Pastor Deardoff closes out 41-years in ministry

Dan Deardoff is possibly one of a very few pastors to receive a chainsaw from his congregation as a Christmas gift.

“It’s kind of a funny story,” Deardoff tells. “When I came here (in 2002), one of the members (Vern Smith) gave me a saw so I could cut trees at his place. He told me that I paid for that saw many times over. I’ve almost worn it out, I’ve used it so much.”

Cutting wood has been a longtime hobby for the Blessed Redeemer Lutheran pastor. It began as a chore for the Nebraska farm kid, then turned into summertime employment in high school and college, and later into mission work.

“My dad liked to cut wood. When I was in grade school, I always drew pictures of me cutting and chopping wood, and the teacher complained to my parents. In high school, I started cutting wood to keep the house warm, and in college, I got a job. I learned to climb trees and cut off branches, and I did the most dumb, dangerous things and I’m still here,” he said.

But he’s only “still here” in the pulpit at Blessed Redeemer for a short time. On June 1, after 41 years in this role – 23 of those years at Blessed Redeemer – Pastor Deardoff will deliver his final sermon.

“It’s time to let someone else have the fun here,” he said. “I’m not retiring because I have to, but it’s time. My dad took early retirement because he didn’t like his work. He was a genius, but he didn’t like his work at the phone company, so he got out early. My mom retired from teaching special ed kicking and screaming at age 70. She just loved her job. I’m more like my mom. I love what I do and I’d like to retire when it’s still enjoyable.”

Deardoff was in the fourth grade when he knew his life’s calling. “One of my girlfriend’s nickname for me was ‘Reverend’ in high school. People knew I wanted to be a pastor and I took a lot of teasing for it, but I never seriously considered anything else,” he said.

Although he excelled as a state agribusinessman in FFA, he couldn’t be lured to an ag college.

“I had some really good pastors as a child,” he said. “My mom pulled us out of public school and put us in a Christian Lutheran day school, and that was a huge turning point in my life. It made such a difference that I wanted to be a pastor like the people who helped me.”

At age 26, Deardoff was one of the youngest in his class to graduate from seminary.

“At least half or more of my classmates were second career, over 40, and I was 26. By the time I hit their age, I’d been a pastor for 15 years,” he said. 

Blessed Redeemer was only his third call in his career. Out of seminary, he led a small dual congregation in Nebraska.

“When they interviewed you, they’d ask what you want, but they don’t always respect it. My brother wanted to go to Minnesota and they sent him to Canada. I told them I wanted to go back to Nebraska and take a dual congregation. I opened my mouth and made one mistake and said, ‘There’s one thing I would ask not to do is follow a pastor who had problems.’”

He’d experienced that as a vicar (student pastor) under a pastor with morality issues.

“So naturally, they sent me to a dual congregation where the pastor had those problems, because they figured I wouldn’t want to do that kind of thing,” he said.

As his story goes, Deardoff followed two ministers with moral problems.

“I’ve looked at my ministry as kind of a healing ministry from those injuries. I don’t mean to exaggerate, paint the church like it’s full of that, but I just happen to have followed several people that did that, and it takes a long time to heal the church,” he said.

With a wife and six kids in tow, the family spent 15 years in Plainview, Neb. When his two middle sons – Carl and Matt – were in high school, he received the call to Brandon.

“I wasn’t looking for a call at the time, and I was very happy where I was,” he said. “They had a good principal at that Lutheran day school, and I wouldn’t have come here if they wouldn’t have had a Lutheran School for my children to go to in Sioux Falls to finish up eighth grade. They didn’t have the high school then but the preschool and the church, everything just seemed right. Everybody that talked about the community and the school were really excited about it.”

Deardoff has relished in the church’s preschool. He greatly enjoys the kids and their enthusiasm for life.  

“They come to school so excited. They show you their shoes, they stomp their feet and their shoes sparkle or light up. Sometimes their attention span is really short at that age, and so when I’m doing chapel, to get more than a two- or three-minute attention span is hard, so I do a lot of object lessons. The thing that’s so fun about the preschoolers is that you don’t think they’re listening ... and then the parents will meet me in the year and say ‘My student came home and told me every week what the Bible story was that you told.’ I’ve just been dumbfounded that God’s word got through to them and they remember the Bible stories. That’s the most fun,” he said.

Deardoff, who is a grandfather of 16, said he appreciates these moments with the kids.

“If God made something cuter than a preschooler, I do not know what it is,” he said.

When he turned 50, Deardoff said each of the preschoolers gave him 50 pieces of candy. At age 60, they painted rocks, which led to a jar with 60 painted rocks on his desk.

Lent is Pastor Deardoff’s favorite time of the Church year. “I love Lent and preaching, and always for Christmas, for Advent and Lent I do special children’s sermons where I give out objects for them to remember,” he said, pointing out a glow-in-the-dark cross sitting on a table. 

He recalls a Lenten sermon he gave that centered on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us all. Armed with a bag of M&M’s, he gave the candy to all of the kids, but one (intentionally). “I asked one of the older students if they would give theirs to this student, but nobody gave it up but one girl with a pretty sour look on her face. That was going to be my point, ‘This young lady has just done a noble thing. It starts with an ‘S’. What is she doing?” he asked.

“Starving,” was the girl’s quick response. “The word I was looking for was making a ‘sacrifice,’ and of course, I had an extra bag of M&M’s for her.”

He looks forward to retirement and spending time with his children and their families.

“I have a 2-year-old grandson that I’ve only seen four times. That’s a pretty big hole in my heart that I haven’t got to be there to see him grow and do things. I’ve missed so many high school and sports activities because I’m anchored here in Brandon. I’m anxious to travel. I’m anxious to see grandkids and do volunteer work,” he said.

He’s also anxious to fire up his chainsaw with the group, LERT, which is Lutheran Emergency Response Teams. The group cleans up after tornadoes and wind storms. 

The community is invited to the 10 a.m. service on June 1, followed by a light reception. At 4 p.m., he will deliver his final sermon, followed by a meal.

As he prepares for this day, Deardoff said he’ll focus on the same topic that he has for the last 41 years. “You always want to preach Christ was crucified. In seminary it was drilled into our heads that you never call it ‘your church.’ You always say ‘the church that I serve,’ and I’ve done that for the last 40 years. If you have an idea that it’s a service ministry, then it’s not about you. And when you’re done, you point up and you say ‘To God be the glory.’”