Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Morales.
Hi Daniel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am a second-career pastor, though my calling to spiritual leadership had been quietly forming long before I ever stepped into a pulpit.
My professional life began right after high school, when I landed my first job as a file clerk at a local credit union. From there, I quite literally climbed the ladder—first becoming a teller, then a customer service representative. A few years later, I moved into commercial banking as an account representative, where I learned how to process mortgages and eventually became a loan officer.
That opened the door to a new chapter with Bank of America, where I worked both in commercial banking and later in their Private Bank division. I eventually moved on to an international bank in Brickell before returning to a local commercial bank as their branch auditor.
It was during my years in banking—on a rare slow day in the branch—that I found myself sitting quietly at my desk, watching the world around me, and wondering: Is this it? Is this all I’m meant to do with my life?
Something inside of me ignited. A small flame that only grew.
Through deep contemplation, personal healing, and spiritual renewal, I began to recognize what my heart had been longing for: to become an ambassador of God’s inclusive, unconditional, all-encompassing love for a world so richly diverse and beautifully created.
In the fall of 2011, I enrolled in my first seminary course at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. At the time, the school had an ecumenical program, and I was under the care and guidance of Riviera Presbyterian Church. Because I was seeking ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), I agreed with my presbytery to eventually transfer to a PCUSA seminary.
So, in August 2013, I packed my bags and headed to the great windy city of Chicago to continue my Master of Divinity at McCormick Theological Seminary. Chicago would become a place of formation—and heartbreak.
Just two weeks before graduation, I received a phone call that shattered my world. My brother Tony said, “Hey… he’s gone.”
My father—my best friend, my confidant, my well of wisdom, my biggest supporter—had passed away suddenly.
I questioned everything: my choices, my calling, the path I had taken. But in true Cheito fashion (one of my dad’s many nicknames), something tugged at my heart. A gentle whisper:
“Son, your best days are yet to come.”
After graduation, I returned home to Miami to love and support my mother in the wake of losing her life partner. During that season, I worked a series of smaller roles—helping Riviera, serving on the pastoral and staff team at Coral Gables Congregational Church, and offering pulpit supply to various congregations across South Florida. It was a period of healing, discernment, and quiet faithfulness, as I continued to listen for where God was leading me next.
I then served for a year as Interim City Director for DOOR Network, a nonprofit partnered with the PCUSA’s Young Adult Volunteer program. During my tenure, I welcomed hundreds of youth and young adults to South Florida, connecting them to local service organizations such as Camillus House, Lotus House, and Riverside House.
In 2018, I was ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament and began serving New Covenant Presbyterian Church as their temporary supply pastor—a small, financially struggling congregation many assumed was nearing its final chapter. But my heart heard two voices:
The Holy Spirit whispering,
“You are exactly where you need to be.”
And the echo of my father’s favorite verse from Ecclesiastes 9:10:
“Todo lo que esté al alcance de tus manos, hazlo según las fuerzas de tu corazón.”
So I chose to see New Covenant not through the lens of scarcity but through the eyes of possibility.
Then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. What looked like potential demise became an unexpected canvas for innovation and rebirth. Ideas began to flow. New pathways opened.
Around that time, I also began serving as a hospice chaplain with VITAS Healthcare—holy, sacred work that allowed me to walk with families through their deepest grief and remind them that even in the darkest valleys, God’s love, peace, and mercy remain steadfast.
Later that year—because apparently two jobs weren’t enough—I began officiating weddings at Plymouth Congregational Church and Coral Gables Congregational UCC.
But eventually, I knew I was burning the candle at both ends. For the sake of my health, peace, and spirit, I needed to release something. As life-changing as hospice work was, I felt called to step aside and let someone else carry that mantle.
I chose faith over fear.
New Covenant was still part-time.
But God was still faithful.
In 2023, my husband Ebert and I launched our wedding service business: I officiate, and he plays violin with extraordinary talent. Since my early days at Plymouth, I’ve had the joy of officiating weddings all across South Florida—from Jupiter to Islamorada. Over the years, I’ve officiated more than 500 weddings, and each one continues to bring me such joy.
That leap of faith was terrifying… but as the saying goes,
“Feel the fear, and do it anyway.”
Today, I continue serving New Covenant Presbyterian Church. I am still the main wedding pastor at Plymouth Congregational Church, serve on the wedding pastor list at Coral Gables Congregational UCC, and also officiate at Riviera Presbyterian and Miami Shores Presbyterian Church.
In addition, I became an ICF-trained Life Coach and am currently completing my international accreditation. Coaching has allowed me to expand my ministry into life, relationship, spiritual, and fitness coaching—helping people integrate faith, purpose, and well-being in practical, life-giving ways. And most recently, in the spring of 2025, I was called to serve as the part-time pastor of Miami Shores Community Church UCC. Every Sunday, a small but faithful community gathers to listen for God’s voice, to seek guidance and wisdom, and to discern what the next chapter of their shared story might become. It has been a profound joy to walk alongside them as they lean into hope, possibility, and God’s unfolding future.
