STORY
Centerville Welcomes New Senior Pastor
June 3, 2023
Francis Tuffour
Installation of pastor goETZ
Today, the Centerville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Dayton, Ohio, held an installation service to welcome a new senior pastor.
Pastor Oswaldo Magaña, Executive Secretary, Clergy Care, & Leadership Development director of the Ohio Conference, who led the installation, introduced Pastor Micheal Goetz and his family to the Centerville Church family and said, “It has been a long journey to the Centerville Church, I should say, one year and four months that you lost your pastor, but God in His mercy, after much prayer, asking Him to lead, asking Him to guide, asking Him to open doors, God has said yes, I have that person.”
Centerville church's senior pastor position became vacant when Pastor Baldwin Winston passed away on January 30, 2022. Pastor Magaña emphasized how God has guided the replacement process. "Have the assurance that when the church prays and commits to God's will, He will always lead us to the person He has already selected,” he added.
Pastor Goetz started his pastoral ministry in Pennsylvania. He also served as a police chaplain in the same state following his undergraduate studies in theology at Montemorelos University in Mexico. He later joined the Pioneer Memorial Church pastoral team located on the campus of Andrews University as associate pastor. Goetz also ministered as lead pastor for Campion Adventist church and Campion Academy in Loveland, Colorado. He earned his Master of Divinity (MDiv.) and a Doctorate in Ministry (DMin, emphasis in homiletics) degrees from Seventh-day AdventistTheological Seminary at Andrews University. His hobbies include running and reading. His wife, Melanie, who is gifted in music, also enjoys running. In addition, she is a dental hygienist. They have two children, a boy, and a girl.
In his sermon "Give Me That Mountain," Goetz called his new church members to open their hearts to God’s promises. “By the Living Word, beloved, I shall prevail, you shall prevail, the church of God will prevail. Because I am standing on the promises of God, nothing more, nothing less. You want to know what I care about as a pastor (lifting his Bible), the promises. Let’s go, Let’s go,” he added. He then invited the congregation to sing Seventh-day Adventist Hymn 518, "Standing on the Promises," to end his sermon.
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