Originally hired in 2000 as the Associate Pastor of Student Ministries, Don has served as the Senior Pastor since June 2017. He has been married to Dana since 1997. They have seven adopted children: Adanech, Tsadaalu and Emmanuel from Ethiopia, twin boys Caleb and Joshua (Elijah), Ricky and Micah Dianne from the Philippines. Don graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a bachelor degree in youth ministry. He teaches Bible classes at Faith Bible Christian Academy, and also helps out with the Taylorville High School wrestling team. His hobbies are baseball, football, wrestling, dodge ball, board games, fishing, and hanging out with people.
Don's sports loyalties are the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, Pittsburg Steelers and Pittsburg Penguins. His favorite foods are Buffalo wings, Chicago deep dish pizza, ribeye steak, and Charro's street tacos. One of Don's passions is to see individuals grow in their faith in Jesus Christ.
Don always believed that the Chicago Cubs would win the World Series in his lifetime -- a belief that he has seen turn to reality . One of Don's favorite childhood memories is playing baseball all summer long from morning to dusk in his friend's backyard. His favorite Bible verse is Romans 5:8: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Some things that most people don't know about Don is that his favorite color is brown and that his nickname in high school was Beets.