Pastors and Elders

Jeremiah attended Liberty University and pursued a nursing degree as he was advised it would help make mission work more available in various possible foreign fields. He graduated with a B.A. in Nursing (2003) and a Master of Arts in Religion (2006). He experienced a call to be a Lead Pastor and attended Dallas Theological Seminary, where he graduated with a Th.M. in 2012.
Jeremiah was a Senior Pastor in Colorado for 5 years.
Jeremiah has been married to Samantha for 17 years. They met in grad school, and she is a part-time writer and editor for Bayside Community Church in Bradenton, FL. They have four children. John is 13, Rebekah is 11, Hannah is almost 10, and Will is 8 years old.
His objective is
To honor God and love people by sharing my spiritual gifting, knowledge, and pastoral skillset within the local church and greater cultural context for the purpose of connecting people to the life-changing love of Jesus Christ and calling believers toward deeper devotion to the Gospel mission.

Robert Hunter:
I am retired from White Sands Missile Range after 40+ as an Electronics Engineer serving in the civil service.
I have been married to the same wonderful wife for 46 years & have 3 children &
 8 grandchildren, all living here in Las Cruces NM.
 We have been involved in the First Evangelical Free Church since 1975.
 I have served in a variety of ministry positions including mid-high and adult Sunday
school teacher, deacon, trustee, treasurer, church chairman, choir member;
I am currently serving as the head elder. I also served as the founding Bible Study
 Fellowship teaching leader here in Las Cruces for 10 years.
I enjoy all sorts of outdoor activities but particularly enjoy exploring the desert in my Polaris RZR side-by-side.

Arnold serves as a member of the pastoral search team, lay elder, and is part of the Global ministry team. Arnold and his wife Nancy have lived in Las Cruces and been involved at First Evangelical Free Church since 1985. They have 3 adult sons, and 5 grandchildren. Arnold retired from White Sands Missile Range where he worked for 33 years as a software developer. He enjoys having time to travel, and has served as part of 2 short-term missions teams serving in Chiang-Mai Thailand, and Rio Rico Arizona. In his spare time he enjoys hiking, board games, jigsaw puzzles and spending time with his grandchildren.

Peter serves as a newer member of the lay elder team. He has lived in Las Cruces and been a part of First Evangelical Free Church since 2013 and married Abigail in 2021. Currently working as part of a startup, he enjoys technology, connecting thoughts and people, and the satisfaction of solving problems. Born in Honduras and fluent in Spanish, he enjoys the unique border culture in Las Cruces. In his spare time Peter enjoys being outdoors, hiking, camping and any excuse to be in nature.
 

After coming to faith in 1971, Gary began in youth ministries with the Christian Service Brigade at Calvary Bible Evangelical Free Church in Boulder CO (1974 to 1978) and later at First EFree in Las Cruces (1980-1987). He became a deacon in 1992 and later church chair in 2001 and again in 2008. Mary and Gary met at Intervarsity Fellowship in 1978 at Univ. Waterloo (Canada) and married in 1980 in Toronto, Ontario. They have a daughter Abigail and son-in-law Peter Fowler.