Growing up in the home of a pastor, Dan Meiners was privileged to trust his life to Christ at a very young age. He dedicated his life and work to the Lord at a Youth for Christ rally while still in high school in Schenectady, NY.
As a young man, Pastor Dan resisted God's call to pastoral ministry during his college years, asking if there was something else God was calling him to do, but finally coming to the conclusion that the Holy Spirit was using Paul's exclamation in 1 Corinthians 9:16, "I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" to call him to the joy of serving God and people in the church and the world. He began to preach while in college, more than 40 years ago, and has been ordained to full time ministry for the last 35 years.
Pastor Meiners has always believed that he was especially blessed in his personal spiritual nourishment, in that he grew up in a home where the Bible was often discussed, attended church and Sunday School every week, spent summers at a deeper-life oriented camp with his parents for his first 18 years (the Peniel Bible Conference), and was privileged to study under many godly teachers in college and seminary. Because of this, he believed God would especially call him to the spiritual nourishment of believers, but has also found himself to be often effectively used by the Lord to lead seekers to commit their lives to Christ.
Pastor Meiners received his BA in Philosophy from Gordon College and his M Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary. He has been Bethany's pastor since 1986 and celebrated the 35th anniversary of his ordination to ministry in May of 2009.
