Pastor Dan Wynard has been serving at Alpine Lutheran Church since May 2014. Dan has spent the past 25 years serving as a missionary and pastor in various churches, countries and settings. From 1992 till 2003 Dan lived in Russia, working as a missionary to help establish an indigenous Christian student movement, a theological institute for training future pastors, and a Bible education and faith development program for lay leaders. During this time Dan also served with the Evangelical Christian Church of Russia. From 2003-2011 Dan served as the Teaching Pastor at Alleluia Lutheran Church, Naperville Illinois, and from Sept 2011-May 2014 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in DeKalb Illinois.  A graduate of Wheaton College in Wheaton Illinois (B.A. Biblical Studies, M.A. Missions), Dan also completed his Lutheran certificate of studies at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago.  Dan is married to Rev. Lucy Wynard – Pastor of Open Arms Lutheran Church, Rockton IL.

12 things to know about Dan:

  1. Have a great passion for connecting people to God.
  2. Am bilingual (English/Russian) and have spent a large portion of my adult life living
    overseas.
  3. Married Lucy on May 19th, 2007.  We met while working in the former Soviet Union as missionaries.
  4. Express myself confidently and assertively, but I welcome and value feedback,
    collaboration and even constructive disagreement. I am energized by the sharing of
    ideas.
  5. Love to think and play strategically.
  6. Love to read all kinds of books ­ from theology to science fiction.
  7. Grew up in a nominally religious family that rarely, if ever, went to church.
  8. First became aware of God’s presence in my life at age 16 and I’ve been excited and
    grateful ever since.
  9. Am an introvert, but appear to others as (what I call) an “occupational extrovert.”
  10. If given the choice between a) speaking about God to a large crowd, or b) talking about
    God one­-on­-one with someone, I would choose to speak in front of the crowd. I get
    energy from expressing well thought out ideas, more so than from being with people.
  11. However, some of the most cherished moments in my life are when I have the privilege
    and opportunity to pray with people one­-on-­one.
  12. My friends would say that I am most passionate (and animated) either when I am
    preaching or watching a Chicago Bears game.