About Our Church

Holly Lake Church of Christ is a non-denominational church in Hawkins, Texas

Our Mission

We strive to follow Jesus as Lord

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we worship God, submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ. We strive to emulate His examples of love, humility, and service. We endeavor to teach the truth of God’s Word to all people, baptizing believers and equipping them to grow in grace and mature in faith.

Our Strengths

Wisdom

Several of our disciples have lived a lot of years on this earth. They have also spent many years walking with the Lord. They have experienced much, have grown much, and have much insight to pass along.

Family

You will find a family at Holly Lake. We have younger Christians who offer testimonies of how older members of our spiritual family ministered to members of their physical families. You can find community in our fellowship.

Stability

Holly Lake’s church family is strong. One example. We live in a society where the family has broken down. Many members of the millennials and generation Z have grown up in volatile environments. They will find in our fellowship Christians who know what it is to live in a long, committed marriage. They will interact with couples who have provided solid homes for their children. You will find stability in our church.

Our Leadership

Dr. Mark Edge

Preaching Minister

Mark Edge has ministered as a foreign missionary to Papua New Guinea and Argentina. He has served as the preaching minister to Texas churches in Brownsville, Winters, and Tyler. Mark earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in Bible and Speech from Abilene Christian University, topping it off with a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2008.

Mark retired from full-time ministry and founded The WorkEdge Company in 2013. Since then, he has served as a church consultant and as an interim minister.

Mark and his wife, Judy, celebrate 32 years of marriage (and counting) and have worked with couples as marriage mentors. God has blessed them with four children ranging in ages from 18 to 27.

The Holly Lake congregation hired Mark for his first preaching job in 1980 when both the church and Mark were just beginning their ministries. Along the way, Holly Lake helped support Mark and Judy in their mission work to Argentina. After all of these years, Mark is grateful to return to preach for them again.

Our Pastoral Staff

M. L. Kirby

Elder

M. L. Kirby and his wife, Pat, have been married 64 years. They lived 35 of those years in Garland, Texas, before moving to the Holly Lake area in 2001. M. L. worked in the grocery business most of his life before joining US Post Office for the last 15 years before his retirement.

M. L. and Pat have three children, four grandchildren, and will be blessed with great-grandchildren in 2022. Family is vital to M. L. and Pat. The entire family enjoys holidays and any other excuse they can find to get together. M. L. finds pleasure in his hobbies, including fishing, yard work, and working with wood, but his main goal in life is bringing all he can to Christ.

M. L. has served as an elder at the Holly Lake congregation since 2009.

Ron Cozort

Elder

Ron and his wife, Raylene, have been married for 57 years, and they have three children and seven grandchildren. Ron made a very successful living for several decades in the property and casualty part of the insurance industry. After retirement, the Cozarts moved to Holly Lake Ranch, where they became members of the Holly Lake congregation in 2017.

Ron is a graduate of Abilene Christian University and has a master’s degree in Christian education from Criswell College in Dallas, Texas. He enjoys teaching Bible classes, leading singing, playing golf, and pickleball.

Wayne Fox

Elder

Wayne Fox committed his life to Christ in 1954 when he was baptized during a gospel meeting held under a brush arbor. He met his future wife, Wilma, in the first grade in 1948, and they married in 1960. They have two children, Wayne Junior and Sheri. God has also blessed them with five grandsons and four great-granddaughters.

Wayne retired from Hewlett-Packard in 2000 as a project manager. He has served as an elder for the past twenty-four years, the last twelve at the Holly Lake church.

Wayne strives to follow Jesus as Lord. He does so by diligently studying the Word of God and making prayer a way of life. He puts the Word into practice in his life by developing a personal faith. Wayne praises God in all areas of his life, offering himself as a living sacrifice. He identifies and employs his individual spiritual gifts, relying on God’s Spirit to strengthen his family and love his church family. Wayne enjoys leading, participating in, and supporting all missions of teaching and evangelizing.