John Wooden came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at the age of 8 at the Indianola Heights Evangelical Free Church where he attended with his mother, his father unsaved at the time. After graduation from High school he served in the Air Force in England as an air traffic controller. He then worked at the John Deere plant in Ankeny Iowa after returning from England for 2 years. He then began studies at Faith Baptist Bible College in Ankeny, Iowa. During this time, he began to attend Grandview Park Baptist Church and served in various responsibilities there.

It was while he was at FBBC he met and later married Maureen Alexander/ White. After graduation with a Bachelors degrees in Bible & Pastoral ministries & a Thm., they moved to Albert Lea, MN where he served as pastor for eight years at Faith Baptist Church. During this time the Lord gave them a son Jonathan and a daughter Laura. Both are now married and have 3 children each. After serving as pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Albert Lea, MN they were called to First Baptist Church in New Berlin, WI. They have served here for 33 years as of April 2, 2022. God has been good to us. One of his favorite verses is Philippians 1:6; “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”