Glenn M. Wagner

Glenn M. Wagner (born 1953) is an American United Methodist pastor and author. Throughout his 40-year pastoral career, Wagner served congregations in four states and two countries, most notably in Freeport and Harvard, Illinois and North Muskegon, Holt, and Grand Haven, Michigan. Wagner announced his retirement from the United Methodist Church of the Dunes in Grand Haven in October 2016.
Education
Rev. Dr. Glenn M. Wagner was born in Elmhurst, Illinois, but moved to Michigan in 1971 to attend Hope College in Holland, Michigan. He went on to receive the Mersick preaching prize in 1976 and earned his Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School in 1978. Wagner completed his Doctor of Ministry degree in 1986 from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois following an associate pastorship in Freeport, Illinois. In 2000 and 2009, Wagner traveled to Jerusalem to further his education in the history and geography of the Bible.
Ministry
Early Work
After graduating from Hope College, Wagner taught English and Biblical texts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. While he was working on his masters of divinity degree at Yale Divinity School, Wagner interned as a chaplain in a drug and alcohol unit and hospital in Connecticut and later at Pine Rest Hospital in Grand Rapids.
While serving in North Muskegon, Wagner lead several community efforts, including the Community United Methodist Church Rocket Team, a student organization made up of students from Mona Shores, Reeths-Puffer and North Muskegon public schools that competed in the Michigan Rockets for Schools competition. Under Wagner’s leadership, the team took home several awards, including a championship trophy and individual awards for tabletop display, website design, and actual flight.
Holt
In 2006, Wagner was placed in Community United Methodist Church to begin his tenure at Holt United Methodist Church in Holt as the 45th pastor in the church’s 161-year history. During his eight years of pastoral leadership in Holt, the congregation retired its debt, created more accessible and energy efficient buildings, expanded mission outreach to the community and became involved in Christian leadership training. He was named “People’s Choice” pastor for Holt by the Lansing State Journal three times in eight years and provided leadership for the Lansing District Board of Church Building and Location.
Wagner returned to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2010 to become a certified clergy coach through the school and the Samaritan Counseling Center. Wagner announced that he would be retiring as pastor at the end of 2016 in October. The Design Team, made up of 26 members from around the state of Michigan, have worked to design an annual Methodist conference for the over 800 United Methodist congregations in Michigan.
In 2016, Wagner released his first book, entitled God-Incidents: Real-Life Stories to Strengthen and Restore Your Faith.
Written Works
* God-Incidents: Real-Life Stories to Strengthen and Restore Your Faith (2016)<ref name=":4" />

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