Ashley Wooldridge (BA ’99) grew up in the towns of Wilcox and Sierra Vista, Arizona, and attended a church of moderate size with his family. “Ministry was never on my radar,” says Wooldridge, whose father, a teacher and football coach, was his role model. He planned to go to one of Arizona’s universities, but learned about Christian colleges when he was in high school, and he thought, “That’s amazing! I can get a non-ministry degree, but at a Christian school – I have to do that!”

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He completed a business degree at Hope International University. He believes he graduated at the perfect time, because the young Intel Company was so “desperate” for personnel that they hired him, even though he hadn’t graduated from one of their preferred institutions. His wife, Jamie, also worked for Intel. 

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Five years into his eight-year career at Intel, Wooldridge felt the call to fulltime ministry, and he believes that his time at Intel was part of the overall preparation. Intel is a leadership-intensive environment, and, in addition to that leadership training, Intel paid for his Master of Business Administration degree. He also attended seminary before accepting the call as Executive Pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley in the Phoenix area.

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On November 1, 2017, Ashley assumed the role of Senior Pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV). CCV is the 2nd largest independent Christian church (8th largest church) in America, reaching more than 27,000 people each week through services on seven campuses and preparing to open its eighth campus.

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Ashley believes that he has become Senior Pastor at an exciting time. “People keep indicating downward trends in the church, but the opportunities to transform people’s lives are great!” Ashley exclaims. “We can impact culture like never before.”