OUR TEAM
NONE OF US DOES THIS ALONE.
Ministry at Arlington First has never been about one pastor, one staff member, or a handful of people doing the work of the Church.
We believe God calls every one of us to take part in what He is doing.
Some of us serve vocationally. Some serve part-time. Some serve as volunteers. Some have spent decades in ministry and continue pouring into the next generation. And throughout our church family are people who pray, teach, lead, welcome, serve, encourage, give, disciple, and faithfully bring whatever God has placed in their hands.
Pastor Steve cannot do this alone. Neither can our staff. And we were never meant to.
God has brought together a remarkable group of people who love Jesus, love His Church, and have chosen to say yes to the places He has called them to serve.
These are some of the people helping lead Arlington First in this season.
STEVEN PETTIT
SENIOR PASTOR
Steve never dreamed he would become a pastor. He and his wife, Amanda, were building the life they had imagined—raising a family, growing a successful construction business, and faithfully serving as laypeople in their local church. Then an encounter with the Holy Spirit changed everything.
What began with a simple yes to God became a completely different life. Steve and Amanda eventually closed their business, sold what they had built, and stepped into full-time ministry. Since then, Steve has served as a missionary in three countries and as a pastor in three churches, learning along the way that following God often means being willing to go wherever He leads and do whatever He asks.
Today, Steve is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene and a graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University. He also serves as Director of Operations for Rescue Hill, the anti-human trafficking ministry he and Amanda co-founded in 2019.
For Steve, pastoring has never become simply a job. It is a call. It is a mission. He considers it an incredible privilege to shepherd God’s people and carries that responsibility with both gratitude and humility. There are still moments when the weight of the calling feels bigger than he is—but perhaps that is part of what keeps him dependent on the One who called him.
Steve has learned that shepherding sometimes means doing hard things because they are the right things. Honoring God has to matter more than avoiding disappointment, and obedience has to matter more than comfort. His desire is to lead Arlington First humbly and courageously, always willing to follow the Holy Spirit wherever He leads.
That conviction is shaping the culture of AFN today. Steve challenges the church to build everything on prayer, keep in step with the Spirit, pray audacious prayers that require God to answer, and faithfully follow Jesus wherever He leads. He believes the Church should be a people who don’t merely talk about the presence of God, but genuinely make room for Him—and then have the courage to respond when He speaks.
JAYDEN PETTIT-THOMAS
YOUTH PASTOR
Jayden’s heart for ministry was shaped long before she carried the title of pastor. As a missionary kid, she spent much of her teenage years living in three different countries before earning her degree in Intercultural Studies from Olivet Nazarene University. Those experiences helped form her love for people, her strong sense of justice, and her ability to build relationships across very different stories and backgrounds.
Jayden sensed a call to pastoral ministry when she was young, though it would be several years before she fully stepped into it. Today she is a district licensed minister continuing toward ordination, and she knows God has called her to pastor.
At Arlington First, Jayden first served for two years entirely as a volunteer, leading our Children’s Ministry and stepping in wherever she was needed. Today she serves alongside her husband, Bobby, as Youth Pastor, investing deeply in our teenagers and helping lead AFN’s outreach efforts.
But some of Jayden’s most important ministry happens outside the church. She intentionally builds relationships with people who don’t yet know Jesus—including people who have struggled to trust Him because of past wounds. She doesn’t see people as projects. She earns trust, loves people where they are, and allows her life to point toward Jesus.
Fiercely loyal, deeply compassionate, courageous in her convictions, and quick to step in when someone needs help, Jayden brings an authentic and Spirit-filled presence to our team. She loves deeply, stands firmly for what she believes is right, and isn’t afraid to follow God even when the path is difficult. We are grateful for the way she continues saying yes to God—and helps others discover that they can too.
BOBBY THOMAS
YOUTH PASTOR
Bobby’s story is one of the transforming grace of God. When he was younger, he came to a crossroads where he knew the way he was living either needed to change or there would be consequences. He went to the Lord and surrendered everything—and God changed him in a moment. He has never been the same since.
Not long after, Bobby and Jayden met through a young adult church event, beginning a relationship that would eventually lead to marriage—and, years later, ministry together.
Bobby is a listener and an encourager. God has given him a gift for remembering the things so many of us often forget. He remembers conversations, prayer requests, and the things people are walking through, and he is faithful to circle back, check in, and encourage them along the way. It’s one of the ways Bobby lets people know they have been heard and that they matter.
For years, Bobby served at Arlington First simply because he loved God and loved people. Like Jayden, he volunteered wherever he was needed, never expecting anything in return. Then a few years ago, he went to youth camp as a volunteer sponsor—and God used that week to make his call to ministry unmistakable. Bobby came home with a deep desire to invest his life in young people.
Today, Bobby serves alongside Jayden as Youth Pastor and is a district licensed minister continuing the journey toward ordination. We are honored to walk alongside him as he follows God’s call. He brings a compassionate heart, a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, and a willingness to serve wherever he is needed. Bobby loves his teens, believes in them, and wants them to encounter the same Jesus who changed his own life.
ALESSANDRA OKADA
WORSHIP LEADER
Alessandra’s life is centered on worship—but for her, worship has never simply meant music. It is a life fully surrendered to Jesus. After encountering the Lord in a way that radically changed the direction of her life, she developed a deep desire to live with a heart that is pure, obedient, and sensitive to the presence of God.
