OUR PASTOR

“It all started with a vision and a calling to do what was in my heart for a long time.”

Dr. Winfred Obleton is currently the church planter and Lead Pastor of Waukegan Community Church (WCC), Waukegan, Illinois. He and his wife, Michelle, reside in Waukegan. They have two adult children Shelby and Andrea and one grandson, Jelani.

WCC is a ministry that exists to empower God’s church through God’s Word to impact the community. Building lives to strengthen families in Urban America reflects the desire of Dr. Obleton who is a native of Detroit, Michigan. While growing up in a major metropolis, the Obleton’s experienced the despair and hopelessness of inner city life. From these experiences, the vision to plant an urban evangelical church that is urban conscious in its thrust, community oriented in its intention and Bible centered in its approach was birthed. The Baptist General Conference now Converge Worldwide brought this vision into reality by partnering with the Obletons to become church planters in Illinois. In June of 1990 WCC held its first public worship service. The Obleton’s have faithfully served the WCC church family for twenty eight years.

In addition to his pastoral responsibilities, Dr. Obleton serves Converge Worldwide both locally and nationally. Locally, Dr. Obleton serves as African American Coordinator for Converge Mid-America. Nationally, he occupies the role as Coordinator for Converge Worldwide Transform, which provides training for Pastors of African-American Descent (PAD). Recently, Dr. Obleton partnered with Trinity International University in two endeavors. First, as a professor in the Adult Reach Program and second, he assists in The Mosaic Initiative Program to aggressively impact the Millennial Generation in Lake County during the next four years.

Dr. Obleton holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (B.A.) in Christian Education from William Tyndale College, a Master of Theology (Th.M.) and a Doctor of Ministry Degree (D.Min) from Dallas Theological Seminary.