Phillips has vision for First United Methodist Church

First United Methodist Church has a new pastor after welcoming Pastor Kevin Phillips and his wife, Nancy, to the local church family.
Kevin Phillips has been a pastor for 32 years, serving for three years at Amherst United Methodist Church and Anton United Methodist Church before coming to Snyder. Nancy Phillips has previously worked as an activities director for a nursing home in Dalhart and with special education students in school systems.
As Kevin Phillips prepares for his service in the Snyder community, he said he has a distinct vision.
“I want to try to reclaim some of our lost members,” he said. “Every year, we have a journal of statistics for the church. It shows a high number of members here, but a lot of them have moved or gone away. There’s a lot that are here that don’t come, and we want to try to get new people to come.”
Though plans for fulfilling this vision are still evolving, Kevin Phillips said he has an idea of what the process might look like.
“My vision is to see a group of people — visitation teams — going out into the community,” he said. “We would be focusing on those who are under membership, but not attending, and those who are visiting but are not members.” 
Phillips said the church family has been “very positive” and many of the people he has met have been personable. 
In addition to their new church “family,” Kevin and Nancy Phillips have one daughter, Jessica Rose Phillips, of Plano, and one son, Patrick Aaron Phillips, of California. Patrick Phillips is married to Jane Phillips, and together, they have one daughter, Jacey Phillips.
Kevin Phillips holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Sul Ross State University and a Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary.
In his free time, he enjoys going for walks with his dog, GIR (gathering information robot), whose name derives from the early 2000s Nickelodeon series, Invader Zim. He also enjoys going to Lubbock every Saturday for “date days” with his wife. The couple share a meal and attend a movie.
Phillips said Methodist congregations look to live a life of holiness under God and want others to know that God loves and forgives them.
“We just want to let people know how much God loves them, that Jesus Christ has brought salvation to the world and the importance of being born again,” he said. “God does love them and will forgive them, and they can live a better life.”