Though Brazilian by birth, Alessandra’s family moved to Japan when she was a teenager, and she would spend nearly 20 years there. It was in Japan that she met her husband, Silas, and together they served the church and shared the love of Jesus. That multicultural journey is still very much a part of who she is today—Alessandra speaks Portuguese, Japanese, Spanish, and English remarkably well. After COVID, she and Silas moved to the United States to pursue further training in worship ministry. Today, they continue serving together both at Arlington First and in a Japanese congregation in the DFW area.
Alessandra has served as Worship Leader at Arlington First for more than two years, helping shape a culture where worship is not about performance but about making room for the presence of God. She faithfully leads our church each week, serves alongside our teens, participates in our weekly prayer gathering, and invests deeply in the musicians and vocalists God has placed around her.
One of Alessandra’s greatest passions is raising up worshipers—not performers.
Through worship-team discipleship, Wednesday night gatherings, and even a worship school she established and operated at AFN for a season, she has helped others develop their gifts while teaching them that skill can never replace a heart surrendered to Jesus.
Alessandra and Silas are also raising their son, Brian, in that same spirit of worship and service—and you’ll often find him behind the drums on Sunday mornings. For Alessandra, worship isn’t something she leads for an hour on Sunday. It is the way she wants to live every day—and the kind of life she wants to help cultivate in others.
SUE SMITH
OFFICE ADMIN
Sue Smith has been part of Arlington First longer than anyone currently in our congregation. She first came through the doors as a baby alongside her parents and her sister, Ann, and AFN has been part of her story ever since. Her father was a Nazarene pastor, and from an early age Sue learned that following Jesus meant faithfully serving Him with whatever He placed in your hands.
That quiet faithfulness has marked her life. Before retiring, Sue spent her career investing in children as an elementary school teacher at nearby Dunn Elementary. She never had children of her own, but through the years she has poured into countless children and women—young and old—with the care, patience, and steadiness of someone who understands that people are always worth the investment.
Today, Sue serves as our Office Administrator and is one of the people who quietly helps keep Arlington First moving. She manages the everyday details of the church office, helps oversee communication and contracts, serves as Board Secretary and on our Finance Team, and works closely with our Senior Pastor to make sure important details—and important people—don’t fall through the cracks. She may walk slowly, but she walks steadily, and very little gets past her.
And somehow, that’s only part of what she does. Sue leads our Women’s Ministry, currently serves as our Missions President, and has faithfully served in numerous other roles throughout the life of the church. She rarely seeks attention and may not be the first person to pray out loud, but when she does, you get the sense you’re hearing words God has already been writing on her heart.
Sue’s ministry isn’t built around a platform. It has been built over a lifetime of simply showing up, paying attention, loving people, and doing what needs to be done. Generations of people have come and gone through Arlington First, but Sue has remained—steadily serving Jesus and His Church with the same faithful yes.
AL NEWTON
ASSOCIATE PASTOR
Al Newton’s connection to Arlington First began long before he ever served here. More than a decade ago, while serving as a youth pastor in the Texas Panhandle, Al learned that the Pettit kids—between missionary assignments and struggling through a season of transition—were feeling isolated. So Al loaded up a church van full of teenagers, picked them up, and made sure they knew they belonged. That simple act of noticing people and doing something about it says a lot about who Al is.
That friendship grew into years of serving together. Al and his wife, Melissa, have come alongside Steve and Amanda in ministry from Haiti and Dominica to Cactus, Texas, and beyond. They even sold their home in Amarillo and moved six hours south to serve alongside them—and years later followed that calling again to Arlington First.
An ordained minister, military veteran, and former youth pastor, Al is a bridge-builder by nature. He brings wisdom, perspective, and a gift for connecting people and resources that help move the mission forward. He also helps care for the safety of our church family and is a trusted voice our Senior Pastor regularly leans on.
Outside AFN, Al and Melissa serve through Cornerstone, and Al has a particular heart for young people aging out of foster care who face adulthood without the support many of us take for granted.
Al serves at AFN entirely as a volunteer, but his influence is felt throughout our church. Fiercely loyal, faithful, and always willing to stand beside someone who needs him, Al is one of those people we simply cannot imagine doing ministry without.
ROBBIE ARNOLD
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION
Robbie Arnold brings a remarkable combination of ministry experience, technical expertise, and a genuine heart for worship to AFN. A fourth-generation Nazarene, Robbie sensed a call to ministry as a teenager and began serving behind the scenes running sound at his home church.
A graduate of Southern Nazarene University with a degree in Church Music, Robbie served as a worship leader for 25 years across three churches. He also brings more than 30 years of professional experience in the live event industry, where he currently serves as Vice President of Strategic Delivery.
For more than two years, Robbie has faithfully served AFN, leading our audio and visual ministry with exceptional attention to detail, a servant’s heart, and a commitment to doing things well because they matter. Though he brings a tremendous wealth of professional knowledge and experience, he freely gives his time and talents out of a genuine love for the church and a desire to serve.
What makes Robbie’s leadership especially meaningful is his understanding that worship is about far more than sound, lighting, or technology. He approaches each Sunday prayerfully, sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and passionate about helping create an atmosphere where people can encounter God’s presence.
Robbie and his wife, Becky, met at SNU and have been married for more than 30 years. Becky also faithfully serves on AFN’s worship team each week, sharing their mutual love for worship and serving the church.