Grove's New Pastor: Rev. Dr. George Oliver "Ollie" Wagner
After many months of prayer, conversation, interviews, and discernment, the Pastor Nominating Committee is delighted to introduce Rev. Dr. George Oliver “Ollie” Wagner as our Church’s next pastor.
For some of you, Ollie will need little introduction. He grew up at Grove, was nurtured in faith by this congregation, and still has family and lifelong friends within our church. For others, Sunday was your opportunity to meet him for the first time and learn about the pastor and leader we have come to know through this process.
Ollie brings more than three decades of ordained ministry experience within the Presbyterian Church (USA). He currently serves as Senior Pastor of Alpharetta Presbyterian Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, where he has served since 2008. Earlier in his ministry, he served as pastor of Montoursville Presbyterian Church as well as in campus and congregational ministry in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Davidson College, a Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary.
Throughout our conversations with Ollie, we were impressed by his warmth, faith, experience, and deep commitment to the ministry of the church. He understands his calling especially through “preaching, teaching, and pastoral care.” His ministry has included leading congregations through significant change, developing staff and lay leaders, strengthening community partnerships, and helping churches discern how God is calling them to serve in changing times.
We were also impressed by Ollie’s vision for Grove. He speaks of beginning by listening, learning, and honoring the congregation’s history while helping us discern where God is leading us next. He sees opportunities to strengthen worship and Christian education, deepen pastoral care, engage children and families, expand community outreach, and make better use of technology and communication to connect with people beyond our walls.
Perhaps most importantly, we believe Ollie has the combination of pastoral vision and experienced leadership that Grove needs at this particular moment. Our congregation has tremendous gifts, history, and commitment to service. We believe he can help bring those strengths together around a shared vision for Grove’s next chapter.
As many of you know from our updates, our journey to this point has been extensive. We reviewed more than 140 potential candidates, reached out to more than 30 pastors, and interviewed a number of strong candidates. We took this responsibility seriously and did not enter into our final discernment lightly. After thoughtful discussion and prayer, our PNC was unanimous in its decision to recommend Ollie to the congregation.
There is something particularly meaningful about the possibility that someone whose faith was formed at Grove might now return to help lead the congregation that helped form him. At the same time, our enthusiasm for Ollie is not simply about his history here. We believe his experience, gifts, character, and vision make him the right person to help Grove move forward.
Sunday, we had the opportunity to worship with Ollie, hear him preach, learn more about him, and participate in the congregational meeting at which the congregation unanimously voted to extend our call to him.
We are deeply grateful for the prayers, patience, and trust you have given us throughout this search.
With gratitude and excitement for what God has in store,
The Pastor Nominating Committee of Grove