Gerhard "Gary" deBock
Senior Pastor
Email Gary
Pastor Gerhard (Gary) deBock was born in Utrecht, Netherlands, and immigrated to Greenville, Delaware, at age four. He committed his life to Jesus Christ in 1973, before his sophomore year in high school, through friends in Hollis Center, Maine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from The Kings College in New York, a Master of Divinity and a Doctorate of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois.
In 1980, he married his wife Kathy, and they enjoy their three grown children: Ben (1984) who married Lyndsay, Rebekah (1987) who married Patrick Rich, and Matthew (1990) who married Katya. They also are finding delight in being grandparents to Patrick and Rebekah's Alena (2014) and Nathan (2017).
Pastor Gary came to Trinity Fellowship in the summer of 1983 as her first full-time pastor. His personal mission is to “multiply glory to God by equipping change agents, especially through teaching for life transformation.” He has a passion for God’s Word and helping us welcome it into our lives with accuracy, clarity and practicality. He has a heart for the world, partnering with and coaching missionaries and pastors in various places. He enjoys woodworking, restoring old things, reading, computer calligraphy, gardening, taking long walks, enjoying a day at the beach, and helping others have fun on the boat.
I find my ministry strongly tied to 3 T's. Teaching. Tools. Transformation. I find joy in modeling in my teaching a disciple of Jesus who wants to understand and obey the Word of God and who invites others to join me in showing allegiance to Jesus Christ. I have found that making tools helps me fulfill my life verse of 2 Timothy 2:2 - "entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also." I freely share some of these tools at gdbtoolbox.com. Whether through direct teaching or equipping through tools, my desire is to create environments that encourage life transformation - helping people become healthy disciples of my Lord.
I enjoy learning new things, woodworking, designing visuals that communicate, sometimes gardening (weeding will never be my favorite), and playing with my grandchildren when we see them.