New President of the Alumni Council
by Sandra Blumanhourst, Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore Campus, Alumni Office
At the beginning of 2014, the torch of leadership of the Asbury Alumni Association Council was passed from President Tom Harrison to the new President Steve Wood. The Council is made up of thirty strong leaders serving in six different Affinity Groups who offer vision and guidance. Outgoing president Tom Harrison described Steve as “a man with abundant energy and is a visionary leader. He knows not only how to lead, but how to connect others.”
The Rev. Steve Wood enrolled at Asbury Theological Seminary in 1983. While pursuing his Master of Divinity, Steve served as a chaplain at the V.A. Medical Center in Lexington and later as the Youth Pastor of the First UMC of Georgetown, KY. After earning his degree, Steve was appointed the pastor-in-charge of the Red Oak United Methodist Church (UMC) in College Park, Georgia. During his three years at Red Oak UMC, the congregation became multi-racial and was recognized as the Conference Small Membership Church of the Year in 1989.
Steve was appointed to serve as pastor at New Covenant UMC, a church plant in Douglas County in 1989. Over the next seven years, the congregation grew from 16 people to over 600 members. The congregation built a multipurpose facility, added an activity center complete with gymnasium, and was recognized as the fastest growing congregation in the Southeastern Jurisdiction in 1991. In 1997, Steve was appointed to Sugar Hill UMC. Membership more than doubled under his leadership, eventually surpassing 2,000. Sugar Hill UMC was distinguished for having the majority of new members joining by profession of faith in Christ.
Mount Pisgah UMC, one of the largest churches by membership in the United Methodist Church became Steve’s next appointment in 2007. While serving as Senior Pastor, Mount Pisgah UMC has become one of the foremost teaching centers of multi-generational, multi-ethnic models of worship and discipling, and shared leadership. This spring they will host the nationwide Large Church Initiative.
In addition to his appointments, Steve has served as Chair of the North Georgia Conference Council on Finance and Administration, The General Council on Finance and Administration of the worldwide UMC, the Executive Committee of the Leading Edge, Pastors Gathering of the largest UMC’s in the country, and was one of 14 clergy delegates elected to the world gathering of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church representing the North Georgia Conference in 2008 and in 2012. For seven years he was the Community Spiritual Director for the Northwest Georgia Walk to Emmaus. He was chosen to be the launching Community Spiritual Director for the Tres Dias movement in Moscow, Russia, in 1994. Additionally, Steve has preached and led mission trips to Israel, Jordan, Haiti, Brazil, Nigeria, Costa Rica, South Africa, and Mexico. Steve, also, serves on the boards of Mount Pisgah Christian School, the Summit Counseling Center, and The Beacon of Hope Women’s Center, and The Confessing Movement.
At the heart of what the Alumni Council does is re-connect ATS alumni with the Seminary. “Not only has ATS helped us in the past, it can serve us today and tomorrow as well. And of course, we want to pay it back so that others can be blessed with similar experiences that we have had at ATS, too,” Tom Harrison said. “Steve Wood will help this happen because he has a passion for ATS, too! He believes like so many of us, the Maxie Dunnam quote: “As the seminary goes – so goes the pastor. As the pastor goes – so goes the church. As the church goes – so goes the world.”
Serving alongside Steve as the Vice-President of the Alumni Council is Carolyn Moore. Rev. Carolyn Moore has been an ordained elder in the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church since 1998. She graduated from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1998. Her first five years of pastoral ministry was spent in Athens, GA, where she helped create a weekly college worship experience in a downtown theatre. In 2003, she was appointed to the Augusta area, where she and her family were given the joy of starting a new congregation called Mosaic.
“Asbury Seminary has been an instrumental partner in my spiritual formation and on-going learning as a pastor, leader, and as a disciple of Jesus Christ,” shared Steve. “I count it both an honor and a privilege to serve kingside Tammy Cessna, Carolyn Moore, and a host of great servant leaders.” During this time of transition, he deeply covets “the prayers of the Asbury community as we look forward to glorifying God together as an Alumni Council. Our alumni are literally in every corner of the world and God has gifted us an opportunity of a lifetime to join God together in the spread of scriptural holiness in the training and equipping of a growing movement of world-wide leaders.”
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