Speaker

Rev. Philip N. Wilden

Rev. Philip N. Wilden is pastor of New Concord UMC (South Forest District) in the community that is home to his alma mater, Muskingum University.

The appointment to New Concord is the fourth of Wilden’s 34 years in ministry, during which he has previously served Orwell and Windsor UMCs, Seville UMC, and Delaware Asbury UMC. He enjoys pastoral calling and leading Bible studies, has sung in church choirs, and currently plays piano for the children’s choir at New Concord UMC. When it’s not too cold or rainy, Wilden walks the one mile from the parsonage to the church, something that he says has been a helpful spiritual practice.

Wilden is a member of the new District Committee on Ministry in the South Forest District. He has also served in positions of leadership in other districts in which he was appointed and is a past secretary of the East Ohio Conference Board of Ministry.

A native of Coshocton, Wilden was baptized and confirmed at Plainfield United Methodist Church across the street from the home in which he was raised. Wilden earned a bachelor’s degree from Muskingum University and a Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, where he was a Hutchinson Scholar.