The Rev. Darrell Coats is a career interim minister who wouldn’t have it any other way. Serving at the First United Methodist Church since last November, he expects to be at the 415 N. Lee Ave. church till July and many of his 14 previous such assignments have been shorter.
“Most had challenges and I love being able to go in and by the time I leave make sure the church is in a better place than it was when I got there,” the Rev. Coats said. “I don’t think I could do regular ministry again.”
Specializing in getting a church “to look outside the walls” and be active in the community, Coats is a San Antonio native who took a degree in religion and philosophy at McMurry University in Abilene and a master’s of theology at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. “Christ didn’t call us to fill up pews,” he said. “He called us to love one another and share that love with a hurting world.”
Before starting his work as an interim minister in 2009, he was pastor of churches in Valley View, Richardson, Lucas, Farmers Branch, Sherman and Lucas again.
Coats’ church averages 90-100 people at its 9 a.m. Sunday traditional service, when he preaches, and 25-30 at the 11 a.m. contemporary service, when Youth Minister K.C. Peoples speaks.
Coats and his wife Catherine, an attorney in Plano, have two sons and two grandchildren.
“I like to talk about growing, advancing in spiritual and emotional maturity and managing anxiety because we live in an anxious time,” he said. “We see that manifested all around us in society, government, schools and many of our churches.
“Managing anxiety begins with managing yourself and your emotions and reactions, which is not easy to do. But Christians have resources that are not available to most people, the Holy Spirit, the example of Christ, Bible study, fellowship at church and worship, all the disciplines that help us to grow spiritually.”
The pastor’s teachings have been influenced by the late psychiatrist Murray Bowen, a professor at Georgetown University who developed the Bowen Family Systems. “We need to be aware of the things that upset us,” Coats said.
“We all have hot buttons that trigger our reactivity and we want to function from the higher level of our brains. It’s a lifelong process. We’re either growing and becoming more spirituality mature or we are dying.”
The Rev. Charles Murry of Murfreesboro, Ark., said Coats “is a leader who served two terms as president before me of the Transitional-Intentional Interim Ministry Specialists Association of the United Methodist Church.
“Darrell has a great sense of humor and is very devout,” the Rev. Murry said. “He is very friendly and an all-around exceptional pastor.” Reporting that TIIMSA has over 400 pastors whom it sends around the country, Murry said they guide churches through transitions that are often following growth and the long tenures of successful pastors.
“We come in and help formulate what the new future will be like,” he said. “You need a thick skin because you are sometimes standing in the middle and can’t do anything to please anybody.
“You have to look deeply into your own faith and answer the call to serve God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
The Rev. Bonnie Osteen of Houston, coordinator of TIIMSA’s ministries, said Coats “is a person of great faith and high integrity who obviously cares about others.
“Darrell has impacted countless churches with his willingness to offer healing and hope for the present and future,” the Rev. Osteen said. “He listens to others and is genuinely interested in their well-being.
“And with his great laugh and his sense of humor, he is a delight to be associated with.”
