Keynote Speaker: 

Neal Jeffrey

As part of the Preaching Team at Prestonwood, Neal Jeffrey has often shared his dreams as a child: The first was to be the greatest football player who ever lived, and the second was to be a preacher.

He worked hard on the football field, rising above the pack to become an All-American quarterback at Baylor University, and to get drafted to play in the National Football League by the San Diego Chargers.

But a stuttering impediment kept him from believing that he could ever become a public speaker of any kind. As a freshman in college, listening to the wise advice of others, he came to the realization that God had made him, God had given him a dream, and God would achieve that dream through him if he didn’t give up.

Neal Jeffrey

Associate Pastor of Pastoral & Preaching Ministries

After his professional playing career, Neal attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and received a Master of Divinity in 1981. He served with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas before coming to Prestonwood in 1984 as Student Minister. He then served as Minister to Married Adults and later as Associate Pastor of Pastoral Care. Throughout his more than three decades at Prestonwood, Neal has always shown an incredible passion for God’s Word and for His people.

Neal preaches regularly during Worship Services at all three campuses and is a popular motivational speaker throughout the country. “It’s an incredible thing to know God has a dream for you, and knowing that He is working in you and through you to achieve His dream in you,” Neal says.

Neal and his wife, Sheila, have three adult children; Natalie, married to Josh Patterson; Melissa, married to Jonathan James; and James, married to Krista. They have eleven grandchildren, seven girls and four boys.