Rev. Anthony T. Woods serves as Senior Pastor of Palma Ceia Baptist Church where he leads with a kind and loving heart. Some of the few things you will notice about him right away is his warm and engaging personality, his genuine love of God, and compassion for people. His vision is that Palma Ceia continues to thrive as a “House of Prayer for all People”.
Pastor Woods was raised in Brookfield Village, a neighborhood located in deep East Oakland California. Shortly after his family moved to Hayward, he joined Palma Ceia as a teen. At Palma Ceia, his early years were heavily influenced by the leadership and teachings he received under founding Pastor, Rev. Charles F. Bennett. During those years, in addition to being a highly recruited basketball player and outstanding scholar, he developed a passion for studying the Word of God and discovered the wide-ranging application of its truths. This solid foundation prepared him to preach and teach with insight, and to have courageous conversations about challenging topics such as mental health, drug abuse, childhood trauma and healthy relationships.
Pastor Woods later attended Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. As an undergraduate he lived in Blois, France and became fluent while studying religion and French literature. He later received graduate instruction at Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. Having seen injustice and the resulting gap of distrust between law enforcement and the community, Pastor Woods became a Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) certified trainer. He has presented workshops to local law enforcement agencies such as the Hayward Police Department and San Leandro Police Department. Recognizing alarming data in education, Pastor Woods presented training workshops on culturally relevant pedagogy to administrators and educators at the San Ramon and San Leandro Unified School Districts. He has also presented Family Engagement Workshops for the Hayward Unified School District while also serving as an on-site after school academic tutor for middle school and high school scholars.
Rev. Woods is a loving and devoted husband, loyal friend, supportive parent to three adult children and is affectionately known to ten incredible grandchildren as “Oppa-T”. He loves going on dinner dates with his lovely wife Dawn, close family gatherings, worship, fellowship and prayer with his Palma Ceia family, international travel, watching foreign films and fly-fishing high altitude Sierra streams. Pastor Woods is defined by his loving heart and an unwavering commitment to walking alongside people through every season of life. God has given him a unique spiritual ability to build and strengthen community relationships in a way that transcends ethnicity, race, age, culture and socio-economic status. That is truly a gift from God.