Dan Curry named 2022 recipient of MWD Award for Intentional Interim Ministry

Congratulations to Dr. Dan Curry, the 2022 recipient of the Maples, Williamson, and Daehnert Award. The award recognized Curry as the 2022 Texas Baptist Interim Minister of the Year. Since 2016, Curry has been the Greater Fort Worth Area Representative for Texas Baptists. Prior ministries included 41 years of pastoring, with his last pastorate being a twenty-four-year tenure at South Oaks Baptist Church in Arlington.

The award was presented by Steve Vernon, retired Associate Executive Director of the BGCT, who continues to serve at Mary Hardin-Baylor University and in interim ministry.

While serving as an area representative, Dan has also served several churches as an intentional interim pastor and traditional pastor. He is currently serving at Cedar Cross Country Church. In his first experience as interim pastor, at FBC Winters, Curry finished his Intentional Interim Ministry (IIM) field education and earned the designation of a certified IIM pastor.

Dan addressed the group during the awards presentation, sharing practical ways he has helped the churches he has served. For instance, while serving at FBC Winters, he “did the next pastor a favor.” The church raised the money for and completed the project of fixing the parsonage. Dan reflected on how this need reminded him of an early pastorate where no one did this for him. He found his new home, the parsonage, in disrepair. Curry said that interim ministry is about helping the church see what they need to do before the next pastor arrives.

He also talked about helping search committees assemble benefits packages to aid their future pastor. As interim minister, Curry was in a unique position to offer the perspective of a pastor without being directly involved. He challenged search teams to “do the next pastor a favor” and offer them times of rest and respite.

In addition, at FBC Winters, Curry took concepts from Will Mancini’s “Church Unique” and turned them into a fun—but purposeful— game. Instead of taking a year to complete the mission-discovery task, Curry’s game helps a church move towards a mission in one interactive event. Curry’s technique was so successful, it continues to be shared in IIM training.

The MWD Award was originally presented to its namesakes: Dick Maples, Charles Lee Williamson, and Jan Daehnert. These men brought the vision for a specialized interim ministry to Texas Baptists. Previous recipients of the award include Wallace Watkins, James McGlothlin, Nolan Duck, Les Robinson, Fred Meeks, Jimmy McLeod, Skip McNeal, Dwight Reagan, Levi Price, Rusty Walton, Dean Dickens and Paul Atkinson.

The award reflects cumulative service, as all these ministers have helped multiple churches through difficult interim periods, excelled in peer reviews of their Intentional Interim Ministries, and provided additional leadership for the Interim Ministry Network of the BGCT.

To learn more about the interim pastor ministry, go here.