Biography of Rev. Bruce Rolland

I was born in Youngstown, Ohio in December of 1951, and lived my entire childhood in Hubbard, Ohio. I pretty much grew up in an Ozzie and Harriet family with a father who worked most of his adult life for the New York Central/Penn Central Railroad. My mother was a stay at home mom who loved being a homemaker. I don’t remember a single day that I got off the school bus that my mother was not there to ask how my day was. I have one older brother who still lives in the Youngstown area with his wife and daughter. My brother and I had pretty much the usual older brother/younger brother relationship. I had a well adjusted childhood with lots of friends. We lived in a rural area where everyone knew their neighbors and hardly anybody locked their doors.

I graduated from Hubbard High School in June of 1970, and attended Youngstown State University for one quarter, majoring in Art, before signing up in the Air Force Reserve. At the time, it was my desire to teach art courses at a small high school, similar to the one I had attended.
In February of 1971 I traveled to Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio to begin six weeks of basic training. This was the first time I was away from home, but knew that I had a good support system back in Ohio. Following graduation from basic training, I stayed at Lackland for almost a year of tech school training. The most noteworthy event that happened to me during my time in Texas was that I felt a call to full-time Christian ministry. Once I returned home, I alternated between going to school full-time and working at various retail jobs. I changed my major to religion and philosophy, to investigate this ‘call’ that I really didn’t completely understand at the time.
In 1977 I met my wife, Cindi, and by August we had decided to get married. One year and one week after our wedding, Cindi gave birth to our first daughter, Tia. Two years later, Dana was born. I continued, at that time, to work in retail.
One of the situations that confronted us was where to attend church. I had been raised in a Lutheran Church, while Cindi had a non-denominational upbringing. Through investigation, and visiting several churches in the area, we finally found ourselves at Youngstown First Church of the Nazarene. Those early days of worshiping in the Church of the Nazarene were so special to us, and so formative to our concept of church. I met there men who sought to serve God in and through His church. We found dedication there that we, sadly, have seldom seen since.

During our time at that church, I secured a minister’s license and enrolled in the Course of Study for Ministry. Since then, I’ve spent more than 25 years in full-time ministry, finding myself in many different situations and experiences.
Our family dynamic has changed a lot since those early days. Today, our daughter, Dana is married. She and her husband, Greg (also a preacher’s kid), live in DeLeon, Texas with our granddaughter, Lily. Tia lives with us, as does Beth and Sean, two children who have been put in our custody by the courts in Florida. Although biologically, the children do not belong to us, they are inseparately part of our family. Hopefully the day will come when Tia will be able to adopt the children and create a family of her own.

Several years ago, Cindi and I published a book, “Hey, Mom…do you think God drinks coffee?” This is a devotional for parents, grandparents, caregivers, Sunday School teachers, etc. It’s for anyone who enjoys children. We are presently working on our second issue of the “Hey, Mom…” series, “Hey, Mom…do you think God’s cryin’?”
I have also published two spiritual warfare novels, “Cassandra’s Return,” and “Jonathan’s Legacy”. “Jonathan’s Legacy” is currently available through local bookstores.
We are excited to see what God is doing in our lives. Over the past 25 years, it’s always been interesting. We are certain that it will continue to be as we begin our ministry in Huntsville.