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Ron Bard (M.Div. 1981)
Born in Connecticut, Ron married his high school sweetheart in 1960. They have 4 children and 11 grandchildren. Ron practiced law for 16 years and was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature during 1967-1975. He has earned 5 academic degrees in business, law, political science, human and corporate communications, and Christian education. He taught in several colleges and a Christian seminary and served as Executive Director of several Christian non-profits. Ron has been serving as Chaplain at a teenage facility for emotionally disturbed teenagers for the last 30 years.
Ron invites you to take a peek at a blog he created in response to Romans 1:11-12 where Paul invites us to become "mutually encouraged by each other's faith." What is God teaching you? I invite you to respond to what He is teaching me and ask you to share with me and others what He is teaching you! GOD TEACHING ME at http://godteachingme.blogspot.com/
John Buechner (M.Div. 2008)
 John is serving as Pastor for Pinewood Springs Community Church near Lyons, CO and also continues to lead The Mercy Project Colorado, a ministry organization to provide restoration to children who have been rescued from sex trafficking (Please visit our site at http://www.mercyprojectcolorado.org). He and Lori just celebrated 27 years of marriage and John was honored to preside over the wedding of his son, Stephen, in August. Photo shows Buechner family (Left to right) Carolyn, Holly, Marqui and Stephen Buechner, Lori and John Buechner.
Russ Claassen (M.A. YFM 1999)
Russ graduated from Denver Seminary in 1999 with an M.Aa in Youth & Family Ministry. From there he went to the small rural community of Corn, Oklahoma and served as youth pastor of the Mennonite Brethren Church through December of 2010. During his time at Denver Seminary he met his wife, Chandelle, through mutual friends and was married one year and one week before moving to Corn. They have two children, both boys. Samuel is 8 and Dellen, 5. Nearly all of their married life and all of their children's lives have been in Corn. Currently, Russ is serving the Southern District Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches as half-time District Youth Minister. In conjunction with that he is also the youth pastor at Koerner Heights Church in Newton, Kansas. Part of his responsibilities is also helping churches that are seeking youth pastors connect with youth pastors seeking a place to serve.
Russell Courtney (M.A. Christian Formation/Soul Care 2009)
Russell Courtney, Director of The SoulCare Project, has recently moved back to his hometown Chattanooga, TN to manage The SoulCare Project. Upon graduating from Bryan College in May of 2004 with a degree in Psychology and Minor in Youth Ministry, Russell became Director of Middle School Ministries for Mitchell Road Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. Three years later Russell moved to Colorado Springs to attend Denver Seminary and intern with Potter's Inn, a ministry devoted to the work of spiritual formation and the care of the soul. At Denver Seminary, Russell received an M.A. in Christian Formation and Soul Care. Russell's wife Kate works as a bridal consultant in Chattanooga, and they are both enjoying being near friends and family.
Wil Franz (M.A. Counseling 1983)
Wil is Director of Clinical Services at CrossRoads Counseling, a brief intensive counseling center specializing in assisting pastors, lay persons and couples in transitions, and crisis situations in ministry, and personal life. Wil and his staff of four licensed professionals are located in Buena Vista, CO, a beautiful, out of the way mountain community 120 miles southwest of Denver. It’s a great place to slip away to listen for the heart of God, and heal from the wear and tear of life. Check us out at www.crossroadscounseling.net. We’d love to hear from you!
Robert Frederich (D.D. 1976, Former Board Member)
Dr. Robert Charles Frederich, former pastor of Galilee Baptist Church and board member at Denver Seminary, passed into the presence of Christ on Saturday morning, February 5. His life and ministry impacted many individuals, churches and ministries (including Denver Seminary). A memorial service was held at First Baptist in Portland, Maine on February 13. Bob’s son Peter and son-in-law Bill Mutchler were both grads of Denver Seminary. Pastor Bob truly lived and died in his calling, “Go and Give Them Jesus!” Pastor Robert Frederich will be remembered for his passion. He was a faithful and dedicated mentor to his children and was tireless in pastoring and fostering personal and spiritual growth in the people God put in his care. He is survived by his five children and their spouses; his sister Miriam Frederich Brenner, and 15 grandchildren.
Prior to his illness, Pastor Frederich served as pastor of First Baptist Church of Portland, Maine, from 1989-1997. After retiring from that role, he remained fully engaged in a mentoring program involving New England pastors until days before his death. Robert attended Wheaton College where he met his lifelong sweet heart Nona Lee Peterson. Upon graduation in June of 1949, he and Nona married. From that day on, and for 59 years until her death in 2008, Nona was Robert’s soul mate, ministry partner and mother of their five children. Robert pastored churches in California, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, and Maine. Additionally, he exercised ongoing leadership within the Conservative Baptist Association of America, serving at various times as president of the organization, as well as the Conservative Baptist Home and Foreign Mission societies, and president of the board of Denver Seminary. In recognition of his denominational leadership, Robert was awarded a doctor of divinity degree by Denver Seminary in 1976.
Chad (M.A. Counseling 2002) and Tami Holladay (M.A. Counseling Ministries 2002)
Tami and Chad now live in Utah near Ogden. They moved there 2 years after graduation. Chad got licensed in CO but have since left counseling as a primary ministry and is now in his “sweet spot” as a junior high pastor. He loves this ministry! They have 2 daughters, Leah and Bethany (7 and 6 respectively) and recently welcomed a son into their family, Josiah, on Sept 30th. When they moved to Ogden, Tami started a ministry to teen parents with Youth For Christ and has since passed it off so she can stay at home full time with their kids. It’s been an amazing ride!
Chaplain Curtis Holmes (M.A. Counseling/Christian Ed. 1980)
Please pray for us as we are volunteer Chaplains in the prisons. We are also involved with Open Door Fellowship. Please pray for those we minister to, many broken hearts, lives in need of the Lord's victory in their life.
