On Sunday, Nov. 1, pastor Randy Woods, West Side Baptist Church, Chester, baptized four students who had accepted Christ and joined the church after participating in the church’s “Goof Off” ministry, which Woods started.
Two days later, the 47-year-old pastor died unexpectedly.
“Randy was an outgoing person and very down to earth,” said West Side deacon chairman Ronnie Gibson. “He really reached out to the youth of our community. He just didn’t meet a stranger.”
Woods started the Goof Off ministry when he arrived at the church in August 2008, said Clifford Craig, who has served West Side as its minister of music for more than 40 years. “He saw some young people on the playground and started talking to them. He got involved with them and started the ministry. That ministry offered young people the opportunity to read together, eat together, and play together.”
Aaron Faile, who served as deacon chairman when Woods came to West Side, said the Goof Off ministry grew from one child to an average of 30, with a peak attendance of 50. “He was such a happy person, and that rubbed off on lots of people.”
In his 15 months of service at West Side, in addition to his involvement with students, Woods led the church and made the most of the time he had there, Faile said. The church added a Sunday school class for 20- and 30-year-olds, began some long-needed renovations, started Grocery Bag Sundays for its food pantry, strengthened its Chester-area mission work, and added its first African-American member.
“People are feeling the loss and shock of losing a pastor,” Faile said. “We remember that pastors are servants of the Lord, and the Lord’s desire is for us to go forward in Christ’s name. The Lord has his plan for us and it is our desire to work his will.”
West Side Church averages about 100 in worship on Sundays and is located just outside the Chester city limits.
A Charleston native, Woods was a graduate of Boyce Bible College and Liberty University, and was a veteran of the U.S. Army. In addition to serving two churches in Kentucky, he previously served as pastor of the following South Carolina churches: Lando Baptist Church; Cordesville First Baptist Church in Moncks Corner; Jefferson First Baptist Church; and Black Creek Baptist Church in Darlington.
Survivors include his wife, M. Rae Woods, three children, four grandchildren and his parents. – SCBC