Pastor Ryan and his wife, Michelle, joined First Baptist in November of 2021 after pastoring in the Des Moines metro for over a decade.
He was born and raised in Wisconsin and earned a degree in Industrial Engineering before meeting his wife, Michelle. The two were married in 2005 and shortly after getting married, Ryan felt God’s call into full-time ministry. So Ryan enrolled in seminary at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN and completed his Master of Divinity in 2013. Throughout seminary he interned with several churches, seeing a wide breadth of various ministry strategies. From 2013 until joining First Baptist, he was a Team Pastor at Ashworth Church in West Des Moines.
Ryan and Michelle were foster parents for over a decade, and throughout that time they adopted two sons who have each graduated and moved into their own careers. One of their greatest parenting achievements has been watching their sons find success in transitioning to adulthood. Ryan’s passion for coaching teens through the challenging adjustment from child to young adult did not end with his own sons. He continues to impact the lives of many teens and young adults as he leads our growing youth group and young adult ministry.
Ryan loves being outside in nature, managing his small hobby farm of chickens and sheep, and his Green Bay Packers. But more than any of those things, he loves helping others connect with God in fresh new ways.