Roger Wernette had served in Young Life’s youth ministry for 13 years, five years on the staff, and was familiar with a relational ministry.  Roger also taught the Bible at his church and in other settings.  He had a desire to work in a full-time men’s ministry and after some discussions with John Tolson and Larry Kreider, accepted the position of Executive Director in Houston.  His tenure on staff began in January of 1999. Within 5 years, Roger and his dedicated advisory board had grown the ministry to include a network of over 3000 men.  Excellent speakers including Lance Berkman, Dr. Howard Hendricks, Coaches Joe Gibbs and Bobby Bowden had given their testimonies at well-attended outreach events.  Roger had begun to integrate a behavioral assessment tool, The Flippen Profile, into his ministry and was meeting with many men individually to work through the test results.  In addition, small groups were forming and meeting regularly.

Thomas Suffield was introduced to The Gathering when John Tolson founded it and continued to keep up with the ministry, especially when Roger began leading it. He has enjoyed facilitating small groups and one-on-one discipleship utilizing The Gathering’s materials.  He and Roger both recognized a recent need and opportunity for him to join the staff. 

Thomas grew up in Houston and graduated with a BBA and MBA from UT in Austin.  He has been using those finance degrees working in the energy business and most recently as a developer of Petrochemical Plants.  He has been involved with numerous ministries as a volunteer since college and is excited to join The Gathering.  Thomas is the Director of Discipleship for The Gathering which captures his desire to fulfill Jesus’s calling to all of us in Matthew 28: 18-20.

John Montgomery is a Discipleship Mentor with The Gathering of Men.   John, a retired CPA, has been actively involved in teaching the Bible and men’s small group ministry for 50+ years.  Upon retiring, he pastored a small rural church in southwest Kansas for 45 months before returning to Houston.  Over the years, older men have mentored and guided John in his Christian growth and development, which has resulted in his passion to return the favor by discipling other men to a mature relationship in Jesus Christ.

One of John’s favorite verses is Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

He and Kitty, who is also a CPA, have been married for 55 years (according to Kitty, she was 5 years old when they got married).

Ryan Reitzammer has recently joined The Gathering of Men. With over a decade of church staff experience, Ryan will be reaching out to younger men in multiple areas of Houston. He will be the foundation of the future of our ministry. Ryan lives in the Spring area with his wife (Lauren) and their 4 boys (Tristan, Maverick, Pierce, & Nolan). Our goal is to enfold him into our central Houston ministry as well as to help him develop our ministry in the north Houston area.

Nicole DeBruler is assistant to the director at The Gathering of Men. She got connected with Roger Wernette through their church family and has been on staff since the summer of 2024. She brings great perspective to our ministry after having spent 10 years in South Korea as a teacher.  Nicole brings a cheerful heart and focused work ethic to her role at The Gathering, which makes it no surprise that we share her with Reformed Theological Seminary, managing the library and organizing the students.