Dan Schafer

Over the course of a wide-ranging life of service, Dr. Dan Schafer has returned again and again to one guiding conviction: seek God’s kingdom first and trust Him with the rest. From pastoral ministry to missionary service to executive leadership, Dan’s life has been marked by integrity, steady faith, and a desire to help others grow in Christ. In June 2026, he concluded ten years of service as President of World Gospel Mission, but his legacy reaches far beyond any one title.

Soon after Dan and his wife, Pam, were married in 1977, he stepped into pastoral ministry in the Churches of Christ in Christian Union and served for twelve years. During that time, he graduated from Ohio Christian University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Ministries (1979) and took on several denominational leadership roles.  Through the latter, he discovered a gift that would shape much of the rest of his service. As he carried more administrative responsibility, Dan realized that he had, in his words, “a real propensity for administration” and “absolutely loved it.” What began in the pastorate became the first glimpse of a broader calling to lead, organize, and strengthen the work of Christ’s Church worldwide.

Sensing that the Lord might be leading him into administrative work, Dan reached out to World Gospel Mission in 1990 to ask whether there might be a place for him to serve. At first, he was told that an opening was unlikely. But only a couple of weeks later, an opportunity came: WGM needed a director for the Fairhaven Retirement Center in Sacramento, California. The mission offered to fly Dan and Pam out to see it first, but after praying, they felt a clear sense that this was God’s will for their family. They accepted the role “sight unseen” and served there for two years, trusting the Lord to be faithful as they followed His leading.

In 1992, Dan and Pam were invited to serve as WGM missionaries in Hungary. Dan became Area Team Leader, and Pam served as Field Treasurer. Their work there was varied, building strong relationships with pastors and leaders of a small indigenous holiness denomination, leading English Bible studies, caring for young volunteers who just graduated from college, and, with a clear expression of hospitality, regularly opening their home on weekends to these volunteers and others who needed a place to call home. Their years in Hungary deepened their understanding of missions and gave them a fuller picture of what it means to serve faithfully across cultures.

In 1994, Dan and Pam returned to the United States to serve as part of the WGM Support Staff. Dan began working in Advancement, where he helped reshape systems and processes so the mission could function with greater clarity and efficiency. This was yet another way in which God used Dan’s administrative gifts in the work of the mission.   

In 1996, Dan graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with an MBA and shortly thereafter became WGM’s VP of Advancement.  In 1998, he became the VP of Business Services, serving in both roles for 6 months until a new VP of Advancement was secured.

In the years that followed, Dan took on a series of leadership positions across multiple ministries. Within the Global Office of the Church of the Nazarene, he served as Director of Advancement for the Jesus Film ministry, World Finance Director of Nazarene Global Mission, and Executive Director of the Nazarene Office of Advancement and Development. It was during these years that Dan earned his Doctor of Business Administration from Anderson University.  In 2014, Dan became the CFO of Shepherd Community Center in inner-city Indianapolis, Indiana, and simultaneously served as the Director of Educational Partnership for Olivet Nazarene University. Again and again, he was called into places where wise leadership, financial stewardship, and organizational strength were needed. Through each assignment, God used Dan’s gifts to bring order, stability, and vision in ways that helped the ministry flourish.

In 2016, Dan returned to World Gospel Mission to serve as President. By then, the Lord had prepared him through decades of pastoral service, missionary experience, administration, finance, and executive leadership. During his ten years as President, WGM grew stronger in important ways. The mission expanded into more countries, including many with Muslim-majority populations, and became truly international in both reach and identity. When Dan became President, only a small percentage of WGM missionaries were sent from outside the United States, but by 2026, that number had grown to nearly half. The organization was also strengthened by cultivating a culture where accountability and leadership are modeled and empowered at every level, along with significant steps to ensure the organization’s current and future financial stability. Through every transition and unexpected turn along the way, Dan remained grounded in the faithfulness of God, often saying simply, “God has just always taken care of us.”

One of the clearest marks of Dan’s service has been his commitment to developing other leaders. He believed leadership was not about holding tightly to authority, but about giving others the freedom, responsibility, and encouragement they needed to lead well. During his presidency, he invested deeply in the people around him, helping create a culture where others could grow, make decisions, and serve with confidence. In that way, Dan strengthened not only the mission’s structure, but also its future.

Throughout Dan’s life and service, one passage has remained especially central: Matthew 6:33, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (NIV). For Dan, the focus has never been on what he might gain from a situation, but on putting God’s kingdom first. That conviction has shaped his decisions, anchored him in difficult seasons, and directed the way he has led and served.

Dan leaves behind a legacy of faithful leadership, steadfast integrity, and a deep commitment to raising up others. As he and Pam step into this next season, their desire to serve has not changed. They hope to keep investing in their community, encouraging future leaders, and following wherever the Lord leads them next. His years at WGM are a reminder that lives dedicated to God’s kingdom can bear fruit that will be harvested far beyond one generation.