Lead Pastor: swwilden@gmail.com
Scott and his family moved to Cannon Falls in 2006 after obeying the call to become lead pastor of True North Church. Scott and his wife, Wendy have three sons: Nate(b.1997), Evan(b.1999) and Isaiah(b.2003).
Scott has experience moving, as he did plenty of moving when his father, an Army Engineer, was stationed in various locations. Scott saw a number of different homes including Virginia, where he was born, Kansas, Pennsylvania and two separate 4-year stays in Germany, where he had the privilege of learning to ski the alps and taking a school trip to Italy! Scott knew God at an early age and was raised by his parents in the Catholic Church. In High School, once involved in a youth group, Scott accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Scott attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Genetics in 1992. At Madison, Scott also met Wendy, and the two married in 1992. Wendy and Scott moved from Wisconsin to Minnesota as God led them-Wendy to begin a career as a Chemical Engineer at Koch Refining Company (now Flint Hills Resources); Scott to earn a Ph.D. in Human Genetics at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
Scott and Wendy were active members of Grace Church Edina (now Eden Prairie) and spent ten years there studying God’s Word. There at Grace Church, God nurtured a desire in both Scott and Wendy to serve the Lord together with their family as missionaries within their local community.
Shortly after graduate school, God began to lead Scott’s life in a new direction. He left lab work in September 1999 to become a “stay-at-home dad” to take care of Nathan, then 2, and Evan, then 3 months. During this time, Scott and Wendy moved their young family to Farmington where they met next-door neighbor, Mike Armbrust.
Soon they were missionaries and church planters- helping to start the River Church-Farmington. Scott applied his passions for computers, detail, and multimedia production to create and lead the “Technical and Media Arts” team for the River. Wendy’s passion for children’s discipleship led her to begin the Children’s Ministry program. At the River, Soctt became invovled in the church leadership and began using his public speaking experience to preach God’s Word.
Scott’s combination of skills, his ability to speak messages using everyday objects and video to help everyone understand, and his obedience to God’s call in sometimes unexpected directions make him well suited for the role of Lead Pastor of True North in Cannon Falls. Scott is a Licensed Minister with the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches and has earned his Masters Degree in Theology from Northwestern College in St. Paul.
Scott has learned that through our weaknesses, God shows his power. Through our inadequecy, God shows that He is enough for us. Scott, Wendy, Nate, Evan and Isaiah enjoy their new town, their new home, and especially the wonderful team God has brought together to reach out to people in Cannon Falls with God’s truth.