Reverend Jay Cole
Associate Minister/Minister of CCS

John Wallace Cole, III, “Jay” was born in the Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Jay was baptized at FUMC, Dallas. He graduated from Hillcrest High School in Dallas, and he received his Bachelor of Arts with an economics major and minor in math from the University of Texas, Austin. He worked with his grandparents on a 1400-acre cattle ranch in East Texas through high school and for five years after graduating from U.T. Jay was an insurance agent in Dallas before receiving his call to ordained ministry

Jay earned a Masters in Divinity from Perkins School of Theology where he received the B’Nai B’Rith Award for academic excellence in ethical studies and his social justice work in Dallas. Jay also received the Certificate of Specialization in Urban Ministry from Perkins.

Jay is associate minister at First United Methodist Church in downtown Dallas, where he directs the church’s outreach program, Crossroads Community Services (CCS). CCS opened its doors in May of 2001 and this past year CCS became the largest distributor out of 400 agencies the North Texas Food Bank. In 2006, Crossroads Community Services distributed 1,100,000 pounds of food or 1.1 million meals to 3,464 households or 11,000 children, women and men. Also, in 2006 CCS became the largest dispenser of homeless prevention funds for the City of Dallas. Each month, 110 passionate volunteers make this effective ministry possible.

Jay is happily married to Joan, a gift from God, along with a 25-year-old son and a 34-year-old step-son---both named Matt!

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