Dr. Woods' introduction

I am presently working as Director of Pastoral Studies at Presbyterian College. I began my duties there on January, 2008 so I am relatively new to Montreal and the Presbytery. Before accepting the call to Presbyterian College I was senior minister at First Presbyterian Church, Brandon, Manitoba for fourteen years. It was not until coming here that I became aware of the connections between St. Andrew and St. Paul with First Presbyterian, Brandon. Two of your associates, Rev. James Peter Jones and Rev. Oliver Nugent went on to be the senior minister at First Presbyterian.

I am married and have two children. David is 21 and Sarah is 18. Both of them have come with us to Montreal although Sarah is planning to return to Brandon. My wife, Susan, teaches English as a Second Language but right now is busy studying French full time. Prior to my work at First Presbyterian I was involved in two start-up operations. In 1979 I was part of a team of five people who started a Bible College on Thetis Island, one of the Gulf Islands off of Vancouver Island. After five years I decided to take more studies and completed a Master of Christian Studies at Regent College in Vancouver. Following my time there I joined with a small group of people in establishing a private school in Vancouver. I eventually became principal but left after six years in order to fulfill what I felt was a call to ordained ministry. I completed a Master of Divinity degree at the Vancouver School of Theology and was ordained in 1994. I have always been interested in the area of leadership and enrolled in a Doctoral program at Luther Seminary in Minneapolis. I completed my studies in 2005 with a doctoral thesis called Polity and Potential: The Role of Elders in Congregational Change.

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