PASTOR PROFILE > Dan Royer

Both Tammy and I are native Hoosiers. I was born in Union City Indiana (near Winchester and Richmond) and Tammy was born in Anderson. My family moved several times and then settled in Anderson, where they continue to live. I met Tammy through a friend who took me to her church because they had a great youth group. We began to date, and the rest is history as they say. This November, we will celebrate our 31st anniversary. We have two children and five grandchildren, and we have the pictures to prove it.

After our marriage, I attended college at Indiana Wesleyan University (then it was called Marion College in Marion). I graduated with a degree in Accounting and then accepted a job with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois. Therefore, for the next 17 years we lived in Illinois with the bulk of that time being in Springfield.

During that time, we both sensed that God was doing something in our lives through the ministries that we were involved with through our church, Westside Christian Church. We were involved in Bible Studies, Youth Groups, Choir, Youth Choir, and special presentations at Easter and Christmas. As a result, we explored Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, Illinois where we decided to attend. After an extended period of time, I graduated from Lincoln in 2003 with a Master of Divinity degree, or as some call it a Master of Eternity because at times it feels like it takes an eternity to complete it. Tammy meanwhile took several courses in Counseling and is currently nearing completion of her Biblical Counseling degree through Trinity College of the Bible in Newburgh, Indiana.

For the last four years we have served a church in Selkirk Ontario. Tammy has served as the Children’s Minister and I have acted as the Senior Pastor. Together we have been involved in praise teams, youth groups, kid’s programs, special services and we have put together a special Easter Drama that the four churches in the Selkirk area have participated in. We have also been heavily involved in visitation and conducting special services at the nursing homes in the area.

However, we have for some time felt a longing to return to our home, which is in America. In the beginning this feeling was somewhat vague and we did not have a specific urge or direction to leave Selkirk. However, over the last several months we have received difficult news. In December, Tammy’s younger sister lost her 22-year-old son in a motorcycle accident. The loss was tragic and difficult, however in January, we received word that Tammy’s father was diagnosed with colon cancer, and my mother had a lump removed that was cancerous. Both started treatments and had surgery.

We believe that God has brought us to Bainbridge. We look forward to a joyous and exciting time of ministry as we return once again to our home state Indiana.