MEET PASTOR GARY - Senior Pastor

Pastor Gary Derechinsky was raised in an orthodox Jewish home in Northern New Jersey. From his earliest days as a young boy he attended Hebrew School and synagogue, and became a Bar-Mitzvah ("Son of the Law") at the proper age of thirteen. When he was in eleventh grade in high school one of pastor Gary's friends shared with him how he became a Christian, and challenged him to read about Jesus for himself. After reading the Gospel of Matthew and reviewing what the Hebrew Scriptures teach regarding the coming of the Messiah, he was convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah of Israel, and decided to follow Him wherever He might lead.

After graduating from Northeastern Bible College with a B.A. in biblical studies and attending Dallas Theological Seminary, Pastor Gary graduated with an M.Div. from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Before coming to Annapolis in 1992 to pastor New Hope Chapel he served for seventeen years with Chosen People Ministries, a mission agency devoted to bringing the message that Jesus is the Messiah to the Jewish people. In that organization he served as a messianic congregation planter, New England Regional Director, conference coordinator and speaker, Question and Answer columnist for the award winning publication the Chosen People Magazine, and missionary trainer to name a few of his responsibilities.

In 1992 he and his family (his wife Marilou and son Joel) moved to Annapolis to pastor New Hope Chapel. Since 1993, in addition to pastoring New Hope Chapel, Pastor Gary has been an upper school Bible teacher at Annapolis Area Christian School (11th and 12th grades), and has been an instructor at Chesapeake Bible College teaching Greek and Homiletics.

You can e-mail Pastor Gary at PastorGary@newhopechapel.org.