Pastoral Staff

Paul Gould 
Senior Pastor  

A native of Rockville Centre, NY, Paul joined FirstChurch as Senior Pastor on October 1, 2012. His passion in ministry is helping persons and churches grow in their faith and life in Jesus Christ. He believes this is best done as people and churches discover the unique blessing God has created them to be and vibrantly live that gift through loving service with others. In his pastoral experience this is a powerful way of 'making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.'

Paul has served in ordained ministry for more than 30 years, all in The North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church. Before being appointed to FirstChurch, he served as East Texas District Superintendent and pastored churches in Lucas, Irving, east Dallas, McKinney and Greenville. He has also been a cabinet representative on the Conference Board of Ministries, chairperson of the Conference Residency Committee and a member of the Host Committee for the 2008 Jurisdictional Conference, the Committee for New Church Development and the Conference Evangelism Committee.

Paul is a 1976 graduate of Duke University with a degree in biomedical engineering and a 1979 graduate of The Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University with a masters degree in theology. 

Paul and wife Julie were married in 1982. Julie is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and a retired hospital administrator. She has also served The North Texas Conference as a member and chair of the Conference Board of Pensions and Insurance. 

Paul and Julie have two grown sons - Philip, 27, a graduate of SMU now working for General Electric in Houston and Lane, 23, a graduate of The United States Merchant Marine Academy currently employed by Otto Candies in New Orleans. 

In their free time, Paul and Julie enjoy boating, gardening, skiing, scuba diving and reading. 

Alice Coder 
Senior Associate Pastor for Caring Ministry 

A native of North Carolina, Alice has lived in Texas since since graduating in 1974 with a degree in Sociology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She was an active volunteer and 'home executive' before answering God's call to ordained ministry in 1998. After graduating from SMU's Perkins School of Theology in 2002, she served as Associate Pastor at First UMC Garland and then Arapaho UMC. Alice and  husband Gary have two adult daughters who live in the San Francisco area and one adult son in Dallas. In her spare time Alice enjoys reading, gardening and going to the movies.

Melissa Hatch 
Associate Pastor for Connecting Ministry 

Melissa was born in Odessa and spent her school years in Houston. A graduate of Texas A&M with a degree in English, she spent 10 years in the recruiting industry, finding employment for engineers, computer programmers and clinical pharmacologists. She also attended Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, where she graduated with a Masters of Divinity in May 2009. Prior to joining the staff at FirstChurch, Melissa served Custer Road UMC in Plano as Director of College-Age Ministries beginning in May 2004, adding responsibility for Young Adults and Singles in August 2008. Melissa is married to Michael, who is a home-based instructor with a radio school in Oklahoma and a weekend employee of Jack FM (100.3) and Lite FM (103.7). They and their two children - Madeline 9 and Mitchell 6 - live in Wylie. Melissa enjoys spending time with her family, watching movies and reading.

David Gonzalez 
Associate Pastor for Hispanic Ministry 

Born in Mexico City, David was a high school teacher and served as a minister in various Methodist churches. He and his family have lived in Dallas for more than seven years. His Spanish-speaking congregation has grown from four to 140 people. His parishioners are natives of Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru and Salvador. With occasional Anglo visitors, he considers his congregation to be truly international. David is a full-time teacher's aide with the Dallas Independent School District, devoting one work day and one weekend day each week to his congregation in addition to home and hospital visits. David is studying for his Masters of Divinity at SMU. He and wife Teresa have three children.

Pat Beghtel Mahle 
Associate Pastor for Senior Adult Discipleship 
 

A native of Indiana, Pat pastored churches in Argyle, Electra, Carrollton and Flower Mound before joining the FirstChurch staff in July 2011. She has also served as District Superintendent and on the North Texas Conference staff. Pat's husband, R. Jerry Mahle, is pastor of Tioga UMC. Their son, Jerry B., is pastor of Rhome UMC. Pat and Jerry also have a daugher, Christine, and two grandchildren, Mary and Edie Mahle.