Leadership

Europe City Partners prioritizes Christ-centered, experienced leadership.

Walter and his wife Becky have been married for 42 years, with 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren. They currently reside in Woodstock, Georgia.

Many of Europe’s leading pastors and church planters on retreat in Dubrovnik, Croatia, in 2019.

Walter Wood, Jr. is the Founder and Director of Europe City Partners. He is a veteran church planter, pastor, coach, and consultant for new church development in North America and Europe.

An Experienced Planter and Pastor

Walter Wood grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, but left home in the 1970’s to pursue God’s call on his life to serve Him in a full-time capacity. He was in campus ministry with Cru (1974-79), went to seminary at Reformed Theological (1979-82), then joined the staff of Perimeter Church Atlanta (1982-93), serving in a variety of capacities. During this time Walter developed a vision of reaching the world for Christ through evangelism, discipleship, and the local church. Walter left Perimeter in 1994 to plant a church in the greater Cincinnati area. Walter planted North Cincinnati Community Church (NCCC) in 1994. NCCC grew steadily and was able to give birth to 8 daughter churches from 2001-2013. He began working with City to City (CTC) in Europe in 2011 as a volunteer, still pastoring NCCC, doing part-time coaching of church planters and church planting network development in several cities of Southern Europe. NCCC had been involved with churches in Croatia for several years prior.

A Calling Expanded

His work with CTC began with supporting a handful of church planters in Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Budapest, Prague, and Croatia. This network gradually expanded to include planters in Lisbon, Madrid, Athens, Vienna, Istanbul, and Dublin. Walter retired from NCCC in 2015, after 21 years of ministry there, and was hired by CTC full-time. He subsequently helped initiate and develop church planting networks in Lisbon, Barcelona, Rome, Budapest, and Vienna. Church planting networks are fellowships of like-minded church planters who love the gospel, love their city, who meet regularly, and commit to praying, learning and working together to make an impact for Christ in their city. They believe that they are better together than separate. When CTC restructured their staff in early 2020, Walter was encouraged to start a new ministry to be able to continue the strategic work he had developed over the previous nine years. After much prayer and counsel, he and his wife Becky believed the Lord would have them form a new ministry, Europe City Partners, to continue the work he had begun.

First-hand Experience

Europe City Partners is blessed with a talented Board of Trustees, all of whom have first-hand experience of the gospel’s power in their lives, as well as first-hand exposure to the work of the gospel in Europe.