Rev. J. Mark Bertrand
Rev. J. Mark Bertrand
pastor
Mark has an unusual resume for a pastor. He writes crime novels. "A major crime fiction talent" (The Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Jo Nesbø, Mark has written three books about Houston homicide detective Roland March, including Back on Murder (2010), Pattern of Wounds (2011), and Nothing to Hide (2012). Mark has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston.
For Mark's reflections on the theological ramifications of the crime genre, read "Writing About Reprobation" in the PCA's denominational magazine ByFaith.
Mark has taught on the faculty of Worldview Academy for more than fifteen years, and is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), which has been used in church and seminary classrooms as a winsome introduction to worldview thinking.
His writing has appeared in print or online at Comment, Books & Culture, and First Things, but he is perhaps best known as the author of Bible Design Blog, an influential blog on "the physical form of the Good Book," where he has advocated for more than a decade on behalf of better, more reader-friendly Bibles.
Mark is from Louisiana, but his wife Laurie is a Sioux Falls native. They will soon celebrate their twenty-fourth wedding anniversary.
After serving as a ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, Mark was called as Grace's pastor and ordained as a minister in February 2017.
You can contact Pastor Mark at mark@graceforsiouxfalls.org.
Rev. Dan Reed
associate pastor
Dan grew up as a pastor’s kid in Tea, SD, where from an early age, he sensed a call to ministry. After graduating from Tea Area High School in 2007, he enrolled in South Dakota State University. In college, Dan took on leadership roles in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, International Student Fellowship, and Equip Campus Ministries. His passion for God’s Kingdom and the transformative power of the Gospel grew exponentially — and he also met and married the woman of his dreams, Christine.
Dan graduated in 2011 with an undergraduate degree in History Education. Because he and Christine were expecting their first child and felt the need for more experience before launching into ministry, they relocated to Hugoton, KS where Dan served as a Middle School Education Teacher and coach. Meanwhile, he enrolled at Fort Hays State University and graduated with a masters degree in special education in 2016.
Still feeling the call to pastoral ministry, the Reeds and their three children moved to Brandon, SD in 2016. While Dan taught and coached in the Brandon Valley Middle School, the family joined Grace Presbyterian Church as members. Dan also enrolled in the M.Div. program at Heidelberg Theological Seminary.
In 2021, Dan joined the staff at Grace as our Director of Discipleship and Education. As he neared the completion of his seminary studies, the congregation called him to serve as our associate pastor. He passed his ordination exams at presbytery in April 2023, graduated with his M.Div. degree on May 20, and was ordained as a PCA teaching elder and installed as Grace’s associate pastor on Sunday, May 21, 2023.
Dan, Christine, and their children Lydia, Timothy, and Amelia continue to live in Brandon, staying busy with church life and kids’ activities.
You can contact Pastor Dan at dan@graceforsiouxfalls.org.