Canyons Community Church welcomes new pastor
By Elizabeth Wood West; photo courtesy of Dave Runyan
Canyons Community Church members will be celebrating Easter in a special way this year by having their new senior pastor, Dave Runyan, lead the worship service.
Runyan, who was unanimously approved by the congregation last month, is especially enthusiastic about starting his new role during Easter. “The members of Canyons Community Church possess unbelievable gifts of love and encouragement. We have always sensed a tremendous feeling of community and look forward to building and sharing this with others in the Castle Rock area,” said Runyan.
Runyan and his wife, Janessa, moved to Castle Rock shortly after their son Blake was born in 1997. They began their relationship with Canyons Community Church in 2001 when they were asked to be part of a prayer group that was considering a church plant in the Castle Rock area from Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, located in Englewood.
The newly-planted church became Christ the King Church and met at the DCS Montessori school in Castle Pines North for several years until changing its name to Canyons Community Church and relocating to 4825 North Crowfoot Valley Road in Castle Rock.
Runyan and his wife met each other while attending and eventually graduating from Texas A & M University in the early 1990s. Runyan later took several seminary courses at Denver Seminary and Reformed Theological Seminary, and completed his master’s of arts in Biblical Studies at Trinity College of the Bible and Theological Seminary in 2012.
During this time, Runyan served as a Sunday school teacher, youth leader, and interim pastor at Canyons Community Church. Runyan said, “We continued to be part of Canyons until 2012 when the Lord led us to become members of Crossroads Community Church in Parker. Our connection with the people at Canyons always remained intact, and through some amazing events towards the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, God brought us back to Canyons and appointed me pastor. The support shown by the congregation to my family and me as their new pastor exemplifies their desire to love God, love others, and to make a difference,” he said.
Canyons Community Church will be holding Easter service on Sunday, April 5, at 10:30 a.m. For more information, call 303-663-5751 or visit info@canyonscc.org.
