From Wayward Son to Pastor—The Path Back Home to CC Dallas, TX
Photos by Tom Price
Army Private Eric Coburn was digging survivability pits in the Arabian Desert when he heard the sound of bees buzzing past his head. When hot sand began dancing around him, he realized the enemy was raining bullets down on his unit. “I needed to take cover, but my survivability pit wasn’t anywhere close to being done,” Eric recalled.
Pastor Eric Coburn preaches a Sunday sermon at Calvary Chapel Dallas in Plano, TX, taking over from his father, Rick Coburn, in 2019. Eric served as associate and then assistant pastor at CC Dallas before planting CC North Texas in Frisco in 2013.
Ducking behind an artillery piece, he spotted armored vehicles approaching. “I grabbed the Dragons and AT4s [anti-tank, shoulder-fired weapons] and took off for the foxhole. I’m out there running. The Iraqis are on a machine gun, yet they didn’t hit me—again!” Eric exclaimed. “There was no reason why; I had zero cover.” Diving into the 3-foot-deep hole, the heavy weapons knocked the wind out of him and bent a sight on the nearly 50-pound Dragon. “I didn’t have any tools to bend it back, but by the grace of God, I was able to and lock the sight in.”
Through the sight, a NATO emblem came into focus, pausing Eric’s trigger pull. “God saved those guys that day, because if I could’ve got that sight on quicker, I would’ve hit them.” Eric’s voice wavered as he confessed, “But God, God protected me from being able to even shoot the weapon.”
Now-retired Pastor Rick prays over his son Eric after handing him the pastoral baton at CC Dallas. “It felt like a Moses-and-Joshua moment. One of the words the Lord gave me was, Do not remove the landmarks that your fathers have set,” Eric recalled.
Eric is now senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Dallas, in Plano, TX, taking over from his father, Rick, in 2019. He was also on staff there in 2002 as an associate and then assistant pastor before being called to plant Calvary Chapel North Texas, in Frisco, TX, in 2013.
Trouble Ahead
The PK’s (preacher’s kid) life was challenging for Eric and his siblings. They faced intense spiritual warfare, from people prying them for information about their parents to extravagant temptations. Eric remembered a woman in church telling them that the Church of Satan was praying against them. “I’m 15 years old and was like, What are you talking about? What in the world is going on here?”
Pastor Eric and his wife, Shanessa, worship together during a Sunday morning service. They have been married for 33 years and have two adult children.
Life began unraveling for Eric. “Almost 16, I didn’t live at home anymore—I stayed at different friends’ houses, [in] parked cars, wherever.” Despite his escalating troubles, he graduated high school, and then joined the U.S. Army to make a fresh start. After Basic Training and tech school, he married his high school sweetheart, Shanessa, at the age of 19—right before his first deployment to the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield.
Thus says the Lord: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16a
Eric greets a U.S. Air Force veteran after morning worship services. As a former U.S. Army soldier, Eric cherishes his kinship with other service members
Seeking Direction
Leaving the Army in 1993, Eric and Shanessa returned to Texas, staying with his parents while he painted houses and attended college. Soon they purchased their first home and were expecting their first of what would eventually be two children. “That was when the Lord really got ahold of me,” Eric revealed.
“[Back in] Saudi [Arabia], I thought, If I die, am I really going to heaven? And I didn’t know,” Eric admitted. “I knew Jesus, but I was not living for Him at all. There was no peace. There was no rest. So I just prayed, ‘God, if this is my life, please give me peace because I have no peace.’ I wanted a better job, but I didn’t know what to do.” Eric sensed the Lord instructing him to go home and pray with his wife. “He told me where we were to sit, how to hold hands, and what to pray about. I did that. The next day, we got a call from someone offering a job. Shanessa laughed like Sarah, Abraham’s wife, saying, ‘There’s no way Eric will do a desk job; he works outside with his hands.’”
Children interact in Sunday morning Bible study. CC Dallas has a lively children’s ministry for preschoolers up to senior high as well as a Mom’s Ministry for moms with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
From Service Life to the Lord’s Service
In preparation for civilian life, separating soldiers are counseled not to discuss their military background during job interviews. Eric vowed to keep that advice, but during the interview, he felt God prompting him to speak about his military experience and his love of hunting. “Three times He spoke to my heart before I said it,” Eric recalled. “The guy threw his pencil down and said, ‘You’re hired! Can you start Monday?’ That was the biggest moment where God revealed His purpose to me—it stole my heart.”
