Traveling for a Cause

Step into George Wood’s office on the executive floor of The U.S. Assemblies of God National Leadership and Resource Center in Springfield, Mo., and you’re likely to see an assortment of souvenirs not uncommon for a well-traveled man of his age.

Every artifact in this office symbolizes part of a lifetime journey that’s brought him to this place and position – as head of the World Assemblies of God. From a boy born to missionary parents to China and Tibet to a man leading the largest Pentecostal organization in the world into the 21st century, George Wood’s story is one peppered with equal parts providence and preparation.

On the far wall of his office hangs a panorama of the Sun Moon Mountain Pass in the Xinghai Province in China – one of the locations his parents labored as missionaries for the Assemblies of God and where Wood spent his life until age 6. His parents served several terms in Northwest China and Tibet until Communism forced them out of the country – but not before planting a congregation of 200 souls. That congregation is 15,000 members strong today.

Wood’s parents laid a foundation for his four decades of Christian service—from pastor to professor and campus minister to denominational leader. He served as general secretary for the Assemblies of God for 14 years, and was the first secretary to be named general superintendent when he was voted in by the General Council in August of 2007.

His life’s work is all about getting people back to the Bible – back to real relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. While the methods change over the years, the message stays the same. To help him keep that perspective at the forefront, Wood keeps his father’s antique typewriter next to his keyboard.

“I learned to type on that typewriter, and I keep it next to my computer to remind me how important it is to change,” Wood said. “When things are changing you’ve got to change as well – if we stayed with the typewriter where would be today?”

It’s that approach – clear-headed thinking, common sense and reliance on the Holy Spirit – that Wood relies on for success in ministry. With one hand pulling from the rich history of the Assemblies of God and one hand reaching to the future of the movement, Wood’s vision as CEO of the Assemblies of God is bringing the church with more than 12,700 congregations and more than 3 million members and adherents in the States into the 21st century.