Hello!

Some quick facts about me:

• I love Star Trek. All of it. Even Enterprise.

• I own far too many books.

• I will eat just about anything in the world except beans.

I am so excited to be serving as the Director of Discipleship here at FUMC Clifton! I was raised in the glamorous, thriving metropolis of Moshiem, TX near Clifton and went to school in Valley Mills.

Growing up I always felt as if I was in a wrestling match with God. I grew up as an atheist and was attracted to science and secular philosophy; I loved thinking about how the world (and us) came into being and what it even means to “be.” When I was a teenager I began attending the youth group at a local church and I found community and support there which was very much lacking in my life at that point. Eventually, I accepted God’s grace and set off on my own journey of following Jesus.

Later on in high school I felt the call to ministry and after several years of rejecting God’s calling on my life I decided to pursue vocational ministry. I have served on staff in several churches, first entering into vocational ministry in 2018. I realized early on that I would need to be equipped to continue on in ministry so I eventually applied and was accepted to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and graduated in May of 2021 with my Bachelor’s of Christian Ministry degree. While I was at UMHB I met my awesome wife Emily and we were married in June of 2021 and our daughter was born in April of 2023!

Even after I graduated from UMHB with my Christian Ministry degree I still found myself wrestling with faith; even more than I did before. I knew that in order to come to terms with the questions, doubts, etc. that I had I needed freedom to pursue Jesus outside of the tradition I was raised in. I chose to leave my position as a youth minister in Temple and believed at the time that this would be a permanent career change. God had different plans.

Now, I don’t quite believe in “predestination” in the same way that many Christians do, but through what I like to call a “suspiciously random series of events,” I met our pastor, Don Moore. After several long conversations together, I realized that God might very well be calling me to serve at First United Methodist Church of Clifton and here I am!

If you are someone who has doubts, questions, or generally just has a hard time with this whole “faith” thing then I would love to meet with you and get some coffee, lunch, or have you over to play board games with Emily and I. I don’t pretend to have all of the answers to the deepest mysteries of God figured out, however I do believe that through sharing in community we can explore these questions and wrestle with them together.

Live long and prosper,

Alex Balch