Pastor Paul Mize was born in Springdale, Arkansas and moved to Vidor, Texas with his family when he was a young child. He graduated from Vidor High School in 1988, then went to Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas for two years, before moving back to Arkansas. In 1991 Pastor Mize married his sweetheart, Ronda Downs. Shortly thereafter, the Lord blessed them with two wonderful children. They have both grown up and married, and have since given Pastor Paul and Ronda several beautiful grandchildren.

Both Paul and Ronda began their ministry in Mountain View, Arkansas in 1992 under Rev. Benny Hays. Later, they moved to Little Rock Metro area in 1997 and were assistant Pastors under Rev. Mark Melton in North Little Rock. However, in 2001 they moved to start a church plant where they pastored for 11 years. Finally, in the fall 2012, they felt the call to return to their roots to pastor the church in Mountain View. Upon their installation to lead the church, they wanted it to be a shelter and refuge for the people of the community, thus they renamed the church to “The Sanctuary.”