Pastor Kennedy McGowan
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by. Getting married is an exciting, sometimes nerve-wracking, but meaningful and significant time in your life. I’m honored that you are considering me to be your wedding officiant for your South Florida (Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach) wedding!
A little About Me
I am an experienced religious leader and spiritual advisor with over twenty years of service in one of the oldest Christian denominations in the United States, the Presbyterian Church (USA), which is a national denomination that encompasses a wide variety of views and theological perspectives within Christianity. I have been told that I am an effective and engaging communicator, and during my many years of ministry, I have officiated at well over a hundred weddings.
In regular life, I am a fun, easy-going guy who loves watching movies, enjoys craft beer, and lately I’m learning to get better at home improvement projects.
Why I Love to Officiate Weddings
I find it deeply rewarding to walk with a couple as they prepare to enter into this amazing adventure, and to provide a ceremony that will give meaning to their wedding day, and inspire them to launch an amazing lifetime together. Planning your wedding can be a big task, and if you’re like a lot of people getting married, you want the details to be right. Weddings are beautiful affairs and social occasions, but they have the potential to be so much more than that. Your wedding ceremony can be a ritualistic and symbolic expression of the kind of marriage you want to build. This is what is unique about my services – I take the time to get to know you and strengths you each bring to your relationships. And together, we create a beautiful wedding service or ceremony that is the beginning of a beautiful marriage.
My Professional Background and Training
I am Southern born and bred, beginning my life in Richmond, Virginia, and spending most of my growing up years in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Yet, since I spent so much of my adult life in the Northeast, I’ve become a bit of a New Yorker. I graduated from Princeton seminary, and spent time as a public relations professional in New York City, before I began my full-time ministry career in Long Island, New York
Over the last twenty years, I have served as pastor in two Presbyterian congregations. For 16 years, I led a congregation in Long Island that developed all sorts of innovative ministries. We partnered with poor communities in El Salvador working with them to educate their kids, develop new economic opportunities, and build a better life. Locally, we built houses with Habitat for Humanity, joined with folks in recovery from addiction to shut down bad rehab centers, and developed a diverse and vibrant family of faith where everyone could feel welcome. Seven years ago, I moved to South Florida to pastor a local church. In this current position, my role is also quite diverse: I can be leading chapel activities for a hundred exuberant preschoolers one day, running a regional committee meeting the next, and yet another day boarding a plane to Haiti to visit the orphanage for HIV kids that my best friend (Rabbi Alan Tuffs at Temple Beth El) and I started.
I love my work and I’m so glad I moved to South Florida. I love the diversity of cultures in South Florida, and I certainly enjoy the wonderful weather! Plus, the greatest blessing of all has been that here I met my wife, Dr. Chantal Gagnon, who inspires me and brings me joy each day. Getting married is on of the best things I’ve ever done, and I know it will be for you too!
We could not have been happier with Kennedy as our officiant. We already knew from coming to church services that we liked his style of preaching – Kennedy is very energetic and that he presents scripture lessons in a relatable way- but he absolutely exceeded our expectations with our wedding service. He really took the time to get to know us as a couple through our pre-wedding counseling sessions, gave us good guidance for starting out our marriage, and used our discussions to tailor our service for us and our families. He worked with us to incorporate readings that we chose and gave us various options for the service so that our wedding felt personal. Then, on the day of our wedding, he hit the exact right tone for the occasion – it was still appropriately solemn, but truly so joyful. I felt Kennedy was as exuberant about our marriage as we were (and still are). Many of our wedding guests from various religious backgrounds commented on how great the service was and how much they liked Kennedy. We were so happy with every element of our wedding, but particularly with Kennedy, and recommend him very highly. – Naomi & Del
We were definitely happy with the service that pastor Kennedy performed! Rashad and I were very happy with his choices of words and we were not only happy with the service, but with the marriage counseling that we had beforehand. We learned a whole lot from him and would recommend him to any of our friends or family. -Marcelina & Rashad