Who is Glen Woods?

I’m excited to introduce our newest blog contributor. I’ve asked him to write a little article about himself. You’ll catch some of his sense of humor and practical wisdom in the following. Click here to welcome him to the website. You can read more from Glen on his blog. ~Tony K.

Glen Woods is now a Ministry-To-Children contributor

So you want to learn a thing or two about Glen Woods? Where do I begin? If you ask my nieces and nephews, they might say that I embarrass them far too often. I deny these claims. My interactions with them are designed to build their character. So yes, I am a loveable uncle who is always innocent all the time, a perfect angel to da UMPH degree. If someone disagrees I have a car trunk full of loaded water guns, just in case they get out of line. But that’s not all.

Recent historical research suggests that I have spent thirty years working with children in various roles, starting as a part-time daycare worker when I was sixteen, and moving on to church volunteer opportunities as a kids church helper, a Sunday school teacher, and a children’s ministry director. I entered children’s ministry long before it was cool for men to do so. Back then we did not have the opportunities which since have emerged to network, train, collaborate, and learn. Branding was something you did to cows to identify them with a specific herd, platforms were a type of shoe, and search engine meant that you lost the motor to your vehicle, probably in the tall grass in the front lawn next to the refrigerator. I was inspired, however, by the example of my mother who evangelized children in Watts in the 1950s and dedicated her life to ministering to her own children, plus many hundreds of other children in her occupation as a preschool teacher and daycare worker.

Glen Woods has worked with kids for 30 years

Having served in only two churches in my ministry experience over a period of twenty-eight years, the last fifteen years gave me the opportunity to minister as an ordained volunteer Children’s Pastor in an urban church. As of the end of November, 2010, I am resigning this assignment in order to pursue different expressions of ministry outside the walls of the church.

In the past I have consulted with a wide variety of churches, ranging from mega-churches to recent church plants. I served for three years as a Senior Curriculum Consultant for a national distribution firm, helping churches select curriculum for children’s church, Sunday school, and VBS, and learn how to use it. I provided onsite, web-based, and phone consultations, and frequently offered training at local and regional conferences, plus at local training events for specific churches. It seems strange to have found myself in this situation. As a nineteen year-old freshman Bible college student I did not even know what the word “curriculum” meant. The kid’s church director who recruited me quit the following week, and left me holding the responsibility for thirty preschool through sixth grade children. When the senior pastor told me to buy whatever curriculum I wanted for the kids, I had no idea where to begin.

At this point in my life I stand on the precipice of new opportunities to explore God’s direction. While I lack specific details in the early going, I anticipate deeper involvement in urban mission with children and families who live in the cultural margins. I feel most alive when engaging people cross-culturally as a witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also love to help church leaders and volunteers who are eager to learn through coaching, consulting, and training. One way I express this is to serve both here as a writer and at Kidology.org as a CP Team member. If you want to dig deeper into my ministry vita, you are welcome to view it here.

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