12 | January 2026
A Pastor’s Story - From Special Forces to Church Planter Buck Wilford grew up in an Assembly of God church, ac - cepting the Lord at the age of 14. Following his conver- sion, he sensed a call to ministry. By Stephanie Heading, managing editor
The road to fulfilling his calling took him around the globe and back – serving our country in the Army as an Airborne Ranger, fighting in Somalia, and becoming a Green Beret. Today, Wilford serves as pastor of Brunswick Community Church, which he planted in 2012, and also works full- time as a chaplain in a Cleveland-area hospital. He believes his path in life was part of God’s plan, and readily shares how the Lord guided him every step of the way. Four years after his conversion, Army recruiters visited Wolford’s high school. At the time, he wasn’t interested in going to school when he graduated, so he decided to visit the recruiting center. “They said, ‘Just go down and check out what it’s like. You don’t have to sign up,’” Wilford remembered. “But that’s where you sign up when you go into that station.” When he entered the recruiting station, he wanted to be a chaplain’s assistant or construction worker. Neither position was available, so Wilford said, “Well, give me infantry then. Give me the best you got. That’s how I got the Airborne Ranger contract.” He says he felt sad about his decision until an unexpected encounter with an African pastor in downtown Cleveland changed his focus. “I saw this guy in his African dress, and he was preach- ing,” Wolford recalled. “He said, ‘Sometimes you got to go as far as you can go to go no more, then you know God has something else for you.” Wilford realized the military was his “something else,” and he committed to it. “I ended up staying for 20 years. It’s good advice from that African guy,” he said. At 19 years old, he and his unit were sent to Somalia, and the experience changed his life. “If you’ve ever seen the movie ‘Black Hawk Down,’ I was part of that firefight,” he said. “I was just this young guy right there, just a little over a year in the Army, over there in Africa with some terrible stuff going on.” Wolford reflected on the impact of the 15-hour battle. “It changes you forever – things like that,” he noted. “I think for certain that was part of God’s will right there, that’s for sure.” After Somalia, Wolford started Ranger School. “Ranger School is very tough,” he said. “You sleep maybe
Pastor Buck Wilford, his wife Nicky, daughter Annabelle, and son Ben.
one hour a night. You have maybe one meal a day. You lose 30 pounds each phase. They really stress you out and try to make it like combat.” During six months in Ranger School, separated from Christian influence, Wolford’s faith faltered. “I backslid for a long time in the Army, and I still went to church, but I knew that I was hypocritical, and com- ing from an Assemblies of God background, I thought I’d lost my salvation,” he said. “I always thought one day I’m going to make myself right with God, but the day wasn’t coming.” During years away from the Lord, Wolford became a ser- geant in the Special Forces, and he made a critical deci- sion. “I was going to read my Bible from back to front again, like I did back when I was a young guy in high school,” he said. “And I read my Bible, and it put me in that place to submit and humble myself before God, and I totally changed my life back around right there.” He enrolled in seminary at Liberty University and returned to living his Christian life boldly. “I was really a warrior for Christ in those five years,” he said. “So the first couple years, and then the last five years. In the meantime, I wasted some time in there.” During a class assignment for his MDiv, he made a life-changing realization. “I thought I was saved just recently,” he said. “Was I saved long ago? I thought, ‘No indeed.’” But God revealed something different. “I was saved long ago, because God changed my life when I was a young teenager, totally filled me up,” he said. “Instead of trying to be good on the outside, it filled
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