Lead Pastor: Greg Scott (Pastor G)
Our current pastor and his wife, Annette, arrived in Waikoloa in October 2014. Greg is the Lead Pastor of our church and Annette serves by his side as our Office Administrator. They are living their dream of working together in full-time ministry. Greg is a native of Newark, Ohio, and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University in 1987 and an M.Div from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1994.
He is known for his sense of humor, singing voice, dramatic flair, and inspirational preaching. Gifted in evangelism, teaching, administration, pastoring, discernment and leadership, Greg brings 30 years of ministry leadership experience with him. He describes himself as a retired football jock but a current theater/music/computer/sci-fi geek! He is also a major fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers!
While in Seminary, Greg was one of the directors of Ichthus Ministries, a “Woodstock-style” Christian weekend music festival that drew over 20,000 participants each year. After graduating from Asbury Theological Seminary in 1994, Greg began his pastoral ministry in Goldsboro, North Carolina with the United Methodist Church. From 1994-1998, he led one of the two churches he served there from a worship attendance of 40 people to over 200 people and started over a dozen active small groups. He also led the church through a 10,000-square-foot building addition program. Greg then spent 14 months in Wilmington, NC helping a failed church plant heal and transitioned the people into other healthy congregations in the area.
In the fall of 1999, the Scott family moved to New Bern, NC. Both Greg and Annette served on the pastoral staff of a new church plant in New Bern, which grew from a core group of sixty people to over 600 people in average weekly attendance. Greg led that church through a 15,000-square-foot building project and led the launch of over 40 small groups. While in North Carolina, Greg also received advanced training in church planting, church leadership, and congregational development.
In June of 2003, Greg and Annette began to feel God was leading them to plant a new church in their home state of Ohio. Through a series of rapid developments, God confirmed that they were to be the founding pastoral family of a southern Ohio church. That church grew from 8 core families to a weekly worship attendance of 450+ people and they launched over 30 active small groups. During their ten years there they also led the church through the purchase of 40+ acres of land and the construction of a 12,500-square-foot building project.
In later December 2013, empty nesters by that time, Greg and Annette felt led by God to begin searching for a new ministry opportunity. About the same time, Greg suffered a catastrophic burn injury in a gasoline explosion and that delayed their search for a new church pastoral position for six months. Finally, in May of 2014, God led them to apply to WCC and they were eventually selected by the church and began serving here at the end of October 2014. Greg and Annette love exploring and can usually be found out somewhere on the Big Island on any given Friday or Saturday (their days off.)
Administrative Support Coach: Annette Scott
Annette grew up in Alexandria, Ohio, and studied for two years as a Chef’s Apprentice before marrying Greg. She also has over 14 years of Children’s and Youth Ministry leadership experience and has received advanced training in Children’s Ministries from Group Publishing.
She served on staff as the Children’s Pastor at New Song United Methodist Church in New Bern, NC for four years and as the Children and Youth Pastor at Fellowship of Faith for four years. She also has 24 plus years of experience as an Office Administrator. She has worked for Toyota, a large hospital emergency room, and an internet-based e-commerce art company. She brings all that experience as the Office Administrator of WCC.
Annette also serves as a volunteer, leading our Food Box Ministry as part of the Missions Team and she also serves as the Sound Board and Media Technician at our Sunday morning worship experience.
Greg and Annette have two grown children. Their daughter, Becca, is married and lives in Michigan with her husband Cory and their cat. Their son, Josh, lives here on the Big Island with his two dogs.