I want to see a transforming presence in places around the globe, where there are now more than one million communities without even one local church. We can now number 7,000 people groups that are entirely unreached, where anyone who might want to respond to Jesus cannot – because they lack the presence of a Christian witness in their community. These places near and far need the presence a gospel-believing congregation provides.

The church must be unleashed to achieve this, starting here in North America, and then beyond all our imaginations, even the apostolic ones, to the ends of the earth. Speaking for this entire team, I want to say we sense that God is up to something. Do you? May the Holy Spirit come upon us, and may we receive the power to truly unleash his Church.

Dr. Wayne Schmidt
General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church

Dr. Wayne Schmidt is the General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church, a role he was elected to on June 6, 2016, by the North American General Conference in Buffalo, New York. Previously, Schmidt served as the chief administrative officer of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University since January 1, 2010. He led the seminary from its infancy to over 500 students from 34 states and 11 countries, achieving full accreditation and offering training in English and Spanish.

From 1979-2009, Schmidt served first a co-founding pastor and then senior pastor of Kentwood Community Church (KCC) in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, area. He gave leadership to planting the church and growing it to a multiethnic church with over 2,500 in weekend attendance and seeing more than 200 people saved annually. KCC also took the lead role in planting 10 daughter churches during Schmidt’s tenure.

Schmidt has given outstanding leadership to building strong multiethnic communities. At Kentwood Community Church, the congregation moved from being only two percent multiethnic to over 12 percent by 2009. At Wesley Seminary, the same commitment to multiethnicity has resulted in the strong Spanish language programs and also serving other ethnicities well, with a student body that is nearly 40 percent ethnic minority.

Schmidt has served on the district boards of administration in West Michigan and Indiana North districts for a total of 15 years and also served as assistant district superintendent of West Michigan District for seven years. He has helped lead strategic roundtable discussions in all but two North American districts and has ministered on several mission fields. He is an Indiana Wesleyan University graduate, holds a master’s degree and earned a Doctor of Ministry degree at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Schmidt has demonstrated seminal thinking in ministry leadership through half a dozen books, including Accountability: Becoming People of Integrity, Leading When God is Moving, Soul Management, Lead On, Power Plays and Ministry Velocity. He also has contributed chapters to books such as The Church Jesus Builds, various articles to publications and has been a contributing editor for Leadership Journal.

He and his wife, Jan, have been married for 41 years, and their three children and their spouses and seven grandchildren all serve the Lord.