By: Dezaray Barr
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Eric Roemer is the Lead Pastor of Greentown Wesleyan Church in Greentown, IN. He graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2006 with a degree in youth ministry, and he obtained his M. Div. from Wesley Seminary in 2013.
During his time at IWU, Roemer served in the local church and learned alongside his professors. “The things I learned in the classroom I used immediately. That process allowed me to learn how to self-educate faster and helped me create a network of resourcing,” Roemer said.
As an undergrad, Bud Bence was one of Roemer’s favorite professors. “Chris Bounds, Steve Lennox and David Smith were also very important in my early education and ministry preparation,” Roemer said. “Although I was never enrolled in any of Ivan Pongracic’s classes, I loved to sit in and listen to his lectures every chance I got. At the seminary, Lenny Luchetti, Collen Derr and John Drury had a huge impact on my formation and ministry.”
Roemer and his church are passionate about caring for the community they live in physically, spiritually and emotionally. They believe that as the church, that is their responsibility.
“Greentown Wesleyan is doing everything it can to give the people in our community the best opportunity to meet, follow and serve Jesus Christ. We believe that it’s God’s plan that all people would be His people and He would be their God,” Roemer said. “Everything is about relationships. We have amazing compassionate outreach ministries: a food pantry that serves dozens of families a month in our zip code and a clothing ministry that provides quality clothing for our community. Annually, we help make Christmas a reality for 30-50 families on our community. Monthly, we load a trailer and do a pop-up dinner somewhere in town to show people that they are important and to build stronger relationships with our neighbors.”
2 Timothy 2:2 has been Roemer’s life verse. “This verse has guided me, because we are just one step in a much bigger story. Its important that we take our role seriously, because the generations that follow are counting on us,” he said.
If Roemer could tell all IWU students one thing, he’d say, “Its not about you. Its not about what you have to offer. Its about what you actually do.”
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Written by Dezaray Barr, PR Specialist for the Alumni Office. Dezaray is a junior Strategic Communication and Honors Humanities double major at Indiana Wesleyan University in the John Wesley Honors College. At IWU, Dezaray runs both the JWHC Blog and her own blog. Visit Dez’s website at www.dezaraybarr.weebly.com.