​Pastor

Stan Van Den Berg

​Pastor Stan has been in Ministry for 38 years. He came to Christ while in 8th grade through the ministry of the First Presbyterian Church of Anaheim, CA. This was also his confirmation year, the same year the church left the PCUSA. He knows the difficulty of leaving a denomination, but also the freedom and excitement in Christ that comes from it. He attended Cal State Fullerton, majoring in Geology. He took a job with Chevron after graduation, working as a geologist for four years. While he was working at Chevron, he was elected as a deacon at his church, Covenant Presbyterian in Orange, CA. As a deacon, he was asked to start a group for post-college singles. It grew from 3 to 50 people. The Senior Pastor recognized his ministerial gifts and asked him to work for the church. He accepted the job, overseeing discipleship and college and career ministries. He attended Fuller seminary in Pasadena, CA, graduating with his Masters of Divinity in 1991. He came under the care of the EPC in 1986 and was ordained in in the EPC in 1991. He was made an associate pastor at Covenant Presbyterian. In 1995 he became the Senior Pastor at Covenant. The church grew from 350 in attendance to 600. During this time he earned his Doctor of Divinity at Reformed Theological Seminary in 2002. In 2014 he took the call to become Senior Pastor at Eastminster Presbyterian in Wichita, KS. He retired from Eastminster in January of 2024 due in part to a prostate cancer diagnosis. He has a clean bill of health and is ready to serve us at Diamondhead Community Church. Stan says of his call to DCC, “I kept feeling a nudge towards them. I couldn’t get the church out of my mind.”
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Pastor Stan has been trained by the EPC to be a transitional pastor. He brings with him 38 years of ministry in the Church. He is married to his wife Nancy. They have four children: Joshua 33, James 31, Hannah 29 and Gabbie 26. He enjoys travel, learning languages, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

He and Nancy think of this call as an adventure. They look forward to spending time on the Gulf Coast and loving on the folks at DCC.  Stan says, “Godly leadership is taking people from where they are to where God wants them to be, and doing it in love.”