The Bells
Loving God and Others and Making Disciples (Updated October 2021)
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Welcome to the Bell's Home page!
We are glad you dropped by- let me introduce you-
We are most grateful to the one who made us, saves us, and brought us together, our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing we have done, or will do, that might be good is done without God. And the things we do that aren't the best are the fault of our failure, not the Lord's.
Joseph E. Bell, Jr. (Joe) was born May 2, 1964, in Birmingham, AL, to Joe & Margaret Ann Bell. His parents, sister Ann and brothers-in-law Jim and Doug have left this world already, but he has his wonderful sister Jean, four nephews, one niece, grand nephews and nieces and their families, three aunts, two uncles and some terrific cousins. He has been very fortunate to have such a wonderful family and to have grown up in Alabama, home of the Crimson Tide!
Joe was fortunate to meet Teresa at Trevecca Nazarene University in 1985. She was born just outside South Charleston, WV, and moved to Gastonia with her parents. She attended Ashbrook High, then headed for Nashville to be a children's pastor (which she does at Eastside). He came out in 1988 with a fiancée and a B.A. in Religion. She came out in 1989 to get married (June 17) and go with him to Kansas City, where they both attended Nazarene Theological Seminary. Joe left with an M.Div., and Teresa with an M.R.E.
Teresa worked with Joe at the Asheville Church of the Nazarene and the Nazarene Christian School there. We left in June of 1994 and came to Gastonia. Teresa worked at Upton's department store, and Joe worked at the YMCA and with Larry Attig at Eastside. Joe and Teresa were also interim pastors of Forest City Church of the Nazarene from March 1996 to March 1997. Joe has been the pastor of Eastside Church of the Nazarene in Gastonia, North Carolina, since May 1997. He also worked with the Greater Kansas City and Gaston County YMCAs for 8 ½ years, serving as School-Age Program Director with the East Gaston (now Stowe Family) YMCA in Belmont for five years, and as an Associate Chaplain with CaroMont Regional Medical Center from 2000 to 2015. Teresa has worked at Curtiss-Wright in Shelby and Gastonia since 2000.
A more significant change in 1997 was the arrival of Stephen Andrew Bell (the only "Bell" boy in our extended family) on September 28. We are very blessed to have a wonderful son. He graduated from Ashbrook in 2016, married our bonus daughter Hannah Diezel in 2018, and they both graduated from Trevecca in 2020. He and Hannah both serve as Associate Pastors at Powerline Church of the Nazarene in Elon, NC. They adopted Jessie, a Golden Doodle with the Bell kids' red hair, in 2020, and our blonde Golden Doodle, Princess Winnie (nicknamed Tigger!), in 2001.
In 2000, thanks to Stephen's aunts, Jean and Ann, we added a beautiful Cocker Spaniel/ Lab mix named Cubby. She left us in 2017, and God sent a Shih Tzu named Murphy, who now rules the home.
In 2005, Paul DeAngulo came more deeply into our lives. Paul, his mother, Mary, and brother, Phillip, had been part of our church family, but Mary went to help care for her parents in Ohio. Paul stayed with us for the year and a half he needed to complete at Ashbrook High School, then attended Trevecca and Nazarene Theological Seminary. He teaches middle school students in Korea. He married Eunju in October 2024, and they adopted a dog, Edmund, in January 2025. We are so proud of and thankful for him.
The final piece of our mixed-up puzzle came in 2005 with the birth of Sarah Elizabeth Bell. Born December 13, 2005, she is the best girl in the world, and we are truly grateful for all the ways God has blessed our family. She is on track to graduate from Ashbrook in 2024 with a High School degree and an A.A., is a senior at Trevecca, and plans to teach Kindergarten.
Eastside Church of the Nazarene- www.ESNaz.com
Loving God and Others and Making Disciples!
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