Dr. Dan Proctor
He received at Bachelor’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, FL.
Our Story:
How did we end up in a ministry to help hurting pastors and pastor’s wives? How are we qualified to do this? Take a couple of minutes and read our story.
Dan was not raised in a Bible believing home, but became a Christ follower as a teenager through his older brother’s influence. Deniece was actually raised in a pastor’s home and became a Christ follower at a young age. They met at college, married after Dan’s sophomore year, and a year later were beginning to serve in a local church in Daytona Beach, Florida. They had no idea of the adventures that lie ahead!
Dan served as an assistant pastor for about five years and then as lead pastor for 30 years. They saw the church go from a small church that had dwindled to about 200 people to a church that averaged 1200 with highs of over 1800 people on Sundays.
It began when Dan and Deniece came to Daytona as staff members during their college days in a church of about 400 people. Then they came on full time when they were fresh out of college at about 21 years old. Deniece was pregnant with their first son and Dan served on a staff with multiple other staff members and did a variety of different ministries for about 5 years. While they enjoyed serving immensely, the challenges were so tough that they wanted to leave and tried to leave several different times. No doors opened, so they remained in Daytona.
In 1994 they were about to embark on the ride of their lives. The lead pastor resigned 2 weeks after the church had built a new 700 seat auditorium and had just gone 3.5 million dollars in debt (over 7 million in today’s dollars). On March 6, 1994 the church elected Dan to become the next lead pastor. He was 27 years old with no lead pastor experience whatsoever. The payments on the mortgage alone were over $21,000 a month. The church immediately split with over 100 walking out and going down the street to start a new church. Dan and Deniece were left with about 200 hurting people, no money in the bank, and a mountain of debt. Dan and Deniece didn’t know if they would even last a year. They ended up staying another 30 years! The church retired all the debt in a little over 8 years. When Dan resigned as lead pastor in 2022 the church had a total of five buildings on a 12 acre property in the heart of Daytona Beach. The church was debt free with 2 million dollars in the bank to be used towards their next 3 year vision that had been laid out in early 2022. Thousands of people came to know Jesus as their Savior, multitudes were discipled in their faith, and many were sent out all over the world to spread the good news of Jesus. But guess what? Here is reality – There were a lot of tears, pain, hurts, disappointments, fears, failures, mistakes, people problems, bad decisions, family conflict, health issues, miscarriages, betrayals, mental and physical exhaustion, depression, church members leaving, staff members getting angry, personal struggles, and a constant feeling of a total inadequacy to do what we were doing!
Our New Ministry:
That is exactly why we are here! We resigned the lead pastor position at our church in late 2022 in order to embark on a ministry of helping hurting pastors. There isn’t much we haven’t seen in 35 years of ministry in the local church. We desire to use that experience to help pastors and their wives. We offer this ministry free of charge. We still reside in Daytona Beach, Florida. We live in the same house we raised all three of our sons in – Clint, Clayton, and Caleb. Two of our sons are married and we have 3 beautiful grandsons. We all live within five minutes of each other. Nothing (except Jesus) is more precious to us than our family.
Our ministry is to help pastors and their wives protect their mental and emotional health!
- Nobody understands the life and challenges of a pastor except another pastor - somebody who has been there and done that.
- The burnout that can come from constantly giving and pouring into other peoples’ lives. It can drain you!
- The incredible weight of responsibility that is felt from speaking publicly week after week, and the preparation that goes into it. It is mentally and physically draining!
- The deep hurt that is felt when church members disappear and leave the church and YOU without so much as a “goodbye.”
- The constant staff and board issues. Contention can arise so suddenly and without warning.
- You and your family live in a glass house and perfection seems to be expected by so many.
- On top of all of this, you are a human being, with your own struggles, problems, and past baggage.
Like every other human being, pastors can have marital problems, parenting challenges, depression, anxiety, addictions, insecurities, financial struggles, physical problems, and everything else that other human beings deal with.
There is no way your board, your church members, or your staff can understand the challenges you face - but we do! We are here to help! We understand this better than most, having pastored in Daytona Beach Florida for almost 35 years. Click here to learn more about who we are and our background and experience in pastoring. Despite the outward success we saw in our ministry, there were so many bumps, bruises, and intense pain to navigate through in both our ministry and personal lives. We resigned the lead pastor position at our church in order to embark on a ministry of helping hurting pastors. There isn’t much we haven’t seen and experienced in 35 years of ministry in the local church. We desire to use that experience to help pastors and their wives.
Please know that we would absolutely love for you to reach out to us and we are willing to help in any possible way. People go to their pastor when they are hurting and need help, counsel, or guidance. But where does the pastor go? We are here for you! Every day pastors are quitting for a variety of reasons. Don’t quit without talking to somebody! There may be other solutions to what you are feeling.
We would love to hear from you! We are not here to judge in any way; we are here to help!
