Author: GCI Media

John Knaack, pastor of Living Hope Christian Fellowship in Buffalo, New York, grew up on a dairy farm in central Wisconsin. “I began attending WCG in 1974 after my dad and I began listening to The World Tomorrow. We asked for a ministerial visit and were invited to attend the local congregation.”

John’s parents and most of his siblings eventually became WCG members. About his early life, John says, “I loved the fact that our family had many activities and social events that involved extended family and I realize now how much that shaped me to be part of a bigger spiritual family.”

John went to Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas in 1976. After the campus closed, John transferred to the Pasadena campus for a year. In 1978, that campus started reorganizing and John left for a year to return in 1979. He was part of a ministry training program during his senior year (1981). That May, John was hired to serve as a ministerial trainee. His first assignment was Monroe, Louisiana.

John met Hannah (Pope) in college and their relationship blossomed while serving at the SEP camp in Orr, Minnesota. “Hannah and I celebrated 32 years of marriage last October; we were married in Wausau, Wisconsin, six weeks after our second year as SEP counselors.” John says, “God has blessed us with three children: Matthew is an officer with the Milwaukee police department, Sarah and Andrew live locally and enjoy coming over to harass their dear old dad on frequent occasions. Hannah and I have been dropping hints about grandchildren, but they seem to fall on deaf ears. Hannah’s mother has lived with us for the last four years. She will celebrate her 90th birthday in May.”

After getting married, John and Hannah began serving three congregations in Monroe. “From there we moved to Iowa where we served for ten years. We are in our 17th year of service here in the snow belt of Western New York.” John says he and Hannah love old movies. “And soon I’ll be watching my favorite, It’s a Wonderful Life.”

About being a pastor, John shares, “I truly enjoy being able to help people through the difficult journey of life. I’ve noticed over the years that my gifts fall in areas of comfort and encouragement. I receive more feedback from this area than any other. Pastors like encouragement, too!” This ties in with what John enjoys most about being part of GCI. He loves, “being able to freely share how much God loves each person. I realize this can be done outside of a church, but this is where being a part of GCI has brought me over the years.”

When asked about his passion, John said this: “Bottom line: telling others how special they are to our Lord and how much he cares for them. I find this to be the central theme in my sermons and in my work as a chaplain.

Due to declining financial resources, John took a second job as a chaplain. “Because of our transitions in GCI, I’ve been encouraged to share the gospel wherever I go. My work as a chaplain allows me to do that. I’m now a division director with Marketplace Chaplains, USA where I oversee 60 chaplains in the upper Northeast. I love most of the work, but driving in Boston traffic is not one of them!”

John said his most memorable moment as a pastor was “being able to baptize each of my three children!” When asked when he feels closest to God, he said, “It’s in the ‘aha!’ moment that comes after I’ve been burdened with an issue or trial for some time and finally I hear the Spirit’s voice in the matter. Praise God!”

Dan Rogers serves GCI as the director of Church Administration and Development (CAD) and the superintendent of US ministers.

An only child, Dan was born in rural Tennessee. “We lived in a tar-paper shack with no electricity and no running water. My parents picked cotton for a living.” When Dan was six, the family moved to St Louis, Missouri. “My parents found work in the factories there. We then lived in a single room in a tenement, sharing a bathroom with five other families.” Shortly after Dan began attending school, he was selected to be part of a program for gifted children. He refers to this as “one of the great blessings of my life.”

Dan’s parents were listening to Herbert W. Armstrong on the radio before they were married. Dan says that one of his earliest childhood memories was hearing HWA’s “distinctive voice.” His mother, who was deeply committed to HWA’s teaching, was also committed to having Dan attend Ambassador College. This was not Dan’s original plan. “Most of my youth was devoted to sports. In high school I was approached by two major-league baseball teams and offered minor-league contracts. My father and I were interested, but my mother insisted that I attend Ambassador College. She got her wish.”

