Scott Wilson
The 55-year-old Wilson (“Pastor Scott”) is a diehard Indians fan who believes that the team will win the World Series in his lifetime.
As a child, he attended games at the cavernous old Municipal Stadium with his father. He went to college on a baseball scholarship, receiving his bachelor of arts degree in recreation from Malone College in Canton in 1976. His master of divinity degree (1979) is from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and doctor of ministry degree (2008) is from Ashland Theological Seminary in Ashland, Ohio.
He was ordained an elder in the East Ohio Conference in 1981 and has served churches in Louisville (Christ UMC, 1979-84), Bucyrus (Grace UMC, 1984-88) and Norton (Johnson UMC, 1988-2009).
Pastor Scott has been influenced by the writings of Pastors Brian McLaren, Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis about the importance of focusing on “red letter Christianity” – what Jesus said in the Gospel.
While he was at Johnson UMC, Pastor Scott developed outreach programs ranging from a food- and clothing-distribution ministry to a basketball ministry. Along the way, he led the congregation in relocating and increased average worship attendance to more than 300.
He is married to Barbara (Babs) Wilson, who is a registered nurse at Summa Health System’s Barberton Hospital. They have two grown children, Erin and Benjamin.
Pastor Scott looks forward to becoming part of the community. “Everybody has stuff,” he says. “Everybody is welcome at Mayfield to talk about that stuff and find out how God and the church can help.”