Rev.
Daniel K. Stern
Pastor Dan's NEW blog: Pastor Dan's Musings
Biographical Statement, Rev. Dan Stern
Pastor Dan Stern began his ministry with BCUCC on February 1, 2000, having completed a one-year interim pastorate at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Ballard and a 12-year pastorate in a UCC congregation in Chicago.
As the pastor of Broadview Community UCC, I want to encourage people to live well their present moments in time. I see my calling as having to do with assisting people (and this church in particular) in discovering their best and brightest future.
Raised on an apple orchard in Washington State, I learned how to work hard, but also how to appreciate God's created goodness and to be at play. This background is reflected in my style of ministry: I work hard, but I enjoy myself too. My faith community roots in the Church of the Brethren, an historic peace church, gave my faith very solid grounding, yet allowed me to remain open to 'new light breaking forth from the Spirit.' To become part of the United Church of Christ seemed to me a natural outgrowth of a broadening faith/life perspective both as a Christian and as a gay man.
Some life journey highlights: I worked for the Department of Energy during the Carter administration teaching public school children about conservation and renewable energy via music and theater. I've also worked as an orderly in a nursing home, owned and operated my own bicycle repair business, and was for several years co-director of a center for migrant farm workers and their families. I've also been an active volunteer in several church-related agencies and have had jobs as varied as food service work to fighting fires. All the above experience has fed and informed my ministerial approach and leadership style which is personable, passionate, honest and heart-felt.
I felt welcomed into
an open-minded faith/religious community since birth.
I have found community with faithful justice-and-peace minded friends:
my influences include Quaker, Anabaptist, Native American, Buddhist, and
progressive Catholic ones. I tend toward a creation-focused,
liberation-seeking spirituality. In the contemplation of goodness
in creation, my prayer life has been enriched. Though I've sensed
movement and growth in balancing the activist and the artist in me and
in my faith identity,
I have had strong convictions since childhood about God, the simple
life, a sense of community, and peace. I've long loved the
biblically-based pursuit of theological excellence - especially when
communicated as story rather than as structured dogma.
On a more personal
note, I tend to look for excuses to be outdoors: hiking and
backpacking, bicycling, skiing, kayaking and just walking my dog Icy. My partner
Sam and I especially love our backyard garden at our home in the Broadview
neighborhood. We enjoy more indoor activities as well: movies,
singing, and guitar-playing, curling up by a fire with a good novel and fresh-brewed coffee.
Sam is an architect
and originally from Montana, near Glacier National Park. We share our home
with our dog Icy and her best feline friend Max. As long as we don't say
the word "cat" in front of Icy, they get along splendidly.