Michael Peter Woroniecki is an independent, non-denominational Christian missionary.
47 Facts About Michael Woroniecki
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Michael Woroniecki was the youngest of a large Polish Catholic family who was raised in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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Michael Woroniecki's mother became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement in the early 1970s and sought to introduce her children to the born again experience.
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Michael Woroniecki attended Central Michigan University where he studied psychology and played varsity football from 1972 to 1976.
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Michael Woroniecki explains in his Christian testimony that he forgot his deal with God and had a "wild streak", involving himself in alcohol and partying.
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About the same time, Michael Woroniecki's mother gave him a Bible, which he began to read.
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Michael Woroniecki says God used this time of suffering and depression to break him of his pride, preparing him to receive the Gospel.
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Michael Woroniecki attended the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference at University of Notre Dame the weekend of June 14,1974 with his family.
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Michael Woroniecki was in the stadium when he says he told God that he didn't know what the saying "born again" meant, but that he wanted everything that the Lord had for him.
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At that moment, Michael Woroniecki believes that he "met the living Jesus".
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One day after practice, while in a bar with his teammates, Michael Woroniecki says he ordered water in the place of his usual beer.
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Michael Woroniecki's friends becoming curious, Woroniecki explained that he had met Jesus.
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Michael Woroniecki writes that he could not understand why people like Roger Staubach, a famous Christian athlete, were respected, yet he was rejected, until he read John 12:24 and 25.
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Michael Woroniecki reasoned that if the world hated Jesus without cause, they would hate and reject him if he followed Him.
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Charles and Rose Woroniecki, Michael Woroniecki's parents, were members of the Basilica of Saint Adalbert, a Roman Catholic church in the Polish west side of Grand Rapids.
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Michael Woroniecki attended a Catholic grade school adjoining his family's parish and then advanced to West Catholic High School, another parochial school in Grand Rapids.
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Michael Woroniecki applied to the Dominican and Franciscan Orders of the Catholic Church with the intention of helping to bring reform from within the Church.
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Michael Woroniecki then applied to the Franciscan seminary in his own hometown of Grand Rapids.
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In 1978, Michael Woroniecki was accepted at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, a non-denominational institution.
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Michael Woroniecki says he was "deeply grieved" by the professionalism and business-like attitude towards the things of God at Fuller.
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Michael Woroniecki confronted classmates over the attitudes of scholastic pride and hypocrisy that he thought to contradict the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
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Michael Woroniecki obtained his Master of Divinity degree from Fuller in 1980.
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Shortly thereafter, Michael Woroniecki left to start his own home church and street preaching ministry.
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Michael Woroniecki returned to Grand Rapids after graduating from Fuller Seminary in the summer of 1980, where he preached on the streets and at various events while carrying a sign or cross, starting his own ministry called Cornerstone Christian Fellowship.
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The offer was accepted and Michael Woroniecki began to travel the US, stopping first in Atlanta, Georgia where street preaching is permitted.
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Michael Woroniecki began creating music with an electronic keyboard in 1986.
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Michael Woroniecki says he used the music along with dances and Biblical skits as a means of communicating the gospel in countries where they did not speak the language.
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Michael Woroniecki does not consider himself professional but believes "that music is a powerful tool to touch people of all walks of life".
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Michael Woroniecki preaches that one must "get alone, study the New Testament and seek the Living Jesus to be Born Again".
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Michael Woroniecki says that today's "churches" are not the true Church as seen in the Scriptures and cannot save anyone.
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Michael Woroniecki has used large banner signs and often a wooden cross to convey his message for the past 35 years.
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Michael Woroniecki cites various Scripture verses in his pamphlets to substantiate his message that only by faith can a man be saved from hell and reconciled to God, a doctrine accepted by most mainstream Christians and defined by Martin Luther as sola fide.
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The Bible figures strongly in Michael Woroniecki's beliefs and is a focal point of his preaching.
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Michael Woroniecki believes in Biblical inerrancy and considers the Scriptures authoritative on all matters of life.
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Michael Woroniecki's message is met on the streets with a variety of responses.
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Michael Woroniecki first met Rusty Yates in the mid-1980s while preaching on the campus of Auburn University.
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Michael Woroniecki said of this meeting that Andrea seemed slightly intimidated, and that he advised them not to marry quickly, the same advice he gave to other young couples.
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Rusty bought the bus, a 1978 GMC that Michael Woroniecki had used for his family's travels.
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Michael Woroniecki was prescribed a variety of antidepressant and antipsychotic medications.
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In early 2002 Michael Woroniecki came to the attention of the national media when Yates's trial started.
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Certain media outlets alleged that Michael Woroniecki bore some responsibility for influencing Andrea.
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Michael Woroniecki stated that Andrea had suffered schizophrenia, depression and delusions for years.
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Michael Woroniecki stated that he had only met Andrea personally four or five times over 20 years and that his relationship with her was "one of nothing but love and compassion".
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Michael Woroniecki said that he had warned Russell Yates that Andrea and their children needed his love.
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Peter Jennings of World News Tonight reported that Rachel Michael Woroniecki wrote to Rusty and Andrea that they needed to reconcile their marriage.
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Michael Woroniecki was quoted by the Grand Rapids Press as saying,.
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Michael Woroniecki remains active in his ministry and has recently visited various universities during the fall semesters.