Five ways to describe him… Good listener, Sense of humor, Friendly, Sensitive, and a Peacemaker.

What he does at First Free… Dan is Pastor of Missions and ABFs (Adult Bible Fellowships). As Pastor of Missions, he gives oversight to the Missions Committee and keeps updated on all the missionaries that First Free supports and any prayer requests they may have. As Pastor of ABFs, he provides leadership and study materials to our Sunday morning adult classes. Another responsibility Dan has recently become involved in is as a Peacemaker, through Peacemaker Ministries. He is working toward becoming a Certified Christian Conciliator, which involves working with people in conflict and guiding them toward resolving their issues in a biblical way. Dan was also First Free Youth Pastor to the FrontLine high school students for 5 years. He still enjoyes working with youth, taking the high school juniors and seniors on a mission exposure trip to Guatemala every other year. He continues to work with college aged students and young adults.

Family Life… Dan has been married to Karen since 1975. Karen also works at the church (doing publications, website maintenance, and a variety of other tasks) in an office directly across the hall from him. She has the impossible task of trying to keep Dan under control. He and Karen live just outside the Wichita city limits on 10 acres. They share their country "farm" with 6 cats, 3 horses, 2 goats, and any deer, raccoons, possums, skunks, etc. etc., that pass through. They have one son, Ryan, who lives in St. Louis and works at the Lutheran Missouri Synod Headquarters as an analyst.

Life before First Free… Dan worked as a missionary with World Impact, an inner city missions organization in Los Angeles. He began working with the urban poor while still in high school. Before moving to Wichita, he was Executive Vice-President in World Impact's national office. He also worked at a furniture store, a health insurance billing company, and he and Karen also worked at The Oaks, a camp run by World Impact.

Things you should know about Dan... He loves working around the farm, doing things like gardening and taking care of the horses, going to movies, and going out to dinner. His favorite pasttime is reading, and you'll often see him with his "kindle" (an electronic book reader) that is home to at least 100 books (and counting).

What will you find on his Kindle book reader... Books by Jan Karon, Beverly Lewis, R. Kent Hughes, D. A. Carson, Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, and John Grisham; several translations of the Bible and many Commentaries, and all the books by a very special author, Kara Louise.

Things you may not know about Dan... His first name is William, he has Cherokee ancestors; he lived in South Central LA for over 12 years ministering with World Impact; he worked with World Impact for over 20 years (he started in high school) and was the first person to actually move into a home in the Los Angeles inner city; he played the viola in high school; and finally, pictures of him (dressed as a fisherman) appeared for a while in ads in Wichita (in print and on billboards) for a health insurance provider.