Pastors

Pastor Ray Rewerts was the first pastor of the Woodland Drive-In Church. He preached at the 9:30 service at Fifth Reformed Church and then rushed over to the Drive-In for the 11:00 service. In 1976, however, Rewerts left Fifth to become pastor of another church. Once again the Drive-In Church task force stood at a crossroads.

During the period of vacancy at Fifth Church, they decided to secure the services of someone who would become a “Drive-In pastor.” From September 1976 to April 1978, that person was Ted Lindeman. After he left, for the next year, the Drive-In was served each Sunday by various area pastors and seminary students. Realizing the need for more consistency in leadership, Jerry Johnson, a second-year student at Western Theological Seminary, was called to serve during the summer of 1979. During his short stay at the Drive-In, he made a significant impact on the lives of those with whom he came in contact.

Then, in January 1980, Pastor Ralph Ludwick, who had often preached at the Drive-In during its period of vacancy, developed a special love for that ministry. Even though he was a full-time chaplain at St. Mary’s Hospital, he agreed to be the pastor and counselor of the Woodland Drive-In Church. He served the church until May 1984. This once again gave the people attending the Drive-In Church an era of continuity and spiritual and personal growth.

The summer of 1984 once again saw a variety of people preaching each Sunday at the Drive-In. That summer, Verlyn Verbrugge, who had been serving a church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, moved to Grand Rapids to begin a program of further education in New Testament studies. Since that program left him with his weekends free, the Drive-In task force offered him the position of becoming the Drive-In pastor. Verlyn is not only an excellent communicator of God’s Word, but he is also a man of great compassion and sensitivity. After he finished his doctoral program in 1988, he was hired on full-time as editor at Zondervan Publishing House in Grand Rapids, so that his weekends continued to be free. Thus, he is still serving as the pastor of the Woodland Drive-In Church.