ABOUT DAN ACKERMAN

  • During his life journey, Dan has learned that he has two passions in ministry. One is leading congregations and organizations as they navigate internal and/or external change. The other is helping organizations and congregations develop effective leadership and leadership structures.

    Dan has coached congregations through consolidation and re-birth (he started coaching consolidations in 1991 and the church he coached remains a vibrant, community-based congregation today). He has helped churches navigate the journey of closure and handing off their property to another group of believers who would carry on into the future. He has walked with churches as they have examined their staffing, looked at the changing realities and re-oriented their ministry and calling to fit a new community around them.

    Dan has served on staff in three congregations. In one, the church was a leader in addressing and supporting women/couples whose lives had been impacted by spiritual and physical abuse. In another, Dan led a 175-year old church to adapt from being a single language church to becoming a home to a variety of new immigrant and new language congregations that matched the community in which the church found itself.

    Dan has also served as a congregational coach in a national ministry, a regional executive for 25 congregations, and most recently helped start a national movement of churches. In every situation, success required growing and developing adaptive leaders to face new challenges.

    Dan has led workshops and served as a speaker at events for participants from 8th grade retreats to gatherings that included the pastors from the 27 largest congregations in a particular denomination.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT DAN

  • “What has always impressed me about Dan is his heart and his passion for the families in our neighborhood…Dan’s vision was to bring local businesses and area families together for an evening of food and fun. This past August in our second year of this event, we had over 500 people attend (twice as many as the year before)….His enthusiasm is infectious and his compassion deep.”

    Paula, principal of an elementary school in Kentwood, MI

  • “We wanted to express our heartfelt gratitude for your dedication and support during our recent Lead Pastor search. Your willingness to step in and lead our congregation during this transitional period was a true blessing.

    We are grateful for your time, commitment, and care for our church.

    Hope Church, IN

  • I have been involved in organizational change management several times in my career as in-house counsel to a large corporation. We have sixty offices in the United States and in twenty foreign countries with approximately 8000 employees. At my church…in addition to knowledge of the cultural context in which I was leading, I wanted to work with someone who could assist me in bringing those business change management principals to organizational change in our church governance structure. Dan brought both of these dimensions to the process and was able to effectively coach us through this organizational change…Throughout the process, Dan emphasized the importance of shared ownership, effective communication and establishing trust within our leadership team for our ultimate success.

    Susan, V.P. and General Counsel, Denver, Colorado.

  • Dan served our team as a congregational and organizational development consultant. His analytical skills were exceptional, and invaluable when dealing with churches or regional bodies that were in trouble. He was also a visionary. With an able command of the broader cultural and ecclesial concerns of the day, he regularly offered creative solutions that were grounded in the present but inspired leaders and organizations to move forward… Dan thrives on challenges. He regularly achieves beyond expectations, and he seems to serve particularly well when presented with seemingly intractable or insurmountable concerns.

    Bill, retired Ministry Team Leader for Christian Reformed Home Missions