Pastor Michael Carpenter

I am a native Oklahoman, having grown up in Lone Grove, a town of 5,000 people in southern Oklahoma. After hearing a call to ministry in high school, I took a detour and earned my undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Oklahoma State University (hence the orange in the picture). I attended Saint Paul School of Theology in Oklahoma City, where I earned my Master of Divinity. I was ordained as an Elder in The United Methodist Church in May 2021.


My family and I moved to Nebraska in June 2019, when I began my appointment at Wahoo First UMC. I have experience in churches of all sizes, in small towns and big cities, but Wahoo feels like a home-away-from-home.


When it comes to the church, my conviction is that the church should be the body of Christ. When people look at the church, they should see Jesus. And when the church is doing its job, it is the hands, feet, eyes, ears, and heart of Jesus in the world. We're working toward that here at Wahoo First UMC!