The Call – Revive Church Rochester!
Over the past several years, God began to download a specific vision to plant a life-giving church in the Rochester area. In March of 2023, in a time of prayer, Pastor Dan was impressed on his heart by the Holy Spirit that the time had come to begin this labor of love. He felt directed to retire early from his position at Greater Southern Tier BOCES, sell their home and many of their belongings, and move to Rochester, New York, to plant Revive Church. Every year, Pastor Charlene prays for a word from the Lord for the new year. In January 2023, Charlene received one word from the Holy Spirit, which was MOVE! Neither one really knew what “MOVE” meant until March of 2023 when the Lord made it clear to them.
Dan and Charlene immediately responded in quick obedience, beginning the process of selling their home, retiring, and moving. Charlene moved to Rochester, in September, 2023, to start her new job as a Special Education Teacher at John Williams School No. 5 for the Rochester City School District, while Dan was commuting several days per week until their home sold in December, 2023 and Pastor Dan retired from GST BOCES.
Education
Pastor Dan and Charlene are graduates of Southeastern University. Dan has a degree in Pastoral Ministries (1990) and Charlene has a degree in Elementary Education, a minor in Bible, and a Master’s Degree in Reading from Walden University. They married in 1990 and have 5 grown children, 2 boys and 3 girls.
The Early Years - Bay Area Youth Services, Inc - Homeschooling
In 1990, Pastor Dan started his career in Central Florida, managing all operations for Bay Area Youth Services, Inc., in Polk, Highlands, and Hardee Counties. Under his leadership, his staff grew from 4 to 34 case managers, counselors, and support staff. He started two innovative and successful programs for youthful offenders. Out of 500 programs, Bay Area Youth Services became the highest rated Juvenile Justice Program in the State of Florida. Charlene became a stay-at-home mom for 16 years, homeschooling their 5 children after teaching elementary education for the first three years of marriage.
The Move to New York - Steuben-Allegany/Greater Southern Tier BOCES
Following the leading of the Holy Spirit, in 2000, the Wallenbeck family moved to New York State. Dan began his career with Steuben-Allegany/Greater Southern Tier BOCES as a Technology Director and later became the Telecommunications Manager. He ended his career as the Cyber Security Manager. For over 20 years, Dan has been collaborating with Superintendents, Tech Directors, and Facilities Directors of the 21 school districts in the Southern Tier region. Dan led several multimillion dollar projects, including the implementation of a Cisco VoIP phone system that connected 14 school districts, and the installation of a state of the art fiber network that connected over 100 school building in the GST Region. Both projects were a tremendous success for all the participating school districts and significantly reduced costs.
Ministry Experience
Since 1990, Dan and Charlene have been active in ministry, serving in any area where there was a need, including Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor, Sr. Pastor, Children’s Director, home group leaders, worship leader, and leading men’s and women’s ministries and bible studies. In 2000, Pastor Dan Wallenbeck was ordained by his “Father in the Faith”, Pastor Reggie Scarborough, of Family Worship Center in Lakeland, FL, credentials Pastor Dan still holds today. Dan and Charlene both faithfully served at Family Worship Center for over 13 years, including their college years.
For the past 5 Years, both Dan and Charlene have been leading the Healing Journey Ministry at His Tabernacle Family Church in Horseheads, New York of about 40 to 50 participants and group leaders. Healing Journey is a powerfully, transformative small group ministry that runs for 29 weeks. On several occasions, Pastor Dan and Charlene have also assisted the Family Life Network Healing Journey Ministry.