Ronald Leslie Guidroz

Ronald Leslie Guidroz was born on January 3, 1944, in Baytown, Texas. He was the eighth child of legendary Pentecostal pioneers V. A. and Dora Guidroz and the first child born in a hospital—at the cost of $44. He and his siblings had front-row seats to the early years of the merger and his parents’ sacrificial building of Texas District UPCI and Texas Bible College. This selfless giving forever marked him and his approach to ministry.

Ron married the love of his life, Jerry Ann Lewis, on October 19, 1962. To this union were born three children: Ronna Jere Stults, Veda Michelle Burton, and Ronald Eldredge Guidroz. He graduated from Houston’s Furr High School, attended San Jacinto College, and was in the pioneer graduating class from Texas Bible College.

The ministry of Ron and Jerry Ann Guidroz is diverse, interspersed with effective pastoring and productive seasons of evangelizing. In the late 1960s, at the request of J. T. Pugh and V. Arlen Guidroz, they traveled for North American Missions to the Christmas For Christ sponsored churches on the East Coast from South Carolina to Connecticut. The Guidrozes pastored in Center, Texas; Hueytown, Alabama; and Ferndale, Michigan. They planted a church in Cypress, Texas, and pastored there from 1980 to 2005, after which they resumed traveling across America, lifting the hands of pastors and strengthening churches.

Ron Guidroz has magnified each office he held. He served as presbyter for six years in South Texas from 2009 to 2015. He and his wife led the hospitality ministry under Texas and South Texas superintendents E. L. Holley, James L. Kilgore, David K. Bernard, and Ken Gurley. They have led the hospitality ministry for General Conference since 2010. His comforting words and presence have soothed the hearts of mourners at each General Conference memorial service since 2014.

His ministry is as creative as it is impactful. Cut from the same cloth as his father, who preached insightful and unforgettable messages, Ron Guidroz preaches sermons that resonate in the lives of many. Known for his illustrated messages with the use of props and volunteers, he skillfully weaves God’s Word and divine principles into the hearts of his hearers. His sermons are memorable, including “The Magnitude of Pentecost,” “My Church,” “Positioning Yourself for a Miracle,” “The Spell of the Cross,” “The Lordship of Jesus Christ,” and “Don’t Play Monopoly With God,” to name a few. He has preached at numerous conferences, camps, and special occasions across North America.

His superb public ministry is eclipsed only by his unheralded service. He has been a close friend and confidante to many of the historical pillars of the Apostolic faith, including Stanley W. Chambers, Nathaniel A. Urshan, James L. Kilgore, J. T. Pugh, and T. F. Tenney. These men saw in Brother Guidroz what we all recognize today. Ron Guidroz, like the Lord, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). The smile, the concern, and the hundreds—if not thousands—of pairs of shined shoes leave a path of selfless service. Through lifting others, he now steps into these hallowed halls of the Order of the Faith.