A new pastor will lead Fort Worth-based Pastors for Texas Children as its founder takes the group\u2019s public education advocacy national.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Holly Gaskill Bandel is the nonprofit\u2019s new executive director. She takes over from the Rev. Charlie Johnson, who founded the group in 2013 as a way to connect faith leaders and their congregations with public education advocacy.<\/p>\n
In a news release, Bandel said she is grateful for the opportunity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen firsthand what happens when congregations build genuine relationships with their neighborhood public schools,\u201d she said. \u201cOur schools are at the heart of our communities and supporting the children, educators and families they service is an important expression of our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bandel is the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Sachse, about an hour northeast from Fort Worth between Garland and Wylie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A native of Wylie, Bandel earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in social work from the University of North Texas and a master\u2019s from Duke Divinity School.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Church\u2019s Horizon Texas Conference in 2003. She has been involved with Pastors for Texas Children since 2018.<\/p>\n
Johnson said Bandel will lead the organization into its next chapter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHolly understands both the church and the public school classroom, and she knows how powerful it can be when people of faith come together in support of children and their neighborhood schools,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Johnson will now focus on a new national organization called Pastors for Children that will emulate the Texas group in states nationwide and in Washington, D.C.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacob Sanchez is education editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at jacob.sanchez@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @_jacob_sanchez<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/09\/24\/fort-worth-education-advocacy-group-names-new-leader-as-founder-expands-model-nationwide\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=797700&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/09\/24\/fort-worth-education-advocacy-group-names-new-leader-as-founder-expands-model-nationwide\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script>