Pastor of local church looks back on 30 years in ministry

Jul. 2—Nearing 30 years in ministry, the Rev. Rosemary Woods believes she's come a long way, but that churches as a whole have grown as well.

Her career in the church started with the Church of God in Christ, which has many branches across the state. Her father was a minister in the church and took her everywhere.

"Church was my life, even as a child ... I always sang," Woods said. "He'd take me to the different churches he had to preach at and I would sing. I'd sing every Saturday. Other kids would be out playing."

Church services, religious events, funerals and weddings, she performed at all of them. It introduced her to the church and instilled a passion for spreading the work. In 1988 she started preaching, but there was one problem — women were not allowed to be ordained at the time.

"They didn't allow that, the highest you could go was being an evangelist or a missionary," Woods said. "I prayed about it and talked to my godfather, who was the bishop at the time, and he just said 'Go start your own ministry.'"

So, around 30 years ago, she worked with another bishop to form Bibleway International, which is present in 31 communities including Brunswick.

It wasn't the obvious thing to do at the time. She'd always been part of a large congregation and church family, so the idea of leaving felt like abandoning comfort and protection.

But it had to be done, she said, regardless of her feelings on the matter. People needed help, and God told her it wasn't good enough for her to simply refer them to other programs and churches. She had to help them directly and see the mission through personally.

"We really don't understand how many people in the world don't know how to take care of themselves, weren't taught, until you talk with them one-on-one," Woods said.

Her singing earned her a following, and many followed her to Bibleway when they heard she'd started the new church. After her godfather, Bishop Raymond Boyd saw the congregation she was building, he ordained her anyway. Initially, she was put in charge of a small church of maybe 50 people. They started putting a speaker outdoors and developed a huge overflow crowd.

The church grew from there, and in 2011 Woods' met with former Brunswick Mayor Cornell Harvey to discuss opening a local branch. Around five months later, it was a reality.

Since then, Bibleway has worked to tackle many issues. First, it was simply nutrition. One of Woods' core tenets is "Feeding the whole man." That means physically, spiritually and mentally. As a minister, she believed she was already doing her part to feed spiritual needs, so the first step was physically feeding people.

Brunswick was not short of food banks and charities providing food when she came to the area in 2011, but little thought was given to nutrition. This was true across the country. So she set out to provide more balanced meals, especially fresh vegetables and meat, to the poor and those with dietary restrictions due to disease or allergies.

"We were weighing them in and giving nutritional advice," Woods said. "Now 16 churches in Brunswick do it. We don't do it anymore because the purpose was to get everyone on board."

She believes the physical part is satisfied to a much greater degree than ever before. That leaves the task of taking care of the mental health of those in need.

Woods' interview with The News was conducted over the phone, as she was out of town taking classes from Kingdom Ambassadors Global Institute, a religious institution that offers various degree programs.

"That's why I'm back in school again for a mental health (counseling) degree ... they have to be able to live after they leave the church," Woods said. "It's easy to serve God in there, but when they leave those walls, some people are living in their cars or on the streets and they still have to be able to function."

Taking the course at a religious institution was important for her, she said, because it allows one to contextualize a secular education within their faith.

"It's a lot of the same stuff we do every day but it causes you to listen more. We're used to talking," Woods joked. "You need to be more subtle and listen, take notes and have them give you more of what they're going through, not speed through and try to give them the answer."

Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic led to an isolation crisis, church members are paying more and more attention to the mental health of their members.

"You notice all these key things now that you probably didn't before," Woods said. "You'd say 'Maybe they don't want to be bothered,' but that's not the case. They're lost and don't know who they can talk to."

She's on track to finish her coursework and graduate in October.

It's a big year for her though, because 2022 also marks 30 years of service in ministry. At noon on July 9, Woods' church and many others plan to recognize her with a public ceremony in Mary Ross Park. Glynn County residents are invited to attend.