Meet Pastor Danny

Rev. Dr. Daniel R. Hyde (“Pastor Danny”) is a SoCal native and has an eclectic past that has prepared him to minister in the diverse religious culture of Southern California. 


He was born in 1974 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 graduation, 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 Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses, who frequented 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 of 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 Ronald Wright, who started giving him books by Luther, Calvin, and others.

After graduating from S.C.C. 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 URC calling him to be the church planter of OURC within Classis Southwest U.S. of the United Reformed Churches in North America. 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 Department of Dogmatics and Ecumenics on the topic of the English Puritan John Owen. You may view his full Curriculum Vitae here.

Pastor Danny is married to his college sweetheart, Karajean, who serves as Director of the Irvine Math Project, and they have four children: Cyprian (who plays basketball at the University of Portland), Caiden, Daxton, and Sadie. Together they enjoy showing the love of Jesus through hospitality in their home to any and all who need a meal, prayer, and the encouragement of the Word.

Writing

Pastor 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 (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2010). He also regularly writes for Ligonier Ministries’ TableTalk. For a complete list of his books, chapters, & article please see his his full Curriculum Vitae here.

teaching

speaking

You can listen to Pastor Danny’s sermons at SermonAudio & YouTube. He has also done radio broadcasts for Abounding Grace Radio & Ligonier Ministries and regularly does interviews on podcasts. 

Speaking Requests

He considers it an honor and privilege to be asked to speak outside of OURC. In the words of Paul, doing so not only allows him to “impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you” but “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Rom. 1:11-12).


While his calling is to serve the OURC, his elders and congregation do give him time to speak outside the congregation. Just send him an email to have a discussion.