Wes Olds is a Child of God and Person of Worth (C.O.G.P.O.W.) and wants other people to share in the joy of that identity through a relationship with Jesus.

Wes grew up in Central Kentucky in parsonages of United Methodist Churches where his father served as Pastor. Wes is married to Becky and they have one son, Caleb, who is a student at The University of Florida.

Wes is the Lead Pastor at Grace Church, a multi-site United Methodist congregation in Southwest Florida with three campuses (Cape Coral, Fort Myers Shores, Fort Myers Central). Grace Church is recognized as having one of the largest and most effective recovery ministries in America.

Prior to being appointed as Lead Pastor at Grace Church, Wes served on the pastoral team at Grace Church for the last 15 years, most recently as the Campus Pastor for the original campus in Cape Coral.

From 2002 to 2006, Wes served as the founding pastor of The Rock/La Roca United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky (now named Embrace). From 1997-2002, Wes was the Pastor of Youth and Evangelism at Centenary United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. During this time Wes was also on the adjunct faculty as an instructor of congregational leadership and youth ministry at Asbury University and as a mentor in ministry for Asbury Theological Seminary. From 1994 to 1997, Wes was the Pastor with Youth at Christ Church United Methodist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Wes also was a part-time Pastor with Students at Versailles United Methodist Church in Kentucky from 1991-1994. During college, Wes served each summer as a Youth Ministry Intern at First United Methodist Church in Kissimmee, Florida.

Wes is a 1993 graduate of the University of Kentucky where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary English Education. In college, Wes was the recipient of the Turpin Leadership Scholarship awarded by The University of Kentucky Band.

Wes is also a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree. Wes was ordained an elder in the Kentucky Conference in 2006 before transferring to the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 2008.

Wes has served with Spiritual Leadership, Inc. since 2006 as a coach and specialist. Wes has been a member of the Southwest District Operational Team since 2012, as well as the Southwest District Committee of Ordained Ministry from 2010 to2019, chair of the Florida Conference Board of New Church Development from 2016 to2019, and Florida Conference Board of Ordained Ministry from 2016 to 2019.

Wes is a recipient of the 2017 Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Programs at Christian Theological Seminary and 2017 Passing the Torch award from The Florida Annual Conference.

Wes has been a contributing writer to Group Publishing, United Methodist Communications, and Youthworker Journal. He co-authored the book A Grace–Full Life: God’s All-Reaching, Soul-Saving Character-Shaping, Never-Ending Love (Abingdon press, 2016).