Reverend Byron Varvel was born on July 23, 1992, at Trover Hospital in Madisonville, KY. He is a man devoted to Christ Jesus in all manner of Christian service! Pastor Byron is apologetic, a hardcore and serious Bible scholar, an evangelical, a solid prayer warrior, and a leader full of charisma, intelligence, wisdom, and strength! Pastor Byron felt the call to the ministry early in life. Led by his grandfather to Christ, a coalmining deacon, Pastor Byron was regenerated in saving grace by the Triune God at his mother’s home in Bremen, KY in the summer of 2000. Soon after, the Holy Spirit began to move greatly into his life. Raised in multiple rural and urban churches after his immersion (baptized by Dr. Calvin Bryant at Immanuel Baptist Church in Madisonville, KY on September 3, 2000), Pastor Byron began a lifelong journey of faith with Yahweh the Father. He fasted and read through Scripture thrice by age 17 and by adulthood he was already involved in chaperoning younger youth at Fuge Camps and was an American missionary for the Canadian National Baptist Convention assisting Bow Valley Baptist Church in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada in 2011. Pastor Byron was involved in Baptist Campus Ministries at OCTC and WKY for many years. While in undergraduate school, Pastor Byron became involved in the young adult ministry at Yellow Creek Baptist Church and felt the stirrings of ministerial epiphany call him to the pulpit. Pastor Byron resisted this call for fears of old personal sins and other anxieties for many years until he surrendered to the ministry in early 2019. Pastor Byron preached his first trial sermon on Hebrews 4:1-10 on “The Restful Promise;” Pastor Byron was licensed on April 17, 2019 by YCBC. After a brief 3-year testing period of prayer and reflection by strong pastoral and diaconal elders in western Kentucky; Pastor Byron was ordained to the ministry of the Gospel on June 5, 2022. Pastor Byron met his gorgeous and piously devoted wife Megan Langley soon after a brief courtship; he joined unto her in holy, covenantal marriage on July 4, 2019. She has taught children’s Sunday School and has been involved in numerous ministries for years. Pastor Byron and his wife Megan have two beautiful children: a daughter Sophie Brie born on May 7, 2021 and a son Samuel Larry born on October 24, 2023.

Pastor Byron speaks French fluently (Varvel is Old French “verivele” for “camail rivet”); he has goals to plant a church in Francophone North America or elsewhere in the world. He holds a B.Psy degree from WKU graduating in 2016. He also graduated from Owensboro Community with an AA degree in Early Childhood Education and holds an HSD from Muhlenberg County High School. His hobbies include: retro video games, reading history, theology (Baptist lore), comic books (Sonic the Hedgehog and Nightwing), canoeing/trapping (achieved Star Scout status in the Boy Scouts by age 15), cooking, choral music, numismatics, Spades, swimming, was a former soccer coach and is an avid Montreal Impact fan, and has been a former professional chess teacher and player for many years. Pastor Byron is an eloquent speaker and used to be a forensics coach for many years as well. He has had many secular vocations too including his current role as a child sociologist with Heritage Children Services, a correctional officer, cell phone salesman, chef/maître-d, teacher, private tutor/translator, pretrial officer, social worker/case manager, and karaoke singer.

Pastor Byron is currently a student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is pursuing an MDiv in Biblical Counseling and is a huge Spurgeonholic. He styles himself a Calminian Huguenot of Baptist life and his nicknames were Moose and Frenchy in high school. His favorite foods are bacon cheeseburger, poutine, Anjou pears, raspberry coffee cake, shrimp/chicken/mushroom quesadillas, and pastas. His favorite drinks are Pibb Extra, birch beer, Schweppes ginger ale, coffee, and blackberry lemonade. His favorite Scripture is John 15:9 and he reads devotionally from the NKJV, ESV, NASB, as well as Segond and Ostervald Protestant French Bibles too. Brother Byron is a pastor-theologian who believes in “keaching” in the Church:

1. Preach the Word and administer the ordinances to his Flock

2. Visit his Flock

3. Pray for his Flock

4. Be a Godly Example to his Flock

5. Exercise Authority over his Flock with Impartially and Humility

Pastor Byron believes in one Lord, one faith and one baptism. Jesus Christ and no other! He believes that Jesus Christ is the feature, focus and function of his entire ministry. He is not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because he knows that it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes it. Contact him anytime, he is praying for you and your family every week!