Dr. John Tolson began the Gathering in 1978 as an assistant pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Houston. John was alarmed by the lack of spiritual direction men were providing for their families and the extremely low number of men attending church. Dr. Tolson developed an appealing and effective way to reach men for Christ by mobilizing Christian men to invite their friends to a non-threatening outreach event in a secular setting. Men were recruited and trained to be table hosts for outreach breakfasts where a dynamic, nationally known speaker would present a winsome Gospel message. Typically 500 to 2,000 men would attend, including business, professional, and government leaders in the community. As men were reached, they were placed into small groups and Bible studies which ranged from 10 to 100 men. Men were encouraged to study the Word, to pray, to learn Scripture, and to fellowship with other Christian men. Many men were discipled in a one-on-one setting to help them to apply the Christian life on a daily basis. The Houston work continued to be led by volunteers for about five years in the downtown area and for almost ten years in the northwest part of the city. The men who made up the core group then began to search for someone to take the ministry on a full-time basis. The person needed to be familiar with the business world and its special needs and also be well versed in running a ministry.
Roger Wernette had served in Young Life’s youth ministry for 13 years, five years on the staff, and was familiar with a relational ministry. Roger also taught the Bible at his church and in other settings. He had a desire to work in a full-time men’s ministry and after some discussions with John Tolson and Larry Kreider, accepted the position of Executive Director in Houston. His tenure on staff began in January of 1999. Within 5 years, Roger and his dedicated advisory board had grown the ministry to include a network of over 3000 men. Excellent speakers including Lance Berkman, Dr. Howard Hendricks, Coaches Joe Gibbs and Bobby Bowden had given their testimonies at well-attended outreach events. Roger had begun to integrate a behavioral assessment tool, The Flippen Profile, into his ministry and was meeting with many men individually to work through the test results. In addition, small groups were forming and meeting regularly.
Thomas Suffield was introduced to The Gathering when John Tolson founded it and continued to keep up with the ministry, especially when Roger began leading it. He has enjoyed facilitating small groups and one-on-one discipleship utilizing The Gathering’s materials. He and Roger both recognized a recent need and opportunity for him to join the staff.
Thomas grew up in Houston and graduated with a BBA and MBA from UT in Austin. He has been using those finance degrees working in the energy business and most recently as a developer of Petrochemical Plants. He has been involved with numerous ministries as a volunteer since college and is excited to join The Gathering. Thomas is the Director of Discipleship for The Gathering which captures his desire to fulfill Jesus’s calling to all of us in Matthew 28: 18-20.
John Montgomery is a Discipleship Mentor with The Gathering of Men. John, a retired CPA, has been actively involved in teaching the Bible and men’s small group ministry for 50+ years. Upon retiring, he pastored a small rural church in southwest Kansas for 45 months before returning to Houston. Over the years, older men have mentored and guided John in his Christian growth and development, which has resulted in his passion to return the favor by discipling other men to a mature relationship in Jesus Christ.
One of John’s favorite verses is Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
He and Kitty, who is also a CPA, have been married for 55 years (according to Kitty, she was 5 years old when they got married).
Kelsey Sellers is assistant to the director at The Gathering of Men. Kelsey got connected to Roger Wernette through The Get Together and has been on staff since July of 2022.