The Rev. Steve Wood is Rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Mt. Pleasant, SC and married to Jacqui. Together they have four sons, Aaron, Tim, Nick and Sammy. His passion is to honor Jesus Christ by developing and releasing fully-devoted disciples of Jesus Christ who are empowered by the Holy Spirit for the work of ministry.

Upon his graduation from Virginia Theological Seminary in 1991 he was appointed Vicar of St. Anne-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, a semi-rural parish in Madison, Ohio. During his years at St. Anne’s the church developed a reputation for community outreach and evangelism, most notably establishing a children’s ministry to serve the needs of the Hispanic migrant workers who worked the local nurseries. While Vicar the church experienced a 55% increase in Sunday worship attendance and 87% increase in member giving.

In 1996 Steve accepted an invitation to join the staff of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Bath, Ohio as Sr. Associate/Chief-of-Staff. Responsibilities included oversight and administration of day-to-day operations of multi-staffed church with additional responsibilities for the following areas of ministry: discipleship, evangelism/missions and healing.

In July of 2000 he was called to be the Rector of St. Andrew’s where he has developed both staff and parish administrative structures which give oversight and training to 21 full-time and 62 part-time staff members and over 700 lay leaders and lay ministers. Working with Vestry and staff, Steve has overseen a parish budget that has grown from $1,300,000 to $3,100,000. Weekly worship attendance has increased from 500 to over 1500. Pastoral care and discipleship are delivered through a multi-tiered process which has produced 70+ LifeGroups (home churches). Under Steve’s leadership evangelism and missions have been the primary priority at St. Andrew’s. Each Easter St. Andrew’s hosts an evangelistic outreach service at a local plantation. In 2006, 4400 people attended Easter services. Additionally, St. Andrew’s serves as a resource church for both the Alpha and the Marriage Courses. A partnership with the Charleston County Family Court has resulted in ministries being developed in Drug Court and the Juvenile Detention Center. Prison ministries have been established in the Charleston County Detention Center and the Navy Brig. The intentional development of relationships with the African-American church community has resulted in mutual ministry opportunities and racial reconciliation. Over the past six years St. Andrew’s has supported and help develop 7 seminarians, 5 full-time missionaries, and sent over 400 lay people on short-term mission trips.

Steve has served the Diocese of South Carolina and the wider church in a variety of roles. Currently, he is on the South Carolina Ecclesiastical Court, Standing Committee, and, is the Diocesan representative to the Steering Committee of the Anglican Communion Network. He serves on the National Core Leadership Team of Alpha USA; is the United States leader for New Wine International and is the North American Senior for The Order of Mission. A popular conference speaker, he has led parish retreats, men’s retreats, capital campaigns, and teaching/healing missions in the USA, Canada, Ireland, England, Brazil, Israel and Uganda.

1) Biographical information: Family, marital status, etc (one paragraph)

I was born in Cleveland, Ohio on 12 October 1963 to J.N. Wood (deceased) and Elanore Wood. I have one brother, Chris, who is 7 years my junior. I am currently married to the former Jacqueline Benner. We were married on 1 February 1986. Together, we are raising four sons, Aaron (19 yrs.), Tim (15 yrs.), Nick (12 yrs.) and Sammy (8 yrs.). I am a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary (1991) and am serving in my third parish.

2) Please give your spiritual autobiography. (Answer may be up to four pages)

"I want what they have," I sat thinking in the balcony of an Episcopal Church just outside of Niagara Falls, NY. It was the last night of a Faith Alive weekend and my youth pastor had brought me three hours from home to be a part of the weekend. For two days I had sat listening to person after person speak of their relationship with Jesus Christ and the difference He had made in their lives. Not knowing what to say, I simply said what was in my heart. I wanted the relationship they had with Jesus. I learned that night that God honors the honest desire of a child who wants to come home. I also discovered that my prayer was not the end of a journey, but the beginning of an adventure.

Thankfully, I grew up in a home that was friendly to Christianity. My father's family was split equally between Union Baptists and Assembly of God. My mother was Episcopalian, and my mother made the religious decisions in our family. Thus, I was baptized into the Episcopal Church. For most of my early childhood, my father did not attend church. He was concerned, though, that I attend with my mother. And, so, throughout my life I attended worship and Sunday School on a weekly basis, becoming an acolyte and being involved in my youth group.