Dan graduated from Ambassador’s Pasadena, California campus in June 1970, then entered a whirlwind weekend. “I graduated on a Friday, married Barbara (Rand) on Saturday, and on Sunday my new bride and I left for my ministerial assignment in Boston, Massachusetts. I was ordained an elder less than a year later and a year after that I became the pastor of the churches in Concord, New Hampshire and Montpelier, Vermont at the ripe old age of 23.” Dan and Barbara served in New England for 12 years. “During our time in New England I was privileged to start all the churches in Maine. I also enrolled in the M.Div. program at Boston University.”

Dan and Barbara have been married for 43 years and have three children. “Our daughter, Christine, was born in Rhode Island in 1971, our son, Christopher, was born in New Hampshire in 1973 and our son, Steven Earl Preston Rogers (SEP, OrR), was born in 1989 in North Carolina.”

After leaving New England, the Rogers were transferred to Greensboro, North Carolina and soon started a congregation in Winston-Salem. “Later in 1989 we were transferred to the Atlanta area and during the seven years we served there I was the area coordinator for YOU and then the district superintendent for that area. While in Atlanta I was able to get a Master of Theological Studies degree from Emory University with the hope of someday teaching at Ambassador University.”

Dan’s life took a dramatic turn in 1996 when he received a phone call from headquarters. “After serving seven years in the Atlanta area, I was surprised that instead of being asked to go teach at Ambassador University, I was asked by Michael Feazell and Joseph Tkach to come to Pasadena to serve as director of CAD and to pursue a PhD degree. The doctrinal changes that began in late 1994 had resulted in the loss of many members, ministers and money by 1996. By this time, there had developed a great deal of mistrust of headquarters by the field ministers. An “us” and “them” mentality prevailed. It was thought that bringing in a long-time pastor to direct CAD might help heal the breach.”

It was a difficult assignment for a difficult time. “My first several years as director of CAD were spent battling doctrinal division, reorganizing the structure of the field ministry and planning for regional conferences that would not only be opportunities for training pastors but also provide opportunities for fellowship between pastors and headquarters personnel.”

In the midst of it all, Dan gave much needed attention to providing ministry development services that would help return the church to a clear focus on the Great Commission to “make disciples who make disciples.” “I envisioned the need for multiplication of members, ministers, ministries and churches in the face of all the denomination’s declines in those areas.” It was also during this time that Dan encouraged what he calls “the most unpopular move I have ever made since I became director of CAD.” Dan asked the Church Board to close and sell our SEP camp in Orr, Minnesota. “Instead of one camp, I wanted to see many camps throughout the US with many camp directors, multiplied staff and campers. Eventually, I hoped our camp system would spawn short-term mission trips and would train our youth to be missionaries (both domestic and international). This development led to the ministry we now call Generations Ministries (GenMin).” Though Dan initially received “tons of hate mail and several death threats,” the decision helped launch now 17 camps and hundreds of youth having the opportunity to participate in the camp experience.

Dan also realized for GCI-USA to meet the needs of the future, we needed to start new churches. “Even as some of our long-time congregations began to close, we needed new churches for new people in new places, doing church in new ways for the future. This concept led to the ministry we now call Church Multiplication Ministries (CMM).”

When asked what he enjoys most about being director of CAD, Dan said, “Perhaps my greatest joy has been to dream of what might one day be for the denomination in the US, to pray for it, to strategize for it, and now to begin to see it happening. There is much left to do, of course, but it is encouraging to see how far we have come since 1996.”

Dan says he is passionately loyal and committed to this denomination and to its future. He adds, “I have been privileged to be a member of the Radio Church of God, the Worldwide Church of God, but most of all, a member of Grace Communion International. We have always sought to worship God, to take God’s Word seriously, and to make whatever sacrifices and changes necessary in order to live by every word of God. Where we are today in Grace Communion International is a testimony to God’s grace and, by his continued grace, I believe the best is yet to come.”