**All this to say, the last decade has been an extraordinary journey. Through every chapter—joy and loss, clarity and uncertainty—God has been my steady companion. My father and my older brother, who recently passed as well, continue to be my guiding lights, reminding me in their own ways that love does not end—it simply changes form.
My father’s voice, especially, still echoes in my spirit:
“Todo lo que esté al alcance de tus manos, hazlo según las fuerzas de tu corazón.”
His words remain a compass, pointing me toward courage, faithfulness, and the next brave step.
If I had to do it all again, I would choose every step… and then some.
Because each moment—every detour, every heartbreak, every unexpected blessing—has shaped the pastor, coach, officiant, and human being I am today.
And as I look ahead, I hold fast to the truth he whispered into my life again and again:
my best days are still unfolding, and God is not done writing this story.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. In fact, it’s had plenty of twists and turns, bumps and potholes — you name it. There were seasons when the path felt uncertain, overwhelming, and sometimes even painful.
Some of the hardest moments were tied to loss. Losing my father just two weeks before graduating seminary was a breaking point for me. Later, losing my older brother brought another wave of grief that reshaped me in ways I’m still discovering. Those moments caused me to question everything — my calling, my decisions, even my resilience. Grief has a way of pulling the ground out from under you.
There were also the vocational bumps: stepping away from a stable banking career, returning to school later in life, juggling multiple jobs at once just to make ministry possible. Being a second-career pastor means you learn to live with uncertainty, and you learn to trust God in ways you never imagined. Serving small congregations that others had already written off came with its own emotional and financial challenges.
And, of course, the internal potholes — moments of self-doubt, exhaustion, and wondering if I had taken on too much or misunderstood God’s call altogether.
But here’s the truth: every twist and turn formed me. Every pothole, every bump, every detour taught me something about faith, humility, courage, and compassion. The struggles weren’t obstacles to my calling — they were the very experiences that shaped my calling.
So no, the road has not been smooth. But it has been sacred.
And every challenge along the way has shaped me into the pastor, coach, wedding officiant, and human being I am today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work sits at the intersection of faith, love, healing, and human connection. On any given week, I’m preaching on Sunday mornings, sitting with people in their deepest questions, and walking alongside individuals who long to grow into the fullest version of themselves. I serve as Pastor for New Covenant Presbyterian Church and Miami Shores Community Church UCC, and I’m also widely known across South Florida as a Wedding Officiant. Over the years, I’ve had the joy of officiating well over 500 weddings from Jupiter to Islamorada.
I’m especially humbled by the full-circle moments: couples I married years ago who now return for the baptism of their children. Those sacred milestones — standing with a couple at their “we do” and later blessing their newborn — remind me how profoundly relational this calling is.
And ministry isn’t only found in the joyful beginnings. I’ve stood at gravesides too, offering words of blessing as families entrust their loved ones into God’s eternal embrace. Walking with people in moments of both profound joy and profound grief is one of the holiest honors of my vocation.
In addition to my pastoral work, I’m an ICF-trained coach specializing in life, relationship, spiritual, and fitness coaching. I help people integrate their faith, purpose, and well-being — to reconnect with themselves, rediscover what matters, and step into lives that feel whole.
What sets me apart isn’t a single skill or title; it’s the thread that weaves through everything I do:
a deep conviction that God’s love is expansive, inclusive, healing, and meant for absolutely everyone.
Whether I’m preaching, coaching, officiating a wedding, or sitting with a grieving family, my purpose is to help people encounter that love in real, practical, life-giving ways.
I am most proud of the fact that every step of my journey — the highs, the heartbreaks, the risks, the reinventions — has prepared me to serve with authenticity, compassion, and joy. My work continues to surprise me, stretch me, and call me deeper into who God is shaping me to be.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
If there’s one thing I hope readers take away, it’s this: wherever you are in your journey — rebuilding, rediscovering, grieving, healing, or beginning again — you are not alone. Growth is rarely linear, and reinvention is holy work. My own path has taken unexpected turns, and every one of them has shaped me into the pastor, coach, and human being I am today.
Some of the holiest moments of my ministry haven’t been loud or dramatic. They’ve unfolded quietly — in hospital rooms, at wedding altars, in whispered prayers at gravesides, in laughter shared over coffee, and in ordinary Sundays filled with extraordinary grace. Life is stitched together by these small sacred threads. Don’t rush past them; they often hold more healing and hope than we realize.
My prayer is that you’ll give yourself permission to grow at your own pace — to rest, to try again, to heal deeply, and to trust that your story is still unfolding. Some of the most beautiful chapters of my life began right after I thought the book was closing. Hope truly has a way of surprising us.
And if you ever need encouragement, clarity, spiritual grounding, relationship wisdom, or simply a reminder that you matter — you’re welcome to journey with me. My purpose is to create spaces, both in person and online, where people feel seen, strengthened, and held by a love bigger than we can imagine. Life is too complex to walk alone. Let’s walk it together, with grace and hope lighting the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://allegroeventsmiami.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pastordannymoralesofficial/
Image Credits
First image can be credited to Leo Cardozo
Second & third images can be credited to Kelli Miller @ Bay Drive Creative
