Pastoral Staff

Chuck Engelhardt is beginning his 15th year as Senior Pastor of Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Pastor Chuck grew up in Fort Myers, Florida where he graduated from Fort Myers Senior High. Following High School he went to Asbury College where he majored in Bible and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1982. Following college and marriage he received a Masters of Divinity Degree in 1985 at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore Kentucky . Pastor Chuck has been married for 26 years to the beautiful Kayla Vance Engelhardt of Portland , Indiana .
They have three sons - Ethan, 17, who attends Keswick. Blake, 20, who attends Asbury college studying Mission Ministry. And, Adam, who received an Associate of Science Degree in Music Engineering at Full Sail in Orlando. Adam is now a Sound Engineer in Nashville, Tennessee where he lives with his wife, Carrie and their son, Miles who was born May 8, 2008.
The Engelhardts also have a little girl dachound at home.

Pastor Chuck grew up in the church and was blessed with loving Christian parents who modeled faithfulness to Jesus Christ. In the Spring of 1974, Chuck asked Jesus into his life and became a Christian. In December 1974 Chuck sensed God was calling him into full time Christian service as a vocation. By the time he graduated from High School in 1978 he believed God was calling him to serve Him in a full time way in the church.
He worked summers as a youth pastor at Olga-Fort Myers Shores United Methodist Church and also at First United Methodist Church of Winter Park while in college.
After graduation from college and marriage to Kayla, Chuck became a Student Pastor with a License to Preach in the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist church. He remained there from November 1, 1982 until he graduated from seminary in 1985.
Pastor Chuck served a two point charge called the Pleasant View/Gest appointment.
Pleasant View was the main church with about 135 members with an average attendance of 90 on Sunday. Gest was a little church with six members which met once a month.
Gest always had perfect attendance because if someone couldn't be there they would postpone church until next week!

After Graduation Pastor Chuck returned to Florida and received an Appointment as the Associate Pastor at Englewood United Methodist Church for two years. In June of 1987 the Engelhardts were assigned a 10 acre lot to start a new church in the South Riverview area of Hillsbourgh County called Summerfield Crossing.
The first services were held in September 1987 at a Seventh Day Adventist church in the area and Pastor Chuck began building a congregation. In February 1988 the church was chartered with 100 members and named Big Bend United Methodist Church .
In 1991, Big Bend moved into their first building on the property on Easter Sunday with an attendance of over 400 people on that day. When the Engelhardts left the church after 7 years in June of 1994, they had a membership of over 300 with an average attendance of 265 each Sunday.

In June of 1994 Pastor Chuck began ministry at Aldersgate, and the church has grown in spirit and in numbers. Average attendance in 1994 was 270. In 2005, that average grew to 525. Our membership is just over 1200 people and we now have three worship services.
We are not only growing in numbers but in programs with much opportunity to grow in our faith through Bible Study, Fellowship, Service and Worship.

Pastor Chuck's personal goal each Sunday is that the worship time would be the most refreshing hour of the congregation's week. He believes that is what happens each Sunday here at Aldersgate. We have dynamic worship in song and word.
He also desires that each Sunday the congregation would be challenged to live their Christian faith in every aspect of their lives at home, work and in the community. As pastor, Chuck Engelhardt's major responsibilities are to preach and teach the Word of God and equip the congregation for Christian service. This is done through the preaching of the Word of God each Sunday. Pastor Chuck is to cast the vision God has for Aldersgate.
His responsibility is to stay close to God and help us as a church stay close to God.

Pastor Chuck has often said, "My greatest joy is serving as the pastor for the people of God who are a part of Aldersgate Church ."

Rev. Randy Dodson is a graduate of William Tyndale College and Capital Bible Seminary. He has served churches in Michigan, the Washington DC area, Tampa and Cape Cod. He has served as Youth Pastor and as Assistant Pastor in three churches, and as pastor in two churches. His wife's name is Margie. They have twin grown sons and a married daughter. They have been at Aldersgate since September 2001. Pastor Randy is our Pastor of Pastoral Care, spending much of his time visiting hospitals, nursing homes and shut-ins.  Randy also teachers a Small Group and leads our Eldersgate Ministry.