Pastor's Bio
Paul Frey, born in 1955, has been Rector of Christ Church, Laredo, Texas since October of 2004. He is married to Anne Rooney of Portland, Oregon. They met at Church of the Redeemer, Houston, Texas in 1977. Anne works for the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects at Texas A&M International University. They have two adult children, Colin, in Portland, Oregon, and Suzanna, in San Antonio, Texas.
Prior to moving to Laredo, he and Anne served at Church of the Redeemer in Eagle Pass, Texas from 1998 to 2004. From 1992 to 1998 he oversaw Christian Education and Youth Ministry at Truro Church, in Fairfax, Virginia. From 1989 to 1992 he studied for his master of divinity degree at Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA.
Prior to seminary, he worked for six years with homeless people as Assistant Director of St. Francis Center, a day center in Denver, Colorado which still serves 500 to 600 homeless people a day. He has also worked as a construction worker, a contractor, a salesperson, and church based neighborhood social worker.
His college work was done at various places beginning at Red Rocks Community College, the University of Houston, graduating from Loretto Heights College with course sharing assistance from the University of Colorado at Denver and Metro State University. (He highly recommends going to college prior to starting full time work!)
In Laredo, Paul served for more than 3 years as president of the board of the Casa Misericordia Domestic Violence Shelter. He is a member of the Laredo Daybreak Rotary Club, and served a term as a voting member of the Laredo Independent School District School Health Advisory Committee. He gratefully volunteers with Tennis for the Blind.
In the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas he’s served as Dean and as Chaplain at Camp Capers numerous times, as Mustang Island Chaplain, has been a member of the Executive Board of the Diocese, the Board of Trustees of TMI - The Episcopal School of Texas, the Evangelism Committee, the Standing Committee and served several times Dean of the Western Convocation in the Diocese of West Texas.
Paul is a history buff, a science fiction fan, a Denver Broncos fan, a San Antonio Spurs fan, a movie buff, fond of dogs and most other animals, and enjoys fishing, paddle boarding, sailing, snorkeling, and almost any activity that gets him outdoors - including mowing the lawn.
As a child he spent his formative years in San Jose, Costa Rica, as part of the Iglesia Episcopal, going to school at the Country Day School. His family later moved to Guatemala City, Guatemala. He studied at Colegio Americano de Guatemala. From his missionary parents, he developed a heart for mission work and missionaries. He's been privileged to serve on mission teams to Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, various places in Mexico, as well as domestic short term missions.