Sam Wider

Pastor Sam Wilder is our connections pastor who oversees our Life Groups, men's ministry, and on-boarding. Sam has been in full-time ministry for over 40 Years. His last pastorate was in Lakewood, CA where he was Senior Pastor for 26 years before his retirement. He and his wife Sandi moved to Idaho in October of 2021. He says, “Our daughter and son-in-law were moving here and were taking the grandkids. What choice did we have but to move to Idaho, too?” But they soon discovered the beauty of Idaho. After joining Kingdom Church shortly after moving here, they quickly planted themselves in the children’s ministry and Sam began playing in the worship band. A year after retirement, Sam was hired at Lighthouse Christian School to teach Bible to youth. He taught there for two years before taking the Associate Pastor position at Kingdom, where he had also been an elder. Sam and Sandi love spending time with their grandkids and going camping around Idaho. They have been married for 50 years (as of 2025) and Sandi is still his best friend, traveling companion, and the song in his heart. If you’re looking for him, he’s probably outside doing yard work, throwing the frisbee for his dog Jaxon or tucked away in a corner somewhere playing his guitar. If you ask him what keeps him going he’ll tell you it’s how Jesus keeps blessing him so much in this life.