Rev. John E. Warren came to FUMC Orange from Rockdale, Texas. Rev. Warren served in Rockdale for nine years. John grew up as a Methodist and is a graduate of Galena Park High School in the Houston area. He attended San Jacinto Jr. College and the University of Houston. For two and a half years he worked in advertising art for a department store chain. After receiving the call to enter the ministry he returned to college and graduated from Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas and went on the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia graduating in 1986.
Our past pastor James Thompson was his first District Superintendent. He has served churches in Caldwell, Carthage, Houston, Jewett and his previous assignment in Rockdale.
John and the churches he has served have been honored over the years. In 1988 he was nominated by the Progressive Farmer Magazine as Pastor of the Year. His church was awarded The Church and Society Award by the Annual conference. Among many other awards he has received was the Small Membership Church of the Year by the Annual Conference.
John has many interesting hobbies including tubing, kayaking and sports car rallies, but most recently he enjoys spending time with his bride of four months Sandra Valverde Warren. Sandra grew up in Houston and is a 1987 graduate of the University of Houston. She has been a legal assistant for the law firm of Simmons and Fletcher for the past twelve years. John and Sandra were married at Fair Haven United Methodist Church in December 2010.
John was born and raised in Houston, Texas where he graduated from Galena Park High School. After graduation he attended San Jacinto Junior College in Pasadena for two years followed by one semester at the University of Houston. All of these years of study were done while he was declared legally blind by the state. In fact to enter as an art major he was required to draw objects set up by the head of the department to see if he could compete in class.
After two and a half years and with the wisdom of a 20 year old he left college and went to work. Starting as a sales clerk in a department store he was able to transfer to the advertising department where he became a printer. It was during that time that his eye sight was restored and he had a call on my heart to the ministry.
He needed to finish college so he packed up and moved to Georgetown and graduated from Southwestern University in 1983. From there he went to Atlanta, Georgia to study at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He made it through by the grace of God and recorded books!
His first intention was to be a youth minister but as he worked as a summer youth director (3 years) at Foundry United Methodist Church in Jersey Village he found he loved people of all ages, and still being a child or youth at heart he fit in with each group!
His first church was near Caldwell, Cooks Point United Methodist Church. While there he was the President of the Ministerial Alliance and organized a food pantry, furniture store on the order of Goodwill Industries. It is still in operation and has out grown 2 buildings!
Because of this work he was nominated for Minister of the Year and his church won an award from the conference for it’s mission work.
He next moved to Rehobeth United Methodist Church in Carthage, Texas. Re-occuring eye problems sent him to Houston after 3 years in Carthage.
As Associate Minister of Evangelism, youth and Pastoral Care at FairHaven United Methodist Church, he found that there was still a need and formed the church’s singles ministry. That kept him very busy with its 1500 members. During this time he also made it through 8 eye surgeries, a broken back and shoulder, (from a fall off my roof), a near electrocution from an electric lawnmower and a near drowning from a white water rafting trip (a new found sport) with the youth. And if that wasn’t enough he took up sports car racing! (a childhood dream for a blind boy!)
Then he moved to Jewett UMC before he killed myself in Houston. The tiny church had been a student appointment. However, it wanted a full time pastor. While John was there a new sanctuary was built, a Men’s group was started which won a national bowl-a-thon and received a new church van. The church was also awarded church of the year and once again he was nominated for minister of the year, which he did not win, but won a higher honor The Denman Evangelism Award. While there his adventures took him to the mountains to snow ski and to the doctor with a cracked shoulder!
After 6 years he was transferred to St. John’s in Rockdale a church he had visited years ago. Mission work has been a great challenge here both adult and youth missions have played an important roll in the church. It is here that he is enjoying my ministry in new and exciting ways.
What he does in his spare time: car rallies, kayaking, movies, white water rafting, working out, hanging out in Wimberley, Texas where he will retire one day and eating! What’s my next challenge? Maybe a Marathon who knows?