February 02, 2022 · Comments Off on ABOUT DONALD
ABOUT DONALD

Who are you?
I am a follower of Christ. Husband to Kelly, father to two hilarious and talented kids.
I served as the Director of Communications, Arts, Music, and Liturgy at Doxa Church in Redmond, WA from 2015 until 2025. I've been leading worship since 2001 in the local church. I've coached worship leaders since 2010, and written several published works, particularly in the area of worship structures, creating worship culture, and leadership development. My family and I came to the Eastside of Seattle to help replant Doxa Church under Jeff Vanderstelt in early 2015. Prior to that, I was a founding pastor at Living Stones Churches in Reno, NV where I served for 14 years.
Hobbies evolve with life stages but I love fly fishing, freshwater aquariums, trading sports cards, and grilling on the Big Green Egg. I also have an unrelenting weakness for food trucks and tacos.
What's your story?
I was born in Reno, NV and then shortly after moved to the Bay Area outside San Francisco, CA. A track team mate shared and showed the radical love of Christ to me in a variety of ways, and that led to me trusting Jesus with my life at a CMA Christian camp in Occidental, CA. I jumped into serving in the local church, helping with youth worship and then college ministry. I worked in the Silicon Valley for some Dot.com startups, interned for the government on the Human Genome Project, and worked briefly while taking college classes in CA for Chevron and Microsoft. I returned to Reno in 2001 to finish my Bachelors and helped plant a church called Living Stones. I married in 2005, had a couple of kids, and served in the local church there until moving to the Seattle area in 2015.
What's your background in music?
Truth is, I'm competent on keys and guitar, but have always enjoyed the collaborative part of making music. I made a conscious decision a long time ago to both surround myself with the best godly musicians I could find and never chased some of the things required to “make it” (heavy touring, endless self-promotion). I always wanted to stay healthy and faithful. Giving myself to the local church for me is about chasing faithfulness over platform.
Outside of the local church, I experienced a lot of grace with various bands and traveling ministries. Itinerant ministry has taken me to every state in the contiguous U.S. and abroad to Europe, Mexico, South Africa, and Japan. I've recorded six studio albums. My favorite, “Hopefully Broken” is available on iTunes and Spotify. My first real radio single “At the Cross” broke most music industry rules with play on over 40+ reporting AC stations across the county. I’ve shared the stage with plenty of artists and played festivals. All that though pales in comparison to the gift of being a part of a local church. The opportunity to help worship leaders, arts leaders, and churches through my songs and coaching means a lot to me.
Why do you coach leaders?
Simply put, I am deeply passionate about equipping worship leaders and volunteers to make much of Jesus, by using music and the arts in the church in a way that’s theologically informed, practical, and contextual. My calling is to equip artists to tell the gospel story.
I love coaching leaders. All the experience and exposure to denominations and tribes in church-world have helped me be an effective mentor and trainer to others. It brings me a lot of joy to be helpful to others. Sometimes the words I have for a leader articulate something that has rattled around in their chest for a long time. What a privilege!
After all these years, I still believe artists are essential in the local church. They help capture a small glimpse of things the way they ought to be and will be again. If Jesus is the purpose of worship ministry (which He is), then faithfulness is utmost in what we strive for. I love building up leaders that care about faithfulness. I’ve come alongside dozens of leaders over the years to help them lead worship more effectively, build a plan, and walk in faithfulness in light of their unique gifting. Read more on my coaching here.
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