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Higher ground

by Charlotte Teagle
Preacher Dan Grider with his son Chase.

Brother Dan Grider, 29, was reared just north of Russell Springs in Liberty, Kentucky. His family lived near Russell Springs in the Cumberland River area and when the lake came “the family moved to higher ground.”

His wife was also raised nearby in Stanford. He has been the minister of First Baptist Jamestown for the past four years and has no plans to move on.

“Because this area had never had the kind of ministry we offer them, we felt as if we were missionaries here,” Grider said.

He says the his ministry is a positive one which “focuses on the great things God has done for us. It is a contemporary, progressive ministry.”

Most former ministries here have been negative ones and he believes he has brought a fresh new outlook to this Appalachian community.

While ministers before him were never completely accepted because they were considered “foreign,” brother Dan says “they had to accept us as relatives” and explains that his wife’s or his families are related to “every major family in our church.”

He has increased his membership about threefold since coming here. When he arrived they had about 50 members now they average about 150 members.

Grider earned a BA in Broadcasting at Eastern Kentucky University and went to Southern Seminary in Louisville. He is currently working on his doctorate at Lexington Theological Seminary. His wife Debbie is working on her Masters in music education at Eastern Kentucky University.

They have two children; Tiffany, 5, and Chase, 2.

Brother Dan does all the layouts for his church advertisements. Before deciding on the ministry, he worked in Louisville at a rock and roll radio station as a DJ and at the age of 13 worked at a radio station and at a newspaper as a photojournalist.

“I really like it here, it’s been good to us,” Grider said.

Preacher Dan Grider comforts his daughter Tiffany after she scratched her arm in a fall.
Preacher Dan Grider with his son Chase.
Preacher Dan Grider with family, wife Debbie, son Chase and daughter Tiffany.
There’s a spring in her walk, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for anyone who walks through the door. Her name is Judy Back. She and her husband, Floyd, own the ‘Steakhouse Restaurant’ in Jamestown.
Preacher Dan Grider at church dedication service. He did not preach, just did the announcements.
]Preacher Dan Grider shares a tender moment with Mrs. Helen Cooper, whose husband, Judge Kenton Cooper passed away two weeks earlier. He was on the Building Committee for the church.
There’s a spring in her walk, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for anyone who walks through the door. Her name is Judy Back. She and her husband, Floyd, own the ‘Steakhouse Restaurant’ in Jamestown.
There’s a spring in her walk, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for anyone who walks through the door. Her name is Judy Back. She and her husband, Floyd, own the ‘Steakhouse Restaurant’ in Jamestown.
There’s a spring in her walk, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for anyone who walks through the door. Her name is Judy Back. She and her husband, Floyd, own the ‘Steakhouse Restaurant’ in Jamestown.
There’s a spring in her walk, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for anyone who walks through the door. Her name is Judy Back. She and her husband, Floyd, own the ‘Steakhouse Restaurant’ in Jamestown.
There’s a spring in her walk, a twinkle in her eye and a kind word for anyone who walks through the door. Her name is Judy Back. She and her husband, Floyd, own the ‘Steakhouse Restaurant’ in Jamestown.