Rev. Dr. Daniel Meyer
Dan Meyer grew up in Chappaqua, New York, and graduated from Horace Greeley High School in 1977. Over the course of his young adult years, Dan gained varied life experiences working on an off-shore oil rig, in a maximum-security prison, at IBM’s world corporate headquarters, and on a farm.
As the son of a state senator and nephew of a U.S. senator and ambassador, Dan acquired an early interest in politics and public service. While a student at Yale University, he served two terms as head of the student government, received the John C. Schroeder Prize for Leadership, rowed on a Henley-finalist crew team, and graduated in 1981 with honors and distinction in the field of Political Science.
Several life-changing events Dan experienced as a teenager took him on a faith journey that ultimately refocused his attention toward God.
Pursuing this interest, Dan spent two years after college serving alongside the pastor and people of the Duncairn Presbyterian Church, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. At the height of the Troubles there, Dan worked among the area’s youth and senior adults, helped to start an ecumenical community service center (the 174 Trust), served as a part-time hospital chaplain, and played semi-pro basketball on one of the province’s few Protestant-Catholic teams.
This pastoral experience was the beginning of what would become his life’s work.
Upon returning to the United States, Dan earned a Master of Divinity degree at Princeton Theological Seminary. Before graduating in 1985, he was awarded the Senior Prize for Excellence in Preaching and served as a seminary assistant at Presbyterian churches in Clinton and Woodstown, New Jersey. In 2008, he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.
From 1985-1991, Dan served as an Associate Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Burlingame, in California, a suburb of San Francisco. It was there, in 1988, that he married his wife, Amy.
In 1991, the Meyer's were called to the Village Community Presbyterian Church of Rancho Santa Fe, north of San Diego. There they saw God grow a solo pastor church with aging facilities into a multiple-staff congregation with a full ministry program, new land and buildings, and an active stake in Christian missions.
Since 1997, Dan has been Lead Pastor of Christ Church.us, a nondenominational, multisite church with locations in Oak Brook and Lombard, just west of Chicago. An average of 3,000 people participate each weekend in the church's children's ministry and five worship services, in-person or online. The church has an operating budget of $11M and invests an additional $1.5M annually in 70 domestic and global mission partnerships that multiply churches, lift women and children, transform communities, relieve suffering and develop leaders. The ministry is supported by a full and part-time staff of 148 persons and hundreds of volunteer servant-leaders.
Dan’s messages are frequently featured in Preaching Today, and are available through the WATCH portion of the church’s website. In 2018, Dan was elected chairman of the Board of Trustees of Fuller Theological Seminary, a non-denominational institution with campuses in Pasadena CA, Houston TX and Phoenix AZ. He has moderated the Executives Breakfast Club (a forum for business leaders) and is the recipient of four regional Emmy Awards for his role as host of Life Focus – a television newsmagazine. Additionally, Dan has authored three books -- Discovering God (Waterfall Press, 2014), Witness Essentials (InterVarsity Press, 2012), and Leadership Essentials (IVP, 2007, with Greg Ogden).
Dan and Amy have three sons and make their home in the western suburbs of Chicago.