Derek Penwell
Senior Minister
Derek Penwell
Derek joined DBCC as its interim minister in January of 2008. We liked him so much, we just made him stay. Derek got his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from Lexington Theological Seminary. He defended his dissertation in December 2010 (A Manifestation of All Life: Intersections of Virtue Ethics, Philosophy of Emotion, and Philosophy of Literature) and received his Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Louisville. He teaches Humanities and Religious Studies at the University of Louisville and formerly lectured in Theology at Bellarmine University. The Association of Humanities Academics at UofL awarded Derek the first-ever "Outstanding Alumnus Award" in 2011. He's sort of got a lot going on up there.
Beginning in July 2021, Derek campaigned for the Kentucky State Legislature in District 31.
Derek’s latest book is Outlandish: An Unlikely Messiah, A Messy Ministry, and the Call to Mobilize. It’s available for preorder at Chalice Press and Amazon.
Derek's previous book, The Mainliner's Survival Guide to the Post-Denominational World, is available at Chalice Press, at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Cokesbury, and wherever fine books are sold.
Follow Derek on Twitter, friend him on Facebook, read his essays on his blog, The Good Men Project, or at the Huffington Post, or email him. You can find his sermons on iTunes.
Jennifer Vandiver
Operations Manager
Jennifer has been serving Douglass Blvd. Christian Church for over a decade. If you need to know anything going on at DBCC, she's your gal. As well as the programing and general office work, Jennifer is also the teacher of the Children's Sunday School Class.
Jennifer is the rock of the office staff. We are all incredibly blessed to have such a caring, passionate and dedicated individual keeping things running. Without her, this place would be a mess.
She's an avid peruser of Facebook and Pinterest, but where she spends the majority of her free time is with her husband, her daughters, and her grandchildren.
Neil Vandiver
Maintenance
Neil Vandiver
Neil is our maintenance man, and keeper of the grounds. If ever there is a thing to be repaired, refinished, recolored, or refurbished, Neil is Johnny-on-the-spot. There's no task too small or too large that he hasn't run across in his long and successful career.
A hard worker no doubt, Neil loves spending free time out on the lake with his wife and grandkids.
Ben Powell
Director of Music
Ben cues the choir from behind a piano.
Ben has been our music director since January 2013. He oversees everything musical here at Douglass, including our small-but-mighty Chancel Choir. He has degrees both in music education and conducting from the University of Louisville.
When he’s not directing choirs, teaching middle school music, or playing piano, you can find Ben singing songs about his 90-pound French mastiff, playing video games, or hanging out with his wife, Amy (who sings in our choir).
Alan Martin
Organist
Alan pictured right, with his partner Brian on the left.
Alan Martin, a native North Carolinian, is a graduate of Wake Forest University where he majored in music and Latin. He received the Master of Church Music degree from Southern Baptist Seminary School of Music and did further graduate studies in musicology at University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. Before coming to Douglass he served as organist at Carlisle Avenue Baptist Church and Louisville's First Church of Christ, Scientist. In 2013 he retired from Sears Holdings Corporation after 36 years in Human Resources and Training. Outside of being our organist, he is also accompanist for the Louisville Gay Men's Chorus. His free-time interests include history of film and film scores, ancient Roman cookery, researching family history, and supporting Animal Rights. He has had articles published in The American Organist and Angels on Earth magazines.
A prankster at heart, Alan is always good for a laugh, a funny photo, or a birthday poem.