Biography for Dr. Will Renzema MFT
Dr. Renzema was raised in western Oregon on a 100-acre farm. He finished high school with a diploma and a scholarship to college in music. After his first year of higher education, he began working as a professional singer with the Continental Singers, the Spurlows, and the Jimmy Owens singers as well as singing in the Bel Air Presbyterian Church choir in Southern California. This led to being a studio singer doing background vocal recordings, TV specials, and touring with the Stan Kenton Neophonic Band as part of the six-voice intermission-recall entertainment.
After marriage at age 23 to a singer from Oregon he had traveled with for seven years, Dr. Renzema moved back to the Portland, Oregon area and became city-wide director of the Campus Life program of Youth For Christ. Seeking to return to professional music, he returned to Southern California at age 29. As a result of the necessity to provide for his wife and four children, Dr. Renzema held several positions aimed at providing the necessary income. These included merchandise manager for the JCPenney Co. and Operations supervisor for three different school districts.
At 17 years of marriage Dr. Renzema’s first marriage became troubled. At that time he entered personal counseling for about 5 years. It was during this time of resolving personal issues that Dr. Renzema became motivated to become professionally qualified to assist others in working out their personal issues and he entered higher education.
In 1991 he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of Laverne in Southern California. He graduated cum laude with departmental honors and presented his senior research project at the Western Psychological Association convention in April of 1992. He also obtained a Master of Science degree in counseling psychology from California Baptist University in January of 1996.
At this time Dr. Renzema became employed as a supervisor with Child Protective Services in Southern California. During 12 years of service in this position, he did the intern and study work to become licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist, a license which he still holds and uses regularly in his private practice. In 2012, after retiring from working for other agencies, Dr. Renzema returned to higher education and finished a doctorate degree in the Philosophy of Counseling in 2018.
It needs to be noted that Dr. Renzema had a profound encounter with God at the age of 14 and has maintained that relationship throughout life. He was a leader in a student club on his high school campus which saw up to 30% of the student body attending. His professional music work was with groups who focused on presenting God’s claims on individual lives. He has been music director in approximately 10 different churches while involved in other careers throughout life. He was on paid staff as assistant pastor, worship leader, and counselor at one church in Southern California for 12 years after retiring from public service. During that time of service he became ordained as a minister with the United Evangelical Churches with headquarters in San Jaun Bautista, California and is still holding that ordination. Dr. Renzema is currently involved at The Bridge Church in Southern California.
Dr. Renzema’s first marriage ended unexpectedly in January of 1992 after 24 years of marriage. Of the three minor children still at home, two of them chose to live with him. He functioned as a single parent of 2 teenagers for 4 years at which time he and his current wife were introduced by common Christian friends. They were married after a short engagement and have now been happily married for 26 years.
While Dr. Renzema is fully qualified to counsel from a non-Christian perspective, he prefers to counsel couples where at least one of the partners professes to be Christian. His forte is in presenting from the holy writings, principles which when applied, resolve issues between marriage partners. These same principles, though not presented as coming from scripture, also work excellently in bringing problem issues to resolution for non-religious couples.
Dr. Renzema is now endeavoring to offer the resolutions he has learned through education, Christian principles, and personal emotional and spiritual effort to anyone who wishes to consider them through the social media phenomena.