Anita and I went to Ft. Wayne last night to a dinner celebrating Pastor Larry Goodwin’s 40th ministry anniversary. He began his ministry as the bus director for Calvary Temple’s huge bus ministry, then went on to plant churches in Bluffton, Decatur, and Defiance, Ohio. Then he became the missions director for CMI, and is now the pastor of Carroll Road Christian Church in Ft. Wayne.

But some of you may not know that he once pastored our church. From 1976-1980 I was the associate pastor of the Waterloo Church of Christ. I sensed authority trouble brewing inwardly and thought I was the problem, so I resigned and Anita and I began attending a sister church in Hamilton. Immediately after I left, the church went through an ugly split, and the group that maintained possession of the building asked me to come back and be their pastor. I declined and referred them to see Dr. Paul E. Paino for a pastor from CMI.

CMI sent Pastor Larry Goodwin in as an interim and the church joined CMI and became incorporated under the name Calvary Chapel of Waterloo. Pastor Goodwin stayed as interim for six weeks and brought stability to a troubled time in this church’s history. Thank you, Pastor Larry Goodwin.

Tags: Goodwin, history