Eric is a disciple of Jesus, a father, husband, and preacher on a mission to teach the Bible expositionally.
Eric Paul Goetsch was born in Watertown, a small midwest city in Wisconsin, as the youngest of four. In 1996, Eric’s father (John Goetsch Sr.) moved the family to Los Angeles County and became the vice president of a start up Bible college in California.
Growing up in an evangelist home, Eric was always in church. It wasn’t really an option. Revival meetings, christian school chapels, youth conferences and more were all just part of the routine. But in 2007, as a hypocritical, self-righteous teenager, Eric attended a youth conference his dad was preaching at and was restlessly pursued by the love of God. That weekend Eric put his trust in Jesus.
After pursuing acting for the majority of his high school years, Eric began to sense a strong calling into the ministry his freshman year in college. That summer he read several books about God’s work of evangelism and revival and surrendered to the Lord’s prodding. He studied at West Coast Baptist College and received a Bachelors of Religious Education in Biblical Studies and Evangelism.
Eric married his college sweetheart, Lexa, and they began traveling the country forty-six weeks out of the year presenting WCBC in churches, schools, conferences, and conventions around the country. After three years of traveling and teaching, Eric moved his family to Yuma, AZ and became an assistant pastor at Faith Baptist Church.
It was here that Eric began wrestling with the fact that the church at large seemed stagnate and confused and the emphasis in the pulpit and the pew often seemed like a far cry from the themes stressed over and over again in Scripture.
Through the encouragement of his Pastor, and mentors, he started to learn how to ask better questions about the Bible and it lead him to discover a new world of pursuing Scripture through the lens of a historical, Jewish perspective. Suddenly the words and ways of Jesus became a source of revival as they took on deeper meanings for today through their original context. Eric's passion to pursue and preach Jesus was enriched.
Eric now serves as a Bible teacher and the founder of Onward Ministries. He travels the country, with his family (Lexa, Mason, Logan, and Jude), transparently preaching the Bible expositionally in its cultural context while practically applying the text through its authoritative intent. He firmly believes this is the kind of preaching that God desires to use to transform the world, one life at a time.
In short, He preaches the life-changing message of Jesus, inviting you to love God, love others, and become people of the Word.