Paul grew up in the Tampa Bay area of Florida, the adopted son of Leonard and Lorene Martin. In high school he played French horn in the band and for several years he was drum major of the marching band. This led to a lifetime love of music of all types.

He was also active in the church youth group at First Baptist Church of Brandon and participated in their excellent youth choir as well as in ensemble groups. It was in church and school that he met his wife, Rowena. They had known each other since fifth grade and began dating as seniors in High School. They married in the summer of 1972 and have two sons and four grandchildren.

Paul asked Christ into his life when he was seven years old at a Billy Graham Crusade in Tampa. At the age of sixteen he made a mature commitment to follow Christ and during a time of nationwide revival in the early 1970’s, he began preaching throughout the Tampa Bay area, accompanied by a music team from church. 

He and Rowena, as a married couple, attended Toccoa Falls College in north Georgia where Paul earned a Bachelors in Theology and a minor in New Testament Greek. Paul and Rowena served in several churches as youth pastor and music director before starting a C&MA church in Tennessee. In September of 1985 they moved to McHenry to serve as the pastor of Alliance Bible Church.

Paul states, “My philosophy of pastoral ministry is to proclaim the whole counsel of God through expository preaching and teaching and to encourage the congregation to be ambassadors and evangelists of Christ in their realms of life. Public worship times are a gathering of believers for mutual growth and edification and to equip each member to minister with the gifts God has given them.”

In his free time away from actively pastoring, he enjoys nature photography, microscopy and photo-microscopy, as well as competitive shooting. In his younger years backpacking, canoeing, camping, rock climbing and rappelling were avid interests. He served in Tennessee as a Sheriff’s Deputy, and twenty years in Nunda as a paramedic and EMS instructor. He currently serves as a volunteer chaplain with the McHenry Township Fire Protection District.