Lead Pastor
Damian Schoonmaker
Office Hours
Mon, Tue, & Thur : Noon -5pm
Wed: Noon - 4pm
Pastor's Tweets
Pastor's Bio
Pastor Damian Schoonmaker was born in Minnesota but grew up on Cape Cod in
Massachusetts while his parents pioneered an Assembly of God church. His
grandparents and great-grandparents were A/G missionaries to India. Damian’s
wife Shawna was born and raised in Massachusetts, and is the daughter of Church
of God (Cleveland, TN) pastors. Damian is 38 years old and Shawna is 35.
They have been married for 15 years and have three young children. They have
served in post-collegiate ministry for over 15 years as youth pastors and senior
pastors.
Shawna loves being a mom, candles, photography, taking day trips, and spending
time with women and youth in the church. Damian likes sports, is a die-hard Red
Sox fan, and loves to play volleyball and softball. He enjoys reading and
keeping up on current events, spending time with his family, and being outside.
He enjoys playing golf but claims he’s not great at it! He loves being a
pastor.
Ethan (age 7) is creative and loves to draw. He is very academic and loves
learning new things. He enjoys music, reading, and playing baseball.
He is going into 2nd grade, and is looking forward to making new friends in the
family’s new church. Caleb (age 5) is a ball of energy and loves to do
anything active. He is very social and affectionate, and loves discovering
how things work. He is going into 1st grade, and prays for the family’s
new church all the time. Eliana (age 3) is the little mama of the family
and loves to help Shawna with household chores. She is expressive and
loud. She enjoys having visitors, adores babies, and asks every day when
the family is moving.
Damian graduated from Valley Forge Christian College of the Assemblies of God in
1997 with a Bachelor of Science in Bible, majoring in Pastoral Ministry.
He has a desire to pursue a Master’s degree in Church Leadership at some point.
Damian and Shawna have three years of senior pastor experience and nine years of
youth pastor experience at churches in Massachusetts, Kentucky, Connecticut, and
most recently, Alaska. As youth pastors, God used them to pioneer new
youth ministries or revamp existing ones. As senior pastors God used them
to turn around small churches going through a split. Hallmarks of their
ministry include strong organizational leadership, spiritual and numeric growth,
consistent home and foreign missions emphasis, growth in church and missions
giving, seeing a high percentage of attendees serving in ministry, and seeing a
high percentage of attendees becoming Spirit-filled. They have spent the
last two years in Kentucky in secular work and lay ministry as they made a
specific effort to reduce their personal debt. The Schoonmakers have been
approached by Assemblies of God district leaders several times about planting
churches but feel God has called them to pastor an existing church for the
long