Reverend Billy Echols-Richter is the lead pastor at Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco, where he has served the congregation since 1999. Prior to his tenure at Grace Avenue, he was the associate minister at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Plano.

He graduated from Southwestern University in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and earned his M.Div. from Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology in 1984. While at Southwestern, he was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and the Student Foundation.

He and his wife, Laura, have three children, one of whom graduated from Southwestern in 2018. Billy remains active in the Southwestern community, having served on the Board of Visitors from 2017 to 2023 and joining the Board of Trustees in 2025.

Location: Frisco, Texas