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During his time as bishop, Gooch was responsible for running Sunday meetings, counseling individual members, organizing hurricane cleanups (pictured here), mentoring youth, and speaking to his congregation. -
Dr. Jonathan Gooch
To many, Dr. Jonathan Gooch is the friendly face of Celebration Pediatric Dentistry, an established member of the Celebration community and a dedicated husband and father.
To others, he is Bishop Gooch, the outgoing leader of the Lake Toho Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who has served for the last six years.
“I did not desire this calling beforehand, but I am grateful for the opportunity,” Gooch said. “I feel like being a bishop helped me learn of and grow closer to Jesus Christ, more so than I would have otherwise in that period of time.”
Though Gooch’s path to becoming a bishop was recent and somewhat unexpected, his journey to opening his own pediatric dental practice began in college.
After attending the University of Florida for his undergraduate degree and dental school, Gooch did a residency at the University of Tennessee, but returned to Florida when he started practicing pediatric dentistry. After some time working in Jacksonville and Orlando, he decided to open his own practice. Gooch and his wife, Celeste, are no strangers to the Central Florida area, both having grown up in Brevard County, and so the decision to start his practice in Celebration was an easy one to make.
“We wanted to be relatively close to family, and this was a growing area with good opportunities, so we were led to Celebration,” he said.
After only a few years of starting his practice, Gooch was asked to serve as a bishop. Unlike in other churches, this role, which amounts to around 20-25 hours per week of work, is an unpaid position that members don’t apply for or vote on. In Gooch’s case, he was selected by President Ryan Munns, the leader of all eight congregations in Osceola County.
“Filling leadership roles is never about who we think is best, but who God wants at that time,” Munns said. “We believe that the Lord’s will is revealed through His Spirit to us through our sincere prayer and contemplation. It is through that process that we knew the Lord had called Jonathan Gooch to be bishop six years ago.”
During his time as bishop, Gooch was responsible for running Sunday meetings, counseling individual members, organizing hurricane cleanups, mentoring youth, and speaking to his congregation.
Although his experiences were diverse and many had a lasting impression on him, Gooch said the hurricane cleanups he led throughout the state of Florida were wonderful opportunities.
“We had the youth come with us; to be with them as they were learning to serve other people … to see how they grew from focusing inward to focusing outward beyond themselves and seeing the change in their character that brought was a wonderful opportunity and really rewarding,” Gooch said.
Over the last six years, Gooch has had to find a balance between his practice, his role as bishop, and his family, including his three children.
“Despite the sacrifice that it seems like it would be, it is well worth while,” he said. “Not only do I benefit individually, but my family benefitted as well.”
“As a bishop I was given the opportunity to see people from a different perspective,” Gooch said. “It allowed me to see them more as God does. I believe it helped me to be much more understanding, compassionate and merciful. It also helped me to see that everyone has divine potential, no matter who they are or where they come from.”
