About Daniel R. Hyde
The Rev. Dr. Daniel R. Hyde (“Pastor Danny”) is a SoCal native whose eclectic past has prepared him to minister in the diverse culture that is Southern California.
Childhood to College
He was born at Long Beach Memorial Hospital and soon baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. He spent his early childhood especially in Cypress, during which time his father was converted through the Calvary Chapel Movement in Costa Mesa. After moving to Redondo Beach and experiencing a broken family, he was invited to Hope Chapel Hermosa Beach (Foursquare Church) when he was 17 and was converted to Christ. Danny played basketball at Redondo Union High School under legendary Southern California coach, Jim Nielsen. After graduating, he attended Southern California College/Vanguard University (Assemblies of God) on a basketball scholarship. It was during this time that he became disillusioned as a young believer leading him on a two-year journey exploring Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism as well as having Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses frequent his dorm—much to the chagrin of his dorm mates! After this, he and his now-wife, Karajean, co-youth pastored at a non-denominational Pentecostal church. All this led Pastor Danny to discover the riches of the historic Protestant and Reformed Christian faith after meeting a classmate, who introduced him to The White Horse Inn radio broadcast, and through his beloved theology professor, Professor Ronald Wright. It was Prof. Wright who started giving him books by Luther, Calvin, and others.
Education and Ordination
After graduating from SCC with his Bachelor of Arts (B.A., 1997), Danny completed his Master of Divinity (M.Div., 2000) from Westminster Seminary California. It was during his final semester that he began a Bible study in Oceanside, which then led to Escondido United Reformed Church calling him to be the church planter of Oceanside URC within Classis Southwest U.S. of the United Reformed Churches in North America. Ten years later he finished his Master of Theology (Th.M., 2010) from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and even later (!) defended his doctoral dissertation at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Ph.D., 2022) in the Graduate School of Religion and Theology entitled, “‘These are the Times’: Public Worship as Manifestation of a New Age of Theo-Politics in the Theology of John Owen” (T&T Clark, forthcoming).
See his full academic Curriculum Vitae.
Writings
Danny has written numerous books to help people of all backgrounds grow in the knowledge of Christ, including his most popular book, Welcome to a Reformed Church: A Guide for Pilgrims(Ligonier, 2010). View it on Amazon (affiliate). You can also read many of his articles and listen to his preaching.
Teaching
He also serves as Associate Fellow in Practical Theology at Greystone Theological Institute and has taught at the Instituto João Calvino, Mid-America Reformed Seminary, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Seminario Reformado Latinoamericano, and The Davenant Institute. He also speaks at local church conferences to help build up the body of Christ. Contact him to talk about your ideas and needs for a conference.
Family
Pastor Danny is married to his college sweetheart, Karajean, who serves as Director of the Irvine Math Project, and they have four children: Cyprian, Caiden, Daxton, and Sadie. Together they enjoy showing the love of Jesus through hospitality in their home, welcoming any and all who need a meal, prayer, and the encouragement of the Word.
Elsewhere Online
Oceanside URC · Amazon Author Page · Curriculum Vitae · X · Facebook · Instagram · YouTube
“Theology That Becomes Biography”
This website is all about “theology that becomes biography,” a line I learned from my influential college professor, Ronald Wright, who often said in class “Theology that does not become biography is wishful thinking.” To learn more about the roots of this phrase, see this blog post.
As we read the Bible, we move from creation to rebellion to redemption to consummation. God made us for himself and for us to live with him in the blessedness of his life. We’ve rebelled (“sinned”) against him and have sought our own life in ourselves. Yet, God loves us and promised a Redeemer to bring us redemption from our sins and reconciliation with him. This leads us to the consummation, the end of all things of living with him in blessedness forever.
This intellectual theologizing should affect us in the here and now; thus, it is theology that becomes biography!