Lead Pastor Candidate Update
Pastor Pete Goodman
My name is Pete Goodman, and I am so excited for the opportunity to be invited for a candidacy weekend and the chance to meet with you all on April 12th + 13th.
My wife Julie and I have been married for 16 incredible years and currently live in San Diego with our four amazing children, Keira (14), Kellen (13), Karsyn (11), and Kamri (8), along with our Goldendoodle Kooper.
We are both definitely Midwesterners at heart, having grown up in Northern Illinois; me from a small farm town called Freeport - land of the fighting Pretzels (yes, that was actually our high school mascot) and Julie from the Western suburbs of Chicago. After a number of years serving in youth, teaching, and worship ministry in Illinois and Kansas, we moved out west in 2013 to help plant Rise City Church where I currently serve as the Executive Pastor.
While helping launch and lead a new church over the past 12 years has been one of the greatest joys of my life, seeing it grow to over 1500 people in just a few short years, Julie and I both feel God calling us into something new and believe it to be there with you at Woodland Church.
As a pastor my greatest passion, as well as my strongest gifting, is to help people better understand and apply the truth of God's Word and to see how faithfully following Jesus brings about the life He came to give us. I'm an avid learner with a master’s degree in theology from Asbury Seminary, a Wesleyan seminary school, and a doctorate in New Testament Context from Northern Seminary in Chicago.
I love to help others make sense of the Bible, cast vision for what could be, and lead teams to discover their greatest potential.
As a person I love reading and watching movies - usually anything my wife would consider “for nerds”. I love following my teams from the greatest sports city in America – Chicago, and taking the dog for long hikes with my wife in the beautiful Southern California weather - yes, I know, it will be missed! But in all seriousness, Julie and I truly believe that God is calling us to Woodland, cold weather and all, to build a life with what we can already tell are some amazing people and join you in reaching southwest Michigan with the Gospel of Jesus.
We can’t wait to meet you.
Sermon Examples
Take time to review some of the various resources and sermons from Pastor Pete Goodman.
A Message from Pastor Pete
Saturday, April 12th
6:00pm Meet and Greet and Q+A
What’s next?
Sunday, April 13th
4:30pm Congregational Meeting
Candidating Weekend
Saturday, April 12th
6:00PM | Meet and Greet + Q&A
Join us for a special evening as we welcome Pastor Pete and his wife, Julie! This is a great opportunity to meet them in person, hear their heart for ministry, and ask them your questions during our Q&A time. Plus, enjoy delicious walking tacos while you connect. Come ready to engage, learn, and be a part of this exciting next step for our church. Submit questions for the Q&A today, and don’t miss out on this important and meaningful time together!
Childcare is not provided, and families are invited to attend together!
Sunday, April 13th
Marshall Campus
9:00AM Service: Pastor Pete will be speaking in person at our 9:00AM Marshall Campus service.
11:00AM Service: Pastor Pete will join us live via video from our Battle Creek Campus.
Battle Creek Campus
11:00AM Service: The Battle Creek Campus will be coming together for one unified service on April 13th.
Congregational Meeting
4:30PM at the Battle Creek Campus: Members will receive their ballots via email at 3:00PM on the 13th. Doors will open at 4:00PM, and non-members will be able to pick up a general ballot in the lobby. Our meeting will begin at 4:30PM.
A submitted Church Profile Update form is required for participation in this vote. Update your profile now.
FAQ
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Pastor Pete and his wife Julie will be joining us April 12th and 13th for a Candidating Weekend. We will hold a Meet and Greet and Q+A time on Saturday, April 12th at 6:00pm in our Zuhl Chapel at the Battle Creek Campus! All are welcome to attend!
Have a question you’d like to submit for the Q&A?
CLICK HERE -
All pastoral candidates that apply go through a thorough screening process which consists of multiple interviews with the Woodland Search Team, and a full vetting process by the Great Lakes Region of the Wesleyan Church, which includes an interview, national criminal background check, credit background check, and Simmons Personality Profile.
The candidate is then unanimously recommended by the Search Team to the Woodland Elder Board, sharing interview video files and reports from reference calls. The Elder Board reviews all of these materials and then conducts an in person comprehensive interview with the candidate and spouse.
The Elder Board then unanimously recommends a candidate to the Membership body of Woodland Church. -
All Members of Woodland Church will be asked to participate in the vote on April 13th. A Member is defined as someone who has attended a membership class and signed the membership covenant, and was approved by the Board of Elders.
Non-Members will also be invited to submit a ballot, and their input will be highly valued, although, the Member vote will be the official data presented to the denomination.
To review your profile and confirm your status please click here.