William Winterton
Assistant Director of Children’s Ministry
Everyone who meets William Winterton is quickly infected by his extraordinary enthusiasm for his work and the life of our church. From a very early age, William was directed toward this ministry, in which he is joined by Darcy–his wife, helpmate, and collaborator. The two met as members of our Contemporary Worship Team, and were married in April 2002. In November 2004, the Winterton team became a trio, with the birth of their daughter, Elizabeth.
Before that however, came a wonderful series of synchronicities that William joyfully relates. His musical education began with piano lessons, and progressed through choirs and bands in elementary and high school. William eventually earned a degree in music from the University of Arizona, heavily weighted toward composition and arranging.
In October of 1999, William came to St. Andrew’s as a temporary bass guitarist for our Contemporary Service. Ironically, William had never played bass before in his life, a detail he casually failed to mention when he accepted the job. After seven years with the group, William is now finally able to quit concentrating so hard on playing the right notes, and focus more on worship.
William formed a strong friendship with St. Andrew’s Music Director, Marshall Sanders. William’s long-time interest in puppetry and Marshall’s strong creative drive lead them to begin brainstorming about an idea for a full-scale Christian puppet show for children. They played with this concept for more than two years, developing characters, writing music, and cementing the overall theme of a place where kids and God can talk. K’Deo premiered in October of 2003. It was used to provide a half-hour of Children’s Ministry programming during the Contemporary Worship Service, when Sunday School did not meet.
In 2005, William took on the role of Assistant Director of Children’s Ministry, under the direction of Barbara Wheeler. His responsibilities include overseeing K’Deo and assisting Barbara with Children’s Worship, weekly Children’s Messages, Vacation Bible School, and other special Children’s Ministry events.
William writes every episode of K’Deo, and he and Marshall composed all the music. To quote William, “K’Deo, in my opinion, is one of the best evangelism tools we have at St. Andrew’s. It’s such an easy way to introduce new families to our church. It has been the most creative and exciting three years of my life, and I am grateful to everyone who works so hard to help keep the idea moving forward. My prayer is that everyone at St. Andrew’s will come to K’Deo at least once, and invite their friends and neighbors to check it out too.”
K’Deo attracts many adults, even though they are much older than the target audience of three- to nine-year olds. And the adults enthusiastically agree that K’Deo is a marvelous way to get new families in the church doors.
We asked William how far he would like to see K’Deo go in the future?
He responded, “I want to reach as many children and families as possible. If there ever comes an opportunity to take K’Deo to a new level that would bring more people to know Jesus, then I will do everything I can to take that step. Right now, I just want to follow where God leads me, and I pray that St. Andrew’s will keep supporting this ministry in the future as they have so faithfully since 2003.”
You can contact William at 297-7201, ext. 234, or email wwinterton@standrewspres.com.