Aaron Gross

“To educate, equip and empower God’s people to live out biblical principles in their daily lives.” This is the mission that God set before Aaron back in 2002. In a time when the work of the church seemed overwhelming, God gave direct vision on where Aaron was called to invest time. With his wife Peggy and his three children: Jeremy, Jessica and Jenna, by his side, the Lord narrowed his mission field for a season. This narrow road, however, led to new opportunities to fill that mission in the wider church and around the world.

Aaron began his local church ministry in 1994 as an associate pastor. In 1998, Aaron transitioned to an established church in Logansport, Indiana as the senior pastor. This local church grew numerically and in impact on their community. Answering the question, “What does the community need from this church?” Aaron led this congregation through many stages of change. Those stages were difficult and costly, but the experience has been a valuable tool in helping other pastors navigate change. While serving as senior pastor, Aaron completed his master’s degree in 2012 and went on to finish his doctorate in 2022. He started as an adjunct professor for Wesley Seminary in the fall of 2012 teaching spiritual formation to ministers. Aaron said, “I could see God using my education and my years of ministry experience to help other pastors navigate the many challenges minister’s face.” It was the place where Aaron found his greatest joy in ministry.

In 2015, Aaron spent time in India preaching and teaching pastors in their seminary. This sparked a new interest to prepare ministers globally to preach the gospel. Aaron said, “My call to educate, equip and empower was moving in a new direction.” Soon, ministers were calling Aaron asking him to serve as their mentor. Church leaders in Kenya were using Zoom and YouTube so Aaron could teach their pastors. In 2021, Aaron started adjunct work with the School of Theology and Ministry at IWU in the undergraduate department. God was slowly moving him from full-time pastor and part-time educator to a full-time professorship. In 2025, Aaron completed 31 years of pastoral ministry in the local church and accepted the call to a full-time position here at Wesley teaching preaching and pastoral leadership.

Local Church Involvement

• Speaking Engagements: Currently, Aaron is spending his weekends speaking in a variety of churches.
• Continuing Education: Aaron has the privilege of visiting past and present students in their current context to encourage and evaluate.
• Small Church Initiative: Aaron is also involved with his denomination in a program for second-career ministers. The goal is to help these second career, small church pastors navigate the challenges of ministry, providing theological education and pastoral leadership.

Interests:

• Preaching to those Struggling with Addiction (His dissertation work which he discusses on his podcast.)
• Contextual Preaching (connecting the Word of God to the original context and then to the current culture.)
• Sensory Preaching (Finding ways to engage all the senses during the sermon.)
• Preaching Jesus (How to make the stories of the gospels come alive after watching The Chosen.)
• Combining Biblical Truth and Counseling (His wife is a therapist. They host the Mucked up Christian Podcast.
• Pastoral Health and Longevity. (How can a pastor survive and thrive in long term ministry.)