The O'Rear lineage is "chock-full" of reverends and pastors who have devoted their lives in service to the Lord. I will focus for the time being just on direct ancestors i.e. Parents or Grandparents (but I may throw in a few Uncles and Aunts).
I have chosen to document this because I believe that service to God is "in our DNA". There are just too many pastors in our history to think otherwise.
This section begins with my closest family members, and then works out.

Closest Family Members:
Pastor Matthew Ryan O'Rear (1987 - ) Effort Baptist Church
Son

Wycliffe Missionary Paul Andrew O'Rear (1952 - )
Brother

Methodist Minister Reverend Floyd Barrett O'Rear Jr. (1931 - 2019)
Father

Methodist Minister Reverend Floyd Barrett O'Rear Sr. (1896 - 1978)
Grandfather

Itinerant Preacher Daniel Talbott O'Rear (1838 - 1870)
Great Great Grandfather

Here are some other pastors in our lineage. When I found some pertinent biographical information I added it.
Rev. Margaret Elizabeth Bee
great-grandaunt
1898 - 1959
Pastor of the Saugus United Methodist Church in Lynn, Massachusetts for 26 years. During her pastorate, she was listed as the only woman in the New England Methodist Conference Clergy roles. Graduate of Boston University in Religious Studies in 1923.

Rev. Thomas William Harrison Sr
4th great-grandfather
1750 - 1815

Rev. Edward Eells Sr
6th great-grandfather
1713 - 1776
Graduate of Harvard College, and pastor in Cromwell, Ct.


Rev. Nathaniel Eells Sr.
7th great-grandfather
1677 - 1750
Graduate of Harvard College, and pastor in Scituate, Mass.

Rev. Samuel Parris
8th great-grandfather
1653 - 1720
Puritan minister who played a pivotal role in the Salem Witch Trials

Rev. John Hoskins Jr.
8th great-grandfather
1566 - 1638
Member of Parliment in 1604 and 1614. Imprisoned in the Tower of London for a speech

The Rev. John I Cave, Rector of Pickwell
9th great-grandfather
1590 - 1657

Rev. John Robert White
9th great-granduncle
1569 - 1615

Rev. Robert Jordan
9th great-grandfather
1557 - 1589

Rev. Dr. Calybute Downing
10th great-grandfather
1574 - 1642
Puritan pastor and member of Westminster Assembly on of the translators working on the King James Bible

Rev. John Sotwell Vicar of Penniston
10th great-grandfather
1520 - 1574

Rev. Robert Wight
10th great-grandfather
1570 - 1618

Rev. Thomas Howell / Houl / Howland / Holland I
10th great-grandfather
1599 - 1710

Rev. Sir Richard H. Jones, Merchant of London
10th great-grandfather
1608 - 1685
Pastor of Brandon Parish in Charles City Virginia, one of the earliest parishes in Virginia and America


Rev. Robert Lenthall
10th great-grandfather
1565 - 1640
Invited to the Massachusetts Bay Colony to become pastor of Weymouth congregation.

William Brewster
11th great-grandfather
1568-1644
Attended Oxford University (the only Mayflower passenger with such an education). Mayflower passenger and spiritual leader of the pilgrims at Plymouth

Rev. William (Rector St. Davids) Meyrick
11th great-grandfather
1546 - 1596
Anglican clergyman from Wales; son John emigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony

Rev. Sir Robert Bathurst I of Clayhill
11th great-grandfather
1563 - 1623

Rev. Thomas Cole
11th great-grandfather
1515 - 1571 Prominent English Protestant clergyman who graduated from Oxford University; contributor to the English reformation

Rev. John Rogers
11th great-grandfather
1500 - 1565
Attended Cambridge University; English clergyman and Protestant martyr. Editor of the "Matthew Bible" in 1537. Was arrested by Queen Mary I and burned at the stake in 1565.

Rev. William Clark Pratt III
11th great-grandfather
1562 - 1629
Rector of Stevenage parish in England for over 30 years


Rev. Dr. Edward Bulkekey
11th great-grandfather
1540 - 1620
Rector of Odell, Cambridge Alumni, John Hancock ancestor


Rev. John Thomas Crowe
11th great-grandfather
1594 - 1686
Anglican clergyman born in Waterford, Ireland; emigrated to Essex County Virgina, becoming a prominent figure in the early colonial Anglican Church.

Pastor Johannes Göbtfried
12th great-grandfather
1594 - 1661

Rev. John Holland
12th great-grandfather
1522 - 1578
Ordained as a priest in the Church of England; part of the cohort of English clergy who upheld their protestant beliefs during Queen Mary I.


Rev. Henry Thomas Squire;
12th great-grandfather
1520 - 1567
Parish priest of Charleston Mackrell; direct ancestor of Presidents Millard Fillmore and William Howard Taft


Rev. Richard Waltham Ball
12th great-grandfather
1602 - 1684

Rev. Josse Glover
12th great-grandfather
1602 - 1638
Rector of St. Nicholas Church 1624-1636, known for his nonconformist views; Died during emigration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony while bringing the first printing press to America; His widow continued his mission and assisted in the founding of Harvard College
Pastor John Robinson, pastor to the pilgrims
12th great-granduncle
1576-1625
Spiritual leader of the Mayflower congregation at Leiden prior to the sailing to America. He was a pivotal figure in American religious history; was a leading voice in the Separatist movement, which advocated for a church independent of the Church of England leading to the passage to America.

Rev. John Parris
12th great-granduncle
1660 - 1754
Associated with the Samuel Parris family of Salem Massachusetts but direct connection remains unknown

Rev. James Balfour
12th great-grandfather
1544 - 1613
Minister of Guthrie, Forfarshire. 1566, Minister of St Giles; He was a prominent Scottish minister during the reformation era and had conflicts with King James VI over control of the Church of Scotland

Rev. Francis Morrice Johnson
13th great-grandfather
1524 - 1616
English clergyman connected to the Church of England


Rev. Maurice Morris Johnson, Esquire
13th great-grandfather
1500 - 1557
English clergyman and civic leader in Stamford, Lincolnshire, serving as Constable, Chamberlain and Mayor as as well as serving in Parliment.


Rev. Capt. John William 'The Immigrant" De Basse
13th great-grandfather
1616 - 1699
Early colonist who married the daughter of an Indian Chieftain's daughter. Married Elizabeth Keziah Tucker, daughter of the King of the Nansemond Nation
Rev. John McFadden Thompson
13th great-grandfather
1687 - 1753

Rev. Mitchell (Michael) Matchett
13th great-grandfather
1578 - 1615

Rev. Ellis Callender
14th great-grandfather
1640 - 1728
Ordained in 1708 as the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Boston, holding the position for 10 years.

Rev. Walter (Botanist) Stonehouse
15th great-grandfather
1588 - 1610
Rev. Robert Kinnaird Bruce
15th great-granduncle
1554 - 1631
Prominent Scottish Presbyterian minister, theologian and preacher who was pivotal during the Reformation of Scotland period. Excited by King James VI to Inverness.

Rev. James Thurston Attorney
17th great-grandfather
1426 - 1509