First Wesleyan Church welcomes new minister

First Wesleyan Church welcomes new minister

Williams: We don’t pastor to a church, we pastor a community

First Wesleyan Church in Charles City welcomes the Williams family to lead their congregation. The Rev. Rob Williams celebrated his first Sunday on Oct. 4 at First Wesleyan Church. Originally from Des Moines, Williams and his family are settling into life in Charles City easily.

“It’s a beautiful town,” Williams said, describing the view of driving down the Main Street hill into the downtown area and being greeted by the river. Besides the scenery, Williams and his family are

Williams PASTOR

Continued from page 1 also enjoying Charles City’s residents.

“People are really welcoming,” he said.

Not only are Charles Citians welcoming, but they are also supportive.

“My wife (Stephanie) went to the homecoming parade and said it was a huge deal,” Williams said. Coming from a city with 13 high schools, Williams is not accustomed to an entire town cheering on one team and showing their support.

The genuine support is visible beyond that of the Comets.

“People really rally around community events,” Williams said. He made special note of the crowd and participants at the annual Spook Walk.

The friendly community relationship Charles City residents show to one another exemplifies Williams’ goals as a minister. Although a reverend at First Wesleyan Church. W illiams’ goal is to reach beyond the church’s doors.

“We don’t pastor to a church, we pastor to a community,” he said.

Already the community has proven to Williams their passion for fellowship and camaraderie.

He is eager to administer pastoral care and change the presentation so that the Bible and faith become more accessible.

“A lot of people think churches are old fashioned,” he said. Williams plans to change that notion. “Our worship center will get an overhaul, programing changing, a lot of things to reach people in today’s world.”

Williams earned his pastoral license six years ago from Bethany Bible College, now Kingswood University, in Canada. This is where he met his wife of eight years. Having lived and worked in the U.S. for the past five years, Stephanie Williams said she no longer feels the effects o f culture shock.

The Williams family looks forward to growing in faith and love in Charles City.

“I ’d say, if our church had a mission statement, it would be doing life together and challenging everyone to know God,” he said.

The Rev. Rob Williams has been called as the new minister to First Wesleyan Church. He and his wife Stephanie have three children, Evelyn, 3, Luca, 10 months and Nicholas, 5.

Press photo by Amie Johansen

By Amie Johansen amie@charlescitypress.com