Meet Larry Watson, our nominee for elder:
I didn’t grow up in a hedonistic home; I didn’t grow up in a committed Christian home. My dad didn’t really come to serve the Lord until late in this life, so if there was church it was initiated by my mom and it wasn’t consistent. We grew up Baptist — I grew up in Texas and of course that’s very common. In Baptist vernacular, I accepted the Lord in my high school years. Of course, come to find out, he chose me instead of my choosing him, but I learned that later in life. Church was convenient if I hadn’t stayed out late the night before. Jennifer was Catholic and I was Baptist and so, I told her before we got married, “There’s no way I’m going to be Catholic.” She said, “Well, there’s no way I’m going to be Baptist.” …and I said “Fully understood.” So we went to a Bible church. It really wasn’t Reformed, but it was a great church and we learned a lot and grew. Finally my brother got me into the Reformed faith, and kind of like most people, I was like “There’s no way it’s that way.” I started reading about it, and came to the realization that this is what the Scripture taught.
We started going to a Reformed church in Conroe, and really just fell in love with the faith and the doctrines of grace, and I started reading more. One of my favorite theologians is R.C. Sproul, God rest his soul, and I still listen to him faithfully; and John MacArthur, who is not covenantal, more dispensational, but still on the major issues he aligns with R.C. Sproul. We found our way eventually to Lakeside Bible Church in Montgomery. In August of 2015 we moved up here, and of course we were looking for a Reformed church. It really came down to what felt more comfortable and where the Lord was directing us to go. It was the issue of dispensationalism versus covenantalism, and so we chose Westminster Presbyterian — and this is my favorite church I’ve ever been to. I love to continue to grow in the faith and grow in the doctrines of grace.
Jennifer and I’ve been married for 36 years this year. We’ve got two girls, one is 29 and one is 22, and they are both graduates of A&M. I’m an accounting major from Texas A&M. I’m a CPA that works for Anadarko Petroleum, an oil and gas company. I’ve been with them for the last 19 years. We lived overseas for two years in Jakarta, Indonesia with an oil and gas company, and that was a great part of our lives. We love it in College Station, and in Iola where we built a house.
I’ve got two dominant gifts. I’m a financial guy, so I’m pretty structured and I feel I’ve got some administrative gifts. The other one is giving. I see the impact of giving, of course, first and foremost with financial gifts to the Lord, and I think we’re commanded to do that. I think he blesses our socks off when we do it and when we do it in the right frame of mind.
