The Alumni Association Council is made up of 31 members who serve on different Affinity Groups. The Affinity Groups represent more than 9,500 alumni who serve around the world. The Alumni Council meets together twice a year to find out what is happening at Asbury Seminary. The Council also works in conjunction with the alumni office to help discover how alumni can best serve the Seminary.

The Council is made up of strong leaders who offer vision and guidance. Tom Harrison serves as the President and Steve Wood serves as the Vice President. Both men also serve as Chair and Vice Chair (respectively) for the (Large) United Methodist Church Affinity Group.

 

Rev. Dr. Tom Harrison, President

Tom Harrison earned a Master of Arts and Doctor of Ministry from Oral Roberts University and a Master of Divinity from Asbury Seminary. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Oklahoma City University.

Harrison has served as the Pastor at Asbury United Methodist Church for nearly 20 years. Before that he pastored four other churches in Oklahoma.

Harrison’s leadership role in the Church extends beyond pastor. He served as a delegate to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences. He was a member of the Asbury Seminary Beeson Clergy Council, Chairman of the Alumni Leadership Team and Alumnus of the year in 2003. He serves on the Baltic Methodist Theological Seminary Board of Trustees, the Oklahoma Wesleyan Board of Trustees and the Oklahoma Conference Chair of the Council of Finance and Administration.

His hobbies include traveling, reading, golfing and watching college football. He is an avid St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan. He and his wife, Dana, have three children.

 

Rev. Steve Wood, Vice President

Rev. Steve Wood earned a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Seminary, in 1986.

In June 1989, he was appointed to plant a new church, which has become the New Covenant United Methodist Church. Starting with only 16 people, the church grew to over 600 members in just seven years. The church was recognized as the fastest growing congregation in the Southeastern Jurisdiction in 1991.

Wood served as Senior Pastor at Sugar Hill United Methodist Church for 10 years. Under his leadership, membership more than doubled, eventually surpassing 2000 people. Sugar Hill is distinguished by one of the highest worship attendance/membership ratios in all of Methodism at 70 percent, with the majority of new members joining by profession of faith in Christ, rather than transfer from other churches.

Currently, Wood serves Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church, which is the third largest church by worship attendance in the entire denomination. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the North Georgia Conference Council on Finance and Administration, and was one of 14 clergy delegates elected to the world gathering of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church representing the North Georgia Conference in April 2008.

Steve served for seven years as the Community Spiritual Director for the Northwest Georgia Walk to Emmaus movement. Overseas, Steve has led mission trips to Israel, Jordan, Haiti, Brazil, Nigeria and Mexico. In 1994, Steve was chosen as the Community Spiritual Director for the launch of the Tres Dias movement in Moscow, Russia. He has a passion for missions and evangelism in making disciples of Jesus Christ and growing and cultivating Christian leaders for global impact.

In addition to his pastoral role, Steve serves on the boards of Mount Pisgah Christian School, the Summit Counseling Center, and The Beacon of Hope Women’s Center, North Georgia Conference Finance and Administration, The Confession Movement, and The Leading Edge Large Church Pastors Network.

Wood, and his wife of 23 years, LeAnne, have three daughters and a son: Lauren, Lacey, Layne, and Steven, Jr. Their family resides in Alpharetta, Ga., and they enjoy water sports, golfing, gardening, snow skiing, baseball, basketball, and bike-riding.

Alumni Council Structure