken people in Dallas. Our church was in a rough area, and it took a lot of patience and love, but it was so fulfilling. From taking broken young adults home after events to mothers that would lock them outside all night to serving 30-45 homeless breakfast and lunch each Sunday for 5 years, we dove into loving the hurting. In Dallas, I had to learn to serve from the middle. I was young, and the pastor of the church was much older. We were not alike at all, but we were in this together. We had clashed at times, but I have since learned to look back and treasure our time there and the great memories. Before the 10 years were up, we almost doubled the church size and had to buy and remodel another facility to continue growth. That church, to this day, is still growing, the facility is paid off, and they are building a large Bible College facility in another country. I ended up in Austin, the church I currently pastor, after 10 years, assisting the previous pastor of this church as he prepared to retire.
The church felt good about us being their pastor and voted us in after a short season of analyzing us closely. We became pastors and immediately were faced with the Covid conundrum. This was not smooth, as we all know, but we were so new and tried to do our best. Thankfully, no church member died due to Covid, and we could push through it. A week before I was installed as the pastor, I was in the Hospital with the whole side of my body tingling. I could barely stand on my jelly legs 5 days later, and now almost 4 years after this, I have been to many doctors and suffered the wildest symptoms due to a potential neck/nerve issue that we are still trying to resolve. On top of that, my wife overcame breast cancer and is doing great today.
The Current Day Compassion: We are survivors, fighters and still standing. We believe that God gave us a love for Austin and the multitudes of broken hurting people. We’ve been through the fire and become readied for this season we are in. Our church is spending thousands of dollars a month feeding and loving hundreds in Austin, and we are just getting warmed up. We are being welcomed inside of many low-income apartment facilities and even some nursing facilities. We freely volunteer to go to them, hug them, speak to them, feed them a massive meal, and share our stories of hope that we have found in Jesus. We’ve already seen people become free of addictions, be healed in their bodies and enjoy the much-needed love. We are told by these facility managers that our presence has helped change the environment of the otherwise darker previous atmosphere. Word is spreading and we are gearing up to do more. Many local business owners want to fund us. We are making all the funds that come in and go out public. The Love of God changed us and it will change the world. Everyone seems to have an agenda, or a side goal, but ours is very transparent. We just want to go connect to Austin and love people. This cost us. They are worth it. This is the Christian belief system in its purest form. We must get out of our buildings and get to the hurting people we want to give.
Lastly – Loving Austin started with Loving Ray. Ray R. is a slightly over-middle-aged black American male with a disturbing past, some chemical imbalances, for which the medicines seem to help a bit, and a big heart! Ray came to a local church many years ago because some men loved him, despite his issues and hang-ups. He was lonely and abandoned and in need of hope. He fell in love with this church and many of its members. Due to some issues with that church leadership, Ray and several of his dependable friends ended up at our Austin First Church, some even before my arrival here. I immediately saw the good in Ray when I met him, and a few of our men here have always been there for Ray when he could barely get by. Ray got off his meds a few times, and each time he did, chaos would erupt. Other men in our church and I would love him and serve him regardless until one day, the apartment facility where he lived, Lakeside Apartments, began to notice. I guess it’s odd to some people when white men love and serve a black man, cleaning his home, feeding him, clothing him, and giving him rides to church. It’s not odd to us. They took notice, and the door opened to loving more than just Ray. The management loved our love; this was the first door to open to us, and the rest is history. Dale Smith, one of our men, became the main contact and has been busy getting us connected to three apartment facilities we will love monthly and two nursing facilities we love weekly. Loving Austin starts with Loving Ray. If we can’t love Ray, we will never Love Austin.
What was you like growing up?
I was a class clown when I thought I could get away with it. I like to entertain others. I smiled a lot and laughed as a young boy. As I got older, it was harder for me to have friends. I think I overanalyzed everything and didn’t know where I fit. I tried to serve God, but I also didn’t at times. It’s hard not picking a path. Dad was a self-made business, out of the box type thinker. Mom was a faithful, long-term secretary to the Chief of Police. Dad was the risky chance taker, and mom was the book lady. Dad was more of a loner, and mom could laugh all night with her many sisters and 2 brothers. I think I got a good mix of mom and dad in me. No doubt, it has helped me help others logically and socially. Ultimately, I am a visionary and can imagine things happening before they do. I go after it and fight until the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: Austinfirstchurch.org
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/austinfirstchurch?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/austinfirstchurch?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@austinfirstchurch
Image Credits
Isaac Benitez (for all photos except the AFC outside church building) Outside church photo: Jessica Holt
