Dan was born in Liverpool, and is a keen supporter of Liverpool Football Club. Living in London as a child, he grew in his Christian faith through his local church and Christian Union at school. After school, he spent a year as a youth worker in East Belfast, before studying at Durham. It was towards the end of his time there that he sensed God calling him to ministry as a pastor-teacher. He took a year working for a small church in Gateshead to test that calling, then went to Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and Regent College, Vancouver, to study theology. Dan worked at Holy Trinity Platt, Manchester, from 2000 to 2006, before moving here to Bristol. Dan is passionate about seeing all Christians released in ministry. A key passage in his understanding of ministry is Ephesians 4:11-13 - the pastor-teacher's role is to help "prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ..." Dan is married to Andrea; they have three sons, Joshua, Sam and Ben. Dan has written three books 'Dead or Alive' (IVP, 2007), 'Alive!' (IVP, 2009) and 'I'm a Christian, aren't I?' (IVP, 2010).