Pastor Ogletree

John D. Ogletree, Jr. is a native of Dallas, Texas. He obtained a Bachelors degree from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1973 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas in 1979. He accepted the call into the gospel ministry in 1982, while he was a member of the Bethel Institutional Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. In 1985, he was ordained at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.  He became the founding pastor of First Metropolitan Baptist Church in 1986.  Pastor Ogletree provided leadership in the purchase of 25.2 acres of land along Beltway 8 in Northwest Houston.  In June of 1998, the congregation moved into a newly constructed 25,500 square ft. Family Life Center.  He led the church in the purchase of 25 acres in Magnolia, Texas in 1999 and named it "Redemption Ranch".  It is used for ministry retreats and workshops and is also available for conferences, workshops, camps, retreats and family outings.

Under his leadership, the Redemption Community Development Corporation (RCDC) was formed and it has recently partnered with Harris County to build a community center/park in the northwest area. He may be seen weekly on the television ministry, "Face-to-Face", which airs on KETH Channel 14 at 1:00 am on Tuesday. Pastor Ogletree served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Executive Board of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and currently serves as President of the African American Fellowship Association of the BGCT.  He is a Trustee (Secretary) on the CyFair-Independent School District Board. He is currently Moderator of the Union Baptist Association and partners with Mission Houston. 

He preaches all across the United States and has preached in Haiti, Taiwan, and San Andres Island, Columbia.  He holds a myriad of workshops including these topics: ABCs of Leadership Excellence, Building Team Capacity, Empowering Leaders, How to Keep Your Church Out of Court, Leading for High Performance, Leaders Setting the Pace,  Moving to the Next Level (a must for today's church leaders), and Unlocking the Doors of Faith. Pastor Ogletree is the author of Moving to the Next Level (Becoming a Fully Developing Follower of Christ).  This book will cause you to take a good look at where you are and compel you to search for the wonderful plan God has for your life.

Pastor Ogletree has been married to his wife Evelyn for 35 years. They are the parents of three sons: Johnny, Joseph, and Jordan; and one daughter, Lambreni.  They have one son-in-law Avery Waddell and two daughters-in-law Quinita (wife of Johnny) and Sherrell (wife of Joseph). They are very proud grandparents of four beautiful granddaughters and two grandsons.  Rev. Johnny and wife Quinita are the parents of Layla, Elianah, Adaiah;  Lambreni and husband, Avery Waddell, are the parents of daughter Reya and son Zion; and Joseph and wife Sherrell are the parents of son Jaiden.

Lady Ogletree

First Lady Ogletree was born (February 7) in Tyler, Texas but grew up in Dallas. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas and a Master of Arts degree in Guidance and Counseling from Prairie View A&M University.  She is currently pursuing her doctorate degree in Urban Education at Texas A&M University. 

First Lady Ogletree is a former schoolteacher for HISD, KISD and Cy-Fair ISD.  After serving as the School Counselor for Lowery Elementary School, Evelyn left the district to join her husband in ministry.

She currently serves as Executive Pastor and heads the Christian Counseling Center at First Metropolitan. Evelyn is also Director of the Infant Development Center (IDC) and Christian Academy that provides guidance and day care for children ages 6 weeks to five years of age, and is open to the Northwest community.  She is Executive Director of the Redemption Community Development Center and serves as its Board Chair  (visit website at http://www.redemptioncdc.org/).

In addition, she teams with Pastor O to teach and preach on issues relating to marriage and the family.  She is dedicated to serving God, her family and her community.  A scripture that best describes her is Psalm 34, “I will bless the Lord at all times!”

Email Pastor O: PastorO@firstmet.org Email Lady O: LadyO@firstmet.org