Our New Senior Pastor's Family!

Pastor Chris Gammello, his wife Tonya, and their children Hannah and Lexi will be moving to New Castle in the middle of October. Pastor Chris was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1972.  The son of a Church of God Pastor, Chris lived in several states during his childhood including North Carolina, West Virginia, & Ohio.  He graduated from Mount Vernon Nazarene University In Mount Vernon Ohio in 1994 with a B.A. in history & a minor in broadcast communications.  Following graduation, Chris spent nearly 3 years in professional radio as a sports director & lead play-by-play announcer for high school sporting events.  During this time he began to answer the call to youth ministry, spending a year doing it by vocational.  In mid 1996, Chris left radio & became a full time Youth Pastor.  Chris served three years at Liberty Grove Church of God in West Monroe, Louisiana where he received his certificate of ordination in 1998.  He followed this by serving 5 ½ years as Youth & Christian Education Pastor at First Church of God in Winchester, Kentucky.  Then in 2004 Chris answered a call to a different area of ministry accepting the position of Senior Pastor at Tionesta Church Of God In Tionesta, Pennsylvania.  In addition to all of this, Chris has served as State Youth Director for Kentucky Church Of God Ministries.  He has served on the Church Of God Board Of C.E. in Kentucky & on the Church Growth Team For Western Pennsylvania Ministries of the Church of God.  In addition, Chris has served as a revival & camp meeting speaker as well as a conference leader.  He even spent a year as head boy’s basketball coach at Clark County Christian School in Winchester, Kentucky.  Chris’ hobbies include being an avid sports fan, collecting license plates from all 50 states along with sports memorabilia, hiking, traveling, & shopping at Wal-Mart. Tonya was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1974.  The daughter of a retired Church of the Nazarene Pastor, Tonya lived in Ohio her entire life until moving to Louisiana with Chris in 1996.  In 1992, Tonya began attending Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio where she completed 2 years in the pre-nursing program.  Tonya & Chris were married in August of 1994.  They have 2 daughters, Hannah who is 8 & Lexi, who will be 5 in November.  She is gifted in the area of children’s ministry.  She has been very supportive of & helpful to Chris’ ministry over the years.  Her hobbies include collecting Longaberger baskets & Boyd’s bears, homemaking, child raising, shopping, eating out, & going to Disney World.