Peter Howard (M.A. Christian Studies 2002)
Pete and Angela were married last year in New York and now reside in Oxford, England where Angela is pursuing her D.Phil. in legal theory. Pete has a new role with Food for the Hungry where he is overseeing the global disaster response team as well as providing support to several Food for the Hungry teams in south-east Asia – such as Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia.
Steve Johnson (M.A. Leadership 1996)
After three years of teaching at the University of Idaho in Coeur d' Alene, Steve has relocated to the Puget Sound region of Washington to open a Strategic People Development office in the Seattle/Tacoma area. While in Coeur d'Alene, he was able to establish an office there that provides life and career coaching, and is currently managed by one of his partners. Having just completed the Journey Youth Workshop materials, their office is focusing on providing career development assessment materials, coaching and workshops for private high schools, home-schoolers, and church youth groups. Steve misses having the opportunity to teach in the Leadership division of Denver Seminary as an adjunct, and the interaction with both students and faculty. He especially misses the mentorship of Dr. Grounds. He is looking forward to connecting with other Denver grads in the Puget Sound area.
JP Kahnert (D.Min. 2010)
This past summer JP became the Operations Director at Grace Fellowship Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He also serves on the pastoral leadership team as the Chief of Staff for about 60 full and part-time staff. JP lives in Baltimore with his wife and three children.
Stephen Manyama (M.A. Systematic Theology 1980)
Stephen currently lives in Birmingham, AL where he is involved in the Family Worship Center and Community Development Center with the mission to restore people to wholeness, equip them with skills for success, and empower them to function with excellence. Stephen lost his wife Delores on April 20, 2009. Once a year he travels back to his homeland of Tanzania where he works with church planters on Ukara Island which is 65 miles within Lake Victoria. There are seven church plants that have been worshipping for years under the mango trees with congregations up to 300-400 people. Please pray for them as they seek needed funds to construct cement church buildings. Two churches have walls and roofs complete but the other five are still waiting for funds to add a roof.
Bill McConnell (B.D. 1966)
I retired in 2006 after over 40 years with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (Brazil), and moved back to Denver a year later. My wife, Beth, son Steve and I attend Peace Mennonite Community Church in Aurora, where the pastor is a Denver grad. Beth is a mentor for a student in the Seminary's counseling program.
Jessica and Ryan McDaniel (M.A. Counseling 2009)
My husband and I were both students at the seminary and graduated in the spring of 09. Since then we have moved back to Austin, Texas where we recently welcomed our first daughter on December 22, 2010! We have enjoyed keeping in touch with various faculty members and are excited to share this news with the community! Her name is Melody Amber McDaniel. You can keep up with our family through our blog site at http://mcdanielbaby.blogspot.com.
Currently, we are both working on our counseling licensure hours for the state of Texas as LPC Interns. Ryan has been gaining hours working as a counselor/caseworker for Austin Travis County Integral Care. I am currently taking a break to spend time at home with my daughter the next few months, but hope to begin seeing clients again in more of a private practice setting once I go back to work.
Fran Sciacca (M.A. 1980)
Fran is currently Director and Lead Teacher of Hands of Hur, a teaching ministry based in Birmingham, Alabama (www.handsofhur.org). He also directs the KaiRo Project, an urban resource initiative built upon the book, Kai'Ro: The Journey of an Urban Pilgrim, an urban version of Pilgrim's Progress (www.kairoproject.org). He and his wife Jill make their home in Birmingham. They are parents of four adult children, and have six grandchildren.
James Smith (1974-1975)
James’ wife, Kathy, age 61, passed away on March 21, 2010 after a 3.5 year battle with cancer. James is the Associate Professor of Management Information Systems at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. He will be co-leading, along with a Wycliffe missionary, a team of 8 students to Guatemala during spring break. The purpose of the two-week trip is to research the feasibility of doing economic development in the Huehuetenango region. If their analysis is positive, they plan to design a 6-year plan to bring technology, business, micro-financing, etc. into the region.
Hunter Teets (M.A. Counseling 2010)
As a recent alumnus, Hunter is establishing a private practice in Boulder. He also began doing further coursework in Marriage and Family therapy at the Denver Family Institute. This has been a great addition to his coursework at Denver Seminary and is a great aid in my desire to see couples, families, and individuals living in restored relationships.
Marlen Wells (M.A. 1998)
Marlen is Senior Assistant to the President at Focus on the Family (12 years) and is the manager of the field development team.
Bill White (M.Div. 1997)
After 12 1/2 years as an Associate Pastor at Wabash Friends Church (Indiana), Bill moved back to Ohio and started Action Church (akronactionchurch.org) in 2010. Action Church will celebrate their first anniversary on Jan. 30, 2011 and is a "3rd Place Church Plant," meeting in Akron Lanes (a bowling center). Bill hopes to add another site in 2011, meeting in Super Bowl Lanes in Alliance, Ohio. Pray for wisdom, direction, and expansion of God's Kingdom thru Action Church!
Michael Williams (M.Div. 1997)
I have served as an active duty chaplain in the U.S. Navy for a little over 13 years. In my  chaplaincy time I have served with U.S. Marine aviators; on a Navy cruiser off the coast of Pakistan during "9-11"; with the US Coast Guard on Kodiak Island in Alaska; in a one-year Pastoral Care Residency (Clinical Pastoral Education) program for 4 units in the VA Hospital and Naval Medical Center-Portsmouth, Virginia; in 2nd Marine Division ground forces in combat in Fallujah, Iraq; and now serve as Deputy Director of Professional Development for U.S. Navy chaplains at the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center.
We would love to hear what God is doing in your life! Please send your personal and/or ministry updates to .
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