By VICTORIA ARNDT ’25 and ABIGAIL BATES ’26
Updated 11:50 a.m. EDT
Down the hill from Houghton University sits the Houghton Wesleyan Church where Pastor Wes Oden currently serves as the lead pastor. He will be 66 this summer, although he commented that he doesn’t look like it. Oden will be retiring this year, 29 years after he, his wife, Cindy, and their two sons first arrived in Houghton, N.Y.
Oden “could not have been more surprised” when he received a call from President Wayne D. Lewis, Jr. that he would be awarded the Willard J. Houghton Medal at Commencement this May.
“I’m very honored,” he said, but added that “at the same time I feel very humbled [and a little undeserving] because, I mean, it’s the kind of recognition that is never just about you. It’s always about other people.”
He said it has made him better appreciate the acceptance speeches at the Oscars. “You just don’t do these things alone,” Oden said. “Whatever the recognition is for, it’s always about everybody in my life.”
The Willard J. Houghton Medal, since 2008, has been presented to individuals who “have embodied in particular and powerful ways over the course of a lifetime, the commitments and aspirations that are at the heart of a Houghton education.” Lewis is honored to give Oden this award, as the Medal is a way to “celebrate models of Christian leadership and service” for students and the Houghton community.
“Pastor Wes is the embodiment of the ideals of Houghton University,” said Lewis. “His ministry, leadership, and living exemplify what it means to be a Christian scholar-servant…This is a wonderful time to celebrate what he means to the Houghton community and Houghton University.”
Before coming to Houghton, Oden worked as a pastor in two churches in Wisconsin for ten and a half years. Oden mentioned that he felt intimidated by the Houghton Wesleyan congregation during the candidating process, as many were well-learned in the Bible and assumedly more educated than him. It was during a conversation with Cindy, on the plane back home, that she said, “You know, they’re just like everybody else. They want to be loved. And they want to experience the love of God and they want to experience the love of people.”
When Oden first arrived at the church in 1996, there were discussions about doing “something about the organ.” Ten years later, starting in 2006, the church began the long process of purchasing a new organ. “We finally said ‘We gotta do something’ because it was falling apart,” Oden said, explaining that the organ is an important part of the church’s worship.
But not everyone wanted to spend money on an organ.
Oden expressed that it had the potential to be a divisive issue, yet he said they tried to walk through the issue in a way that was redemptive rather than divisive. “Probably one of the things that I think God has given me the ability to do is to be a person who helps people navigate things and tensions in a way that, hopefully, brings people through,” he said. “Without thinking so much about winning and losing, but how we care for each other as we walk through [issues].”
After the organ affair, Oden remembers talking with a group of younger guys who he described as being “take it or leave it” kinds of people. They went to the earlier service without the organ, so the instrument didn’t matter as much to them.
He remembers saying to them, “I really appreciate you guys not letting an issue like this be divisive.” And they responded with, “Why would we let that be divisive? We care too much about each other to let something like that come between us.”
Oden described this story as indicative of the church’s spirit. The church tries “to create a spirit of unity within [their] differences,” whether it comes to COVID, politics, or any other issue.
“I am such a better pastor because of this church,” he said, adding that “I think I’m just a better leader. I’m a better Christian. I’m a better pastor in general … They were willing to say ‘That didn’t work.’ They were willing to say, ‘That’s gotta get better.’ But they were also willing to say ‘Well, we see the improvement. This is good.’”
Oden said the greatest part of his experiences at Houghton has been “seeing people come alive in Jesus,” no matter what stage of their journey. He mentioned baptising Houghton Academy and university students, and hearing about new experiences from those who have been walking with Jesus for 50 years.
After retirement, Oden plans to remain in Houghton with his family, particularly spending time with his grandchildren, and participate in pulpit supply in area churches. He and Cindy have also considered writing books on pastoral ministry and devotion.
Oden said that one of the hardest things about retirement is no longer being a part of people’s lives in the same way.
“You walk through people’s lives in the greatest moments and in the most difficult moments,” he said, explaining that “You walk with people through celebrations, their spiritual joys, their family joys; births, baptisms, weddings and all those things.
“And then you walk with people through difficult things; deaths and divorces and relational breakdowns and job losses and whatever, all those things.
“Really,” he said, “in the end, that’s what ministry is all about.” ★