Eric’s commitment to expositional teaching and compassionately serving his flock has fortified the congregation as they grow in number and in faith.
As Eric journeyed with the Lord, he became a deacon and then elder in a local church. In 2002, his father, Rick, then senior pastor of CC Dallas, asked him to come on staff as an assistant pastor. As a witness to the trouble that pastors and pastors’ kids experience, Eric wanted nothing to do with that—especially now being established in a solid career.
At the urging of his father, Eric prayed, asking God for a specific question from his boss. “Maybe three to six months after that prayer, one day my boss said, ‘Eric, when are you going to quit your job and become a pastor like you’re supposed to?’” Stunned, Eric turned to face his boss. “He said, ‘That was confirmation, wasn’t it?’ It was, man, verbatim!”
Interactive Bible teaching provides the youth at CC Dallas a dynamic environment to study God’s Word, equipping them with truth as they grow in their faith.
For 12 years, Eric served as associate and then assistant pastor at CC Dallas before the Lord led him to plant a Calvary Chapel in Frisco, TX. Starting as a home Bible study, the group quickly grew, prompting the Coburns to find another space. “The Lord provided … a building that was a wedding chapel,” Eric enthused. “There was just something about that; the Bride of Christ [now] meets in a wedding chapel!”
During this time, God changed Eric’s heart from a militaristic task-oriented focus into one that loved and nurtured people through their frailties and mistakes. “I remember people called Pastor Chuck ‘Papa Chuck’, and a lot of the Texas and Oklahoma guys would call my dad ‘Papa Rick’ because of their compassionate heart towards the people. Assistant pastors deal more with ministry mechanics. I thought I was dealing with spiritual matters with Bible studies and prayer. It was all for the Lord, but there is a massive difference between the task at hand and the soul of a person. I thought I had that, but I didn’t—not at all.” For the next six years, Eric served his flock with a heart of compassion, just like his father.
A congregant shares with Eric as he listens intently. He admits that as an assistant pastor, “I thought I was dealing with spiritual matters with Bible studies and prayer. … But there is a massive difference between the task at hand and the soul of a person.”
Building on the Foundation
When Rick Coburn, known through the region as the “pastor to pastors”, decided to retire in 2019, many wondered who could fill his shoes. Rick and the church sought the Lord, who faithfully confirmed that man to be Eric. Rick shared, “Eric and Shanessa were not [always] the most wonderful people in my life. I remember walking [one] morning, praying, having no idea what would happen. I felt God [speak] to me, Eric will be closer to Me than you’ll ever know; just hang on and keep praying.” Rick handed the baton to his son at a November 2019 service, announcing, “Eric is running his race and has proven himself faithful to that race.”
Boys engage in a moment of camaraderie during youth group led by godly men who have a heart for leading younger generations in paths of righteousness.
Eric described, “It felt like a Moses-and-Joshua moment. One of the words the Lord gave me was, Do not remove the landmarks that your fathers have set.” Acknowledging the honor of taking up his father’s mantle, he committed to build on the foundation already laid and make it stronger. While many stayed through the transition, new leadership also brought new people—some with unique and special skills. In particular, someone with construction skills ended up remodeling the church. Eric recalls several congregants saying, “You know, David wanted to build the temple, but Solomon did it.”
CC Dallas children’s ministry leaders and volunteers teach God’s Word, tailoring it to the appropriate age level and encouraging them to grow in and share their faith through the power of the Holy Spirit, Bible studies, and prayer.
Eric admitted to some division in the church initially, and then COVID-19 hit the next year: “Everybody thought the apocalypse was taking place, but fear is a good teacher. Many people gave their life to the Lord … many were wishy-washy or lukewarm … it got them on fire for the Lord!” Bearing witness that the Lord has sustained all their ministries, Eric testifies, “God has been incredibly faithful.”
Eric also serves on the Regional Oversight Team of Calvary Chapel Association for North Texas and Oklahoma. In addition to proclaiming the Word to equip the saints, he has a unique insight and heart for those raised in the church.
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