Two other family decisions also shaped my faith. The first was my parent's decision to purchase a home in an Italian Catholic neighborhood. To this day I remain grateful for the experience of growing up in a neighborhood which was shaped by the calendar of the church. Roman Catholic, or not, I was expected to participate in the religious life of my community. And so, faithfully, year in and year out I would join my friends as we traveled to "the grotto" to walk and pray the Stations of the Cross; attended the Feast of the Assumption; and developed a life shaped by the rhythms of the Church.

The second significant decision involved my attending a Missouri Synod Lutheran grade school from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade. It was at St. John's that I engaged in weekly Bible verse memorization, study of Old and New Testament Church history and most dramatically, encountered Martin Luther. As part of our twice weekly religion classes we began studying Luther's Small Catechism in Fifth Grade. Our studies culminated in Eighth Grade with a comprehensive test, covering 100 questions from the Catechism, in which a minimum grade of 90% needed to be obtained in order to graduate (and, obviously, left a lasting impact). I am deeply thankful for these formative years in which I discovered Scripture and theology, as well as the comprehensive scope of the Christian faith.

The first real test to my faith came as I departed for University. I failed the test. I was not prepared for the lack of structure nor the freedom I encountered. And, while my academic achievement did not suffer, my spiritual, personal and moral life atrophied. By God's grace, during Christmas break of my sophomore year the priest who oversaw both the Diocesan Youth Program and Diocesan Conference Center suggested I withdraw and return home to a local University. Upon my return home, I enrolled in the local University, reengaged the parish of my childhood, and accepted a staff position from the above mentioned priest and moved the Diocesan Conference center as spiritual director.

The summer entering my senior year of University I became reacquainted with a girl I had known for quite a while, and had dated on and off through High School. Within the year I would marry Jacqui and we would start our family. By this time I had assumed leadership positions within my parish, serving as the director of acolytes, co-leader of the college ministry, and vestryman. Upon graduation I accepted a position with the Boy Scouts of America as District Executive.

During these first few months post graduation both my parish priest and the above mentioned priest pulled me aside and encouraged me to explore the possibility of ordination. I had been prayerfully considering the ordained ministry for about two years by that point. I felt that their conversations were confirmations that I should enter the diocesan discernment process, testing the perceived calling with which I was wrestling. To my surprise, because of my age (22yrs old) and theology (conservative in a liberal diocese), I was accepted into a discernment process which culminated 18 months later with me departing for Virginia Theological Seminary.

Seminary was a positive experience for our family. I enjoyed the academic and communal life at VTS. And, during these three years our second son was born.

Upon graduation my bishop assigned me as Vicar of a long-term mission parish. My time at St. Anne's became the Karios moment of my ministry as a priest and my development as a leader. Eighteen months into my tenure I found myself in the depths of frustration and completely bewildered. It seemed as if everything I'd touch would blow up. Church attendance had decreased by 50%. Giving had decreased. My vestry was angry with me. The diocese had notified me that based on current trends I would be reassigned and the mission closed within eight months. Compounding the stress I was feeling from my failure at work was the pressure of a growing family. The church was consuming more and more of my time, I would tell myself, "If I only work harder, do more, communicate better . . . whatever, I'll get this sorted."

One afternoon I found myself walking the halls of an empty church overwhelmed and clueless. Walking into the sanctuary emotions flooded me. "This isn't what I signed up for," I told the Lord. How had it come to this? I became a follower of Jesus Christ because I was attracted to His beauty. The establishment of Christian community as tantalizingly pictured by Luke in Acts 2 was the desire of my heart. How could I have failed so badly? As I left the sanctuary that afternoon, I took off my clerical collar, placed it on the Altar, and told the Lord, "you can have it back."

Going home that evening I told my wife, Jacqui, that at the end of summer I intended to resign and pursue a law degree. Wisely, Jacqui counseled me to hold off on making any announcement to either the church or the bishop, and, instead suggested we take our vacation, focus on our family life and see what the church looked like after I'd had a break.

What we would discover was that I was trying to be "the good pastor." Misapplication of Paul's injunction to be, "all things to all people," I'd defined and redefined the vision for the church so many times that my congregation was rightly dispirited and confused.

"Why don't you do what you said you were going to do?" Jacqui asked, referring to the original vision that I'd presented to leadership two years prior. "But, what if I fail?" I argued, having lost confidence in both my leadership abilities as well as the vision I'd articulated. "Well, you're failing already," Jacqui replied, "at least you'll know if your vision has wings. And if it doesn't, you can walk away knowing that you tried to lead the church into the direction you felt the Lord impressing upon you."

Returning from vacation, and with nothing to lose, I called a leadership meeting, followed by a series of church-wide meetings. I talked about my "vision of the month" approach to ministry. I apologized for my failure to lead. I returned to the vision I believe the Lord placed within me. I invited the church to move together into a preferred future. Over the next three years we accomplished much of what was articulated during the church-wide meetings. Most satisfying to me as a leader was the development of a leadership community which continued after my departure as Vicar. St. Anne's had been a mission church of the Diocese of Ohio for 90+ years. One year after my departure, these same leaders, under the guidance of my successor attained parish status. It was a great day of celebration for the church.

Kindly, following my tenure as Vicar at St. Anne's, the Lord led me to St. Luke's, Bath, Ohio, where I accepted the position of Chief of Staff. St. Luke's was a time of great healing and spiritual growth. Under dynamic leadership the church was experiencing tremendous growth and my family and I found ourselves in a setting in which we could be encouraged and mentored. With responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the parish and staff management I found myself delighting in the responsibility of creating life-giving structures which allowed for the members of the parish to discover, and use for the Lord's glory, their giftings.

My great joy these past five years has been to serve as Rector of St. Andrew's ~ Mt. Pleasant. Accompanying this joy has been the privilege of being a part of the Diocese of South Carolina. While some may take for granted the blessing of an orthodox diocese, having grown up in an increasingly hostile and revisionist diocese, I am still humbled by the Lord's mercy. I have continuously sought the Lord's direction for the leading of my parish. I have endeavored to be a blessing to our larger diocesan family through hosting special teaching and training events and by offering myself back to my brothers and sisters through service on various commissions and committee's.

I have had the privilege to lead many people to Christ, including my father and godfather. My greatest joy in ministry comes as I see people whom I've nurtured in their faith live into the God-given purpose for their life and then reproduce that life in others.

My most significant ministry, however, remains my family. I am humbled again and again with the responsibility and blessing of being a husband and father to four sons. This ministry drives me to my knees seeking the Lord's leading as I endeavor to be a blessing to my family. My greatest joys have been experienced seeing my wife and children grow in knowledge and love of our Lord.

3) Jesus said, "Who do you say I am?" What does this mean to you?

Jesus' question to Peter, "who do you say that I am?" is the question that confronts each person who has lived, is living, or is yet to have life. C.S. Lewis remarked that Jesus left us with no middle ground, He either is exactly who He claimed to be; the Son of the Living God, or He is a liar, or a lunatic, or something worse. I believe that Jesus asks me this question daily.

I believe what the Creeds say about Him. Specifically, I believe Jesus Christ to be the God incarnate Second Person of the Trinity: the Word made flesh who assumed my guilt, forgave my sin, and opens to me the way of eternal life. One would think that in light of such overwhelming grace and truth I would live each day in joyful thanksgiving. Sadly, I fall far short. In fact, I often find it a moment by moment decision to submit myself to the Lordship of my Saviour.

4) What is your favorite scripture, and why?

My favorite text is found in Ephesians 2.4ff.: "But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ . . . for by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, least any man should boast." The first three verses of this chapter present a hopeless humanity—trapped in sin, under Satan's power, unable to save itself. Then come those small but glorious words "but God." These words reveal to us a divine plan so huge in scope and so vast in love that the human mind cannot fully comprehend it—all we can do is humbly receive it. Instead of leaving sinful humanity to live worthless and hopeless lives ending only in death, God acted. Salvation does not come from my self-reliance or our individualism but from God's initiative. It is a gift to be thankfully accepted.

5) How do you understand the Bible to be the inspired word of God?

The theological idea of inspiration presupposes a personal mind and will acting to communicate. The term "inspiration" rarely occurs in our translations of Scripture, however, the idea itself is clearly present within scriptural teaching. For example, the word, theopneustos (2 Tim 3.16) literally means, "God-spirated", or "breathed out", and affirms that the living God is the author of Scripture and that Scripture is the product of His creative breath.

I would hold to the view that the Bible, as a whole and in every part, is the written Word of God. I understand that alongside special divine revelation of God's saving acts in history, He has also chosen to communicate through words. This latter revelation is received through a restricted canon of trustworthy writings which interpret God's actions and interactions with humanity while also revealing divine meaning and significance.

6) What is the significance of Jesus' death and resurrection?

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ won for us our salvation. The comprehensiveness of our salvation is shown as we understand, 1. what we are saved from - including, but not limited to: sin and death; guilt and estrangement; ignorance of truth, bondage of our will in regard to habit and vice; fear of death, demons, hell, and fear God. 2. We see that this salvation won for us by Christ Jesus is a past, present and future reality which includes the free transmission of God's grace and forgiveness which works itself out in our increasing sanctification. 3. Salvation is multidimensional with implications for our religious life (reconciliation, redemption, adoption as sons, reception of the Holy Spirit), emotional life (peace, hopefulness, assurance), practical issues (prayer, guidance service); ethical issues (freedom from addictions/habits, new moral aim), personal issues (new thoughts, convictions, beliefs, motives); and social life (a new community, compassion toward the poor and needy).

7) What part does prayer play in your life and that of your family?

In his book, With Christ in the School of Prayer, Andrew Murray notes, "Jesus never taught His disciples how to preach, only how to pray." Perhaps having lived with the Lord, they understood better than we that prayer is what believers need most to be effective disciples of Jesus Christ. I have attempted to have prayer establish the rhythm of my day, with consistent times of prayer at the beginning of the day, mid-day and evening.

The Scriptures explicitly instruct fathers to teach their children the faith. To that end, my wife and I have since their conception prayed over and with them. Each day in our home begins and ends with prayer. Through prayer our relationship with the Lord has developed. Equally, my sons have seen, as have we all, the Lord respond again and again to our prayers, be they for provision, healing, salvation, etc.

8) What is your position on the issues currently facing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion?

There are a myriad of issues facing the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. My assumption is that this question refers to the crisis triggered by the issue of the consecration of V. Gene Robinson as bishop of New Hampshire. Fundamentally, I believe that two churches now exist within the Anglican Communion which struggle over the following: 1. Is Jesus Christ Lord?; 2. In what sense is Scripture authoritative for our beliefs and practices?; 3. How do we submit to God's call to a holy life, specifically in the area of our sexuality? I would want to reassert the classical, creedal faith embraced by Anglicanism, and indeed the Church catholic: that Jesus Christ is, in fact, the unique expression of the invisible God; that Scripture is the touchstone for belief and practice so that "whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby" may be required of anyone to believed as an article of the Faith or "thought requisite or necessary to salvation;" and finally that in all matters our lives ought to conform to that which we read on the pages of Scripture and in those areas where we fall short confession and repentance is the appropriate means whereby our sin is remedied.

My fear for the Episcopal Church, is that like Israel in the days of Ahab, Elijah says to us: "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him. But the people said nothing" (I Kings 18.21). Ahab sought a means of accommodation, peaceful co-existence. In light of such leadership, it is not surprising that the nation of Israel was literally speechless. I am expecting that the next bishop of South Carolina will need to lead this Diocese into new global structures in a post General Convention world.

9)How do you understand the role of a bishop in the church today?

I understand the role of the bishop in the church today to be primarily that of chief pastor/administrator. Biblically, I understand the role of bishop to be that of an apostle. In the New Testament the word for "apostle" occurs 79 times and is derived from the Greek, apostellein, which means, "to send." Now, several words in the New Testament are used for send. What is unique with apostellein, is that it emphasizes the elements of commission - the authority of and responsibility to the sender. So, an apostle is properly one sent on a definite mission, in which he acts with full authority and on behalf of the sender and is accountable to him. The biblical duties ascribed to an apostle included preaching, teaching and administration.

I believe that time, circumstance, cultural receptivity and technology have converged and that we stand in the midst of a societal reformation. I am persuaded that the next bishop of South Carolina will need missionary zeal to engage, and persuade, adherents of a contentless spirituality increasingly pervasive in our culture. Gospel proclamation (in pulpits but also other venues), church planting, leadership development, and an increase in the equipping and release of the laity (marked by both responsibility and authority) should be the priorities of the next bishop of South Carolina.