Our Team

Intro:

Pastor Eli Koehler has been at Zion Church of Wauseon since June 1st 2022.

Eli is married to Ashley and they have 3 children, Karlie, Joshua, and Rose together. 

Church History

Eli grew up in a small country Presbyterian church in Sparland, Illinois with his family. He put his faith in Jesus at the age of 18 at a Baptist Church in Colorado before going to the University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign to study Materials Science and Engineering (MatSE). During college he attended and served at University Baptist Church. After graduating from college with a Bachelors in MatSE he returned back to rural Sparland to work as an engineer. Shortly afterwards he began to attend Northwoods Community Church in Peoria, Illinois where he felt called into ministry. 

Eli left engineering and began to serve full-time at Northwoods until he joined staff there as he began his seminary training through the FEC Certificate of Theology, Northwoods School of Ministry, and finishing his Masters of Ministry at Lincoln Christian Seminary. 

After years of joyfully learning and serving at Northwoods, Eli began to serve at Zion as his first pastoral call and will continue to serve here until the Lord calls him elsewhere.

Interests:

Reading Books,  Outside Adventures,  Worship Concerts,  Spending Time With Family,  and Hosting Guests.

Outside Roles:

Eli serves on the Board of Zion Evangelical and Care Ministries (ZEC) USA. He serves alongside others in an advisory role to ZEC Ministries in Visakhapatnam, India led by Pastor Syam Babu and his wife Esther.

Eli volunteers with Wauseon Lifewise Character Academy throughout the week as he is able to further the advancement of the gospel in the community.