Remembering a Homeschool Hero: Dr. Dan Reinhardt
Dr. Dan Reinhardt was a founding member of HSLDA Canada. He served many years as a board member and blessed many with his talents of speaking and writing.
Dan was born November 9, 1954 in Portland, Oregon. A few years later, his parents sensed a call from God to be missionaries to India. So they packed up Dan and his two brothers and moved to South India Biblical Seminary near Bangalore.
Formative Education
With his parents ministering in India, Dan and his siblings travelled 250 miles to attend Lushington Boys’ School, a boarding school in the mountains. This was a crucial turning point in Dan’s life. Realizing that his father could not be with him most of the school year, Dan made a conscious choice to lean heavily on his heavenly Father. This began a lifetime of intentionally following God.
After graduating from Lushington, Dan and family moved back to Canada. Dan went to Vennard College, a small Bible college in lowa. He majored in Pastoral Ministries and Bible in preparation to become a pastor. It was there in college Dan met Anne, and the two were married in his senior year.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree, Dan and Anne moved to Jerusalem, Israel, where he studied for a Master’s degree in The History and Geography of Ancient Israel. This was an exhilarating experience for both Dan and Anne. It profoundly affected Dan’s preaching and teaching for a lifetime.
Early Years in Ministry
Upon returning to Canada, Dan and Anne were stationed at Hillcrest Church in Medicine Hat. Dan served as the associate pastor for 12 years, and then as the Lead pastor for 10 years. Dan and Anne raised their four children in Medicine Hat and Anne began the journey of homeschooling their children.
These were very fruitful years of ministry. As the church grew from 270 to 1200, Dan discovered that pastoring entailed more than just good Bible training. He found he had to learn leadership skills, lessons which he then shared with leaders across Canada.
HSLDA Canada is Born
In the summer of 1991, Dan was approached to be on the founding board for HSLDA Canada and the first board meeting was held in January 1992. The vision was clear: strengthen parents to exercise the freedom to educate their children at home without undue intrusion by the government.
“While HSLDA Canada was founded on Christian principles, we believed our duties as Christians required us to help all homeschoolers regardless of their faith; and so HSLDA Canada became the first national homeschooling entity in Canada serving all homeschoolers in all provinces.”
Thanks to HSLDA Canada, all 10 provinces of Canada increased homeschool freedoms over the next few years. (Read more about the history of home education in Canada and the forming of HSLDA in Dan’s article.)
After 18 years of pastoring, Dan received a scholarship to Asbury Seminary. The family moved south for a year while Dan earned his Doctorate in Christian Ministry. A vision was born in him to help other Christian leaders avoid burnout, and instead flourish.
CREST Leadership Centre
Dan founded the CREST Leadership Centre in 2002, and created the CREST Leadership Program, a life and leadership development process that helps midlife Christian leaders find clarity for what’s to come next. He has trained over 300 Christian men and women to navigate midlife well, and be set on a trajectory to have a fruitful second half of life.
In the Fall of 2013, Dan and Anne moved to Three Hills where he pastored Bethel Evangelical Missionary Church for 5 years.
After a 4-year battle with cancer, Dan graduated again — this time to heaven. A fine example of a life well lived; a good and faithful servant of Christ. We are grateful for all the work Dan accomplished to further homeschooling in Canada.
