Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Daigle
Hi Steve, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am currently a bi-vocational Pastor meaning I am the Campus Pastor at Calvary Chapel Parkland, one of the 10 campuses of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and I also work as a Senior Vice President Business Control Manager for Bank of America. I have been working with Bank of America for 17 years and have been a Pastor for about 5 1/2 years when we first launched our campus. I am also a married father of 4 children (11, 10, 8 year old twins).
I became a leader in the workplace at the age of 19 working at Best Buy and grew in my career there in Department Supervisor and Store Manager roles for about 10 years. I found my identity in my position at work, the car I drove, friends I hung out with and girls that I would date. I always knew there was more to this life than the way that I was living.
My twin brother gave his life to Christ and started attending Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. He saw the way that I was living, gave me a Bible once and invited me to church. In 2005, I gave my life to Christ at Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and began attending there regularly. Working in retail and the relationship that I was in was not conducive for attending church so I ending up leaving Best Buy and starting as a Financial Center Manager with Bank of America and had the opportunity to move up into various multisite Market, Region and Division leadership roles. I left my fiancee at the time and God blessed me with an amazing wife that I met through a blind date from my Mom since we both attended Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale.
We were married in 2011 and after 1 year, were praying about having children. We tried to have children for 4 years and it was not happening. God put fostering on my wife’s heart after she served with an organization called 4KIDS and saw a need. Still praying for biological children, we got licensed as foster parents and started fostering a little girl and eventually 2 boys that were brothers at 1 and 2. While we were fostering, God blessed us with biological twins and we officially adopted the boys within that same year.
In 2018, after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, I felt a burden for the city of Parkland, where we lived. We started a Bible Study at the clubhouse in my community and it began to grow. We moved to Carmela Coffee Shop and eventually talked with our Lead Pastor about the opportunity to make it a Calvary Campus in Parkland.
In 2019, Calvary Chapel Parkland began in Westglades Middle School, right next to MSD High School, where the shooting happened. We were there for 1 year until COVID hit. We then had to have services online, in a backyard of a 4KIDS property called His Caring Place, a Marriott, Silverspot Cinemas until God finally opened up a location that we can call our own in Coconut Creek.
As challenging as it is raising 4 kids, working at Bank of America and leading Calvary Chapel Parkland, it is a tremendous blessing and God gives me the strength and surrounds me with amazing family and people to support the mission that God has us on.
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?
No. We had struggles with having children for 4 years and struggles with a church location until we finally got a place 3 years ago.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are one of 10 campuses of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale. We have a family atmosphere that teaches the Word of God along with Spirit-filled Worship and services for Kids and Youth. We take a megachurch feel and make it seem smaller by focusing on community and outreach within our surrounding cities. We want people to know that our mission is to Make Disciples, our vision is Reaching Our Community, Changing Our World
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
God gets all of the glory. Pastor Doug Sauder is our Lead Pastor who believed in us and allowed us to start the Parkland Campus. My wife, Kim has been an amazing support and inspiration along the way along with a fantastic staff and volunteer team.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://calvaryftl.org/parkland
