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Interim Executive Director & Pastor of Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church Galesburg, Illinois |
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Rev. Daniel Smith assumed duties as the part-time Interim Executive Director for Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ in 2006. The OAFC Board of Directors reaffirmed their desire for his continued service at its January 2008 meeting. He is a native of Texas where he first participated in OAFC. An OAFC Travel Team is where he met his wife Amy. They live with their son and daughter in Galesburg, Illinois.
Recent OAFC Board of Director Chairman, Pastor Smith looks forward to visiting local groups and working with Travel Teams. He continues serving full-time at his congregation, Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Galesburg.
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A Lutheran Teacher serving full-time as Assistant
to the Executive Director of Ongoing Ambassadors for Christ
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Daniel Barz was born on March 13, 1954 in Springfield, IL and was received into God’s Kingdom through Holy Baptism on March 28, 1954 at Concordia Lutheran Church, Springfield. Ministry with his parents Rev. Marvin and Marilyn Barz took him and his family to Minneapolis, MN; Pembroke, ON; Worland, WY; Bancroft, NE; and St. Johns, MI. After 19 years in Canada his parents moved to Kansas where they now serve God in their retirement in Cheney. He has three brothers Mark, Tim, and Jon, and three sisters Becky, Joanna, and Debbie.
Mr. Barz graduated from St. Johns High School, St. Johns, MI in 1972. He then attended Concordia, Ann Arbor and graduated with a Lutheran Teachers Diploma from Concordia, Seward in 1976. He has served as a teacher, principal, and/or DCE in Springfield, IL; Hacienda Heights, CA; Harper Woods, MI; Freeport, IL; Riverton, WY; and Bridgman, MI. His cousin first introduced him to OAFC, and then in 1976 he and his wife Ann were invited to lead OAFC in the Springfield area which he did there and then in California and Detroit during the next 4 years. Fifteen years later his daughters urged him to again became involved as a lead director in 1995 following their return to Michigan. He began serving as the Assistant to the Executive Director of OAFC on a part-time basis in October 2000 and has served full-time since May, 2001. He was installed during the Opening Service for Summer Training in Oklahoma City in July, 2001.
Mr. Barz and his wife Ann met at Concordia, Ann Arbor. She then graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Social Work. They were married on July 18, 1976 at St. John Lutheran Church, Ionia, MI. Ann’s parents, Dean and Ruth Hewitt have both been called to Glory. Dan and Ann have been blessed with 4 daughters. Sarah graduated from Concordia, Seward and is an English teacher at Indianapolis Lutheran High. She and her husband Jeff live close to the school. Elisabeth graduated from Concordia, Mequon and is now serving as a nurse while her husband Jon vicars in Beaver Falls, PA. Rachel is working toward certification in Music Therapy while living in Indianapolis with her husband Joel. Johanna attends Lakeshore High School in Stevensville. Ann currently serves as a piano teacher and organist.
Work is done either from his home office in Stevensville, Michigan or around the country. His duties include working with the various OAFC groups, planning summer training, working on travel teams, overseeing the Crier, and the other work to help OAFC grow. He may be reached at 269/429-7521 or dbarz.oafc@juno.com.
For a more recent update on the Barz Family read their Easter 2008 note.
