Prior to answering the call to ministry, three of Conroe’s newer pastors were athletes playing for their respective colleges.
Jesse Payne once played baseball at The University of Texas at Arlington. He came to Conroe earlier this year as senior pastor at West Conroe Baptist Church. Seth Saathoff, also new to First Presbyterian Church of Conroe, was on the McMurry University football team in Abilene.
John Wayne McMann, who came to First Methodist Conroe in 2022, played soccer at Rhodes College in Memphis.
Each experienced their own awakening during their college years that put them on the path to Conroe where in their 30s they now shepherd some of the city’s largest congregations.
Here’s what to know about these new pastors and their churches:
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Seth Saathoff — First Presbyterian Church of Conroe
Saathoff, 33, was born in San Antonio and grew up in Bandera County, the self-proclaimed “Cowboy Capitol of the World.”
A football injury while at McMurry University had him question his future. He attended a Presbyterian church in Abilene and the pastor became a mentor to him.
“I first began to discern that I was being called to ministry about mid-way through college,” he said. “I had a few nagging injuries and reached the point of ‘What am I going to do?’ I tell people I had a mid-life crisis at 21.”
A opportunity as a camp counselor at a Presbyterian camp in Hunt, Texas changed his path. He obtained a degree in English and then attended Princeton Theological Seminary where he earned his master’s of divinity degree. After his graduation, he served churches in Louisiana and Texas before discerning a call to Conroe. His first day at the Conroe church was in mid-September replacing previous pastor David Green.
He said First Presbyterian Church of Conroe has a congregation of about 500. He and his wife, Katy, have two young children and see Conroe as a place where they could put down roots for their family.
Outside of church, Seth enjoys sports, movies, listening to history podcasts and going on adventures with his family.
Jesse Payne — West Conroe Baptist Church
Payne, 35, is originally from the Dallas Fort Worth area. He replaces pastor Jay Gross who was the church’s senior pastor for 25 years. The church will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025.
It started as a church plant of First Baptist Conroe. Payne is just the church’s third pastor and the congregation numbers 800 to 900.
As a kid, he said his life revolved around baseball up through college.
“Around the time of 22 or 23, I felt a sense from the Lord that baseball was not my future, ministry was,” he said. “I could not shake that. All I wanted to do was teach the Bible and love people.”
He attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary receiving a master’s of divinity degree in systematic theology and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary obtaining a master’s of theology degree and doctorate in historical theology. Before coming to Conroe, he was a senior pastor near the Texas-Oklahoma border.
“We’re so excited to be in Conroe. The growth is everywhere and we would see that driving to Willis every year,” he said. His wife’s family lives in Willis. “That means more people to love and serve and share Jesus with. We have so much opportunity here and that’s exciting for me. I’m a people person and I just like being around people.”
He loves to read, spend time with his family and root for his Dallas sports teams even here in the Houston area. He and his wife, Marissa, have three daughters.
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John Wayne McMann — First Methodist Conroe
McMann, 38, came to First Methodist Conroe in 2022 and upon arrival his role was to plant the new church — The Woodlands Hills Community Church in the northern portion of the city. His role shifted once he got to Conroe and he replaced Daniel Irving as the church’s lead pastor.
McMann grew up in Bryan, Texas. He does get his name from the famous Western actor. He is so named after a college bet among his father’s group of friends. The first to have a son of the group was to name the son Marion, the actor’s real name. McMann’s mother compromised with John Wayne.
He said he’s learned to embrace the famous name.
While he attended the Methodist church in downtown Bryan as a boy, it wasn’t until college that he truly found his faith. He started college at Rhodes College in Memphis playing soccer.
He played a few years and then came back home to Bryan trying to find himself. In his late high school and early college years, his family experienced difficulties as his middle brother battled with addiction and eventually went to prison.
“Our family all spiraled. I kind of spiraled and went off looking to figure out life on my own,” he said. “Eventually someone from my home church that I had a relationship with kind of forced their way back into my life. I did come back to church and saw a church that welcomed me back even though I had a pretty rough couple of years. They became the first experience of God’s grace I had felt in my life. It felt like there was this turning point.”
He was moved by that experience that he set out on a path in the ministry. He was a pastor in Kingwood, Marvin and Tyler, Texas before coming to Conroe. The congregation has about 2,500 members.
He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and United Theological Seminary.
He and his wife, Lauren, have three young children. In his free time he loves to run, read, play golf and play with the children.
“Our heart has been to be called to somewhere where we can really invest for the longtime. When we got to Conroe, we really felt there was something we wanted to be a part of here. There’s a long and incredible history in Conroe. What’s in front of us is going to be something different and amazing and we get to be a part of that.”
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