About Ray
Ray Ulery was born on March 19, 1957, in Bakersfield , California . He was not much more than a toddler when his parents divorced. When Ray was five years old, his father moved the family to his native state of Oklahoma , where Ray spent the remainder of his childhood.
In November of 1972, at the age of fifteen, Ray was radically saved out of a life of drugs and lawlessness. Miraculously, old things passed away and all things became new. Following his born again experience, friends and family members were bewildered at the transformation that took place in Ray’s life.
In 1973, Ray visited Arkansas for the first time to play drums in a tent revival that his pastor was conducting. He knew in his heart that he would some day return, which he did when he moved to Arkansas in 1974. Ray had began sensing God’s call to the ministry, and that summer he preached his first sermon at Leiper Heights Full Gospel Church in Malvern , Arkansas.
In the congregation that Sunday night was a sixteen-year-old Arkansas country girl named Jackie Weems. Jackie was a devoted Christian and had been raised in an Assembly of God church. Ray and Jackie dated for a few months and they both soon realized that God had placed them together for life. They were married in January of 1975, even though they were both only seventeen years old. This year, they celebrated their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. To God be all the glory!
A year and a half after they were married, their first child Sarah was born. However, they waited ten years for their second child Christopher; and two years later, Lindsay was born. Sarah and her husband Jamie Hoofman have given Ray and Jackie two granddaughters and one grandson: Camille, born in 1996; Chloe, born in 1999; and Caleb, born in 2010.
For the past thirty-five years, Ray and Jackie have been involved in local church ministry with Ray having served twenty-seven years as senior pastor. They have pioneered three churches. Their ministerial background is Charismatic and Word of Faith.
Ray’s anointing for ministry is two-fold. First, he is a pastor. He loves to see people impacted with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He nurtures the sheep as a shepherd through caring leadership and encourages them to find and fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. His greatest joy as a pastor is to see people’s lives changed through the gospel. During his pastorates, his heart for reaching children and youth has been demonstrated by the funds he has poured into those departments and by the special events and rallies which he has sponsored.
Secondly, he is a gifted teacher and communicator. His teaching helps establish new believers in the Word of God and the life of Christ. His communication skills have enabled him to teach leadership principles that train and equip mature believers for the work of the ministry. He has taught in meetings with Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Lester Sumrall, Charles Capps, Jesse Duplantis and others.
With a heart to minister to ministers, Ray served as regional director for ICFM (International Convention of Faith Ministers) for several years and was presented with the Director of the Year Award during the international convention in 1992. He has hosted a number of ministers’ conferences and is effective in encouraging, challenging and instructing ministers in doing the work of the ministry.
Ray has authored two books, written and compiled a ministry manual and written several leadership syllabi used as curriculum in Bible schools. Ray has taught in several Bible schools and has just completed his eighteenth year as an instructor at Agape School of World Evangelism, now Agape College , in Little Rock , Arkansas.
Having acquired his private pilot’s license in 1991, Ray has flown collectively tens of thousands of miles cross country for speaking engagements in churches, conferences and ministers’ meetings.
Ray and Jackie are both musicians. Ray is a talented guitarist and singer and Jackie accompanies him on the keyboard. They play mostly contemporary Christian music but enjoy adding some of their favorite old hymns such as “Amazing Grace.”
All of their children have helped them in children’s or youth ministry, with Sarah and her husband Jamie serving as youth pastors for eleven years. Since childhood, all three children have been involved with singing or music. Sarah and Lindsay are talented vocalists and Sarah and Christopher are both anointed worship leaders. Christopher started out as the church’s praise team drummer and also eventually became lead guitarist for the church’s youth band until he began touring with professional Christian bands throughout the country.
Ray believes that a person’s accomplishments, or a lack of them, shouldn’t be the determining factor by which a person measures their own worth, but rather by the passion by which they live. Both Ray and Jackie are passionate for God and for His purpose for their lives and the ministry which He has called them to. Their ministry is proven and time-tested. Experience, ethics and excellence are what you can expect from the ministry of Ray and Jackie Ulery.
Ray's Profile
* Twenty-seven year veteran of senior pastoral ministry in the local church in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
* Founded and hosted “the burning heart” television program seen on Warner Brothers, Pax, and Victory Television Network in Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
* Has served as instructor of Agape School of World Evangelism (ASWE), now Agape College, in Little Rock, Arkansas, for eighteen years. As part of this teaching, he has written several leadership syllabi including the pursuit of excellence and following the fire of god which have been taught in various bible schools world-wide.
* Founded and hosted “Saturday Night Ignite,” a monthly youth outreach to youth ministries in central-Arkansas.
* Served as regional director of International Convention of Faith Ministries (ICFM) organizing leadership seminars for pastors and ministers
* Has ministered in leadership seminars and bible schools in foreign nations (Mexico, Guatemala and Belize.)
* As a private pilot, he has flown collectively tens of thousands of miles cross country for speaking engagements in churches, leadership seminars, and television appearances.
* Authored two books entitled The Burning Heart and Spiritual Authority and You and has also written and compiled a ministry manual entitled Excellence of Ministry to assist local churches with organization and structure; he has also developed dozens of audio teaching series to teach believers how to walk in the principles of God’s word and become over-comers in every circumstance.
* Ray and his wife Jackie have been married for thirty-six years. Their ministry is proven and time-tested. Experience, ethics and excellence is what you can expect from the ministry of Ray and Jackie Ulery.