Gary was born September 29, 1957 to Tom and Magoline Hollingsworth in Anniston, Alabama.

Blessed with Godly parents, he came to know Jesus as Savior as a six and one-half year old boy and was baptized at the Northside Baptist Church in that same town. Two major events occurred during his junior and senior year in high school. He surrendered his life to full time ministry and began to date Gwen Beaman.

Gary and Gwen were married December 22, 1978 and they spent the next twelve years in student ministry and preparing for future ministry by completing the Master of Divinity degree at Southwestern Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas and the Doctor of Ministry degree at Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. They were blessed during these years with the birth of their two sons, Jonathan and Ryan, both students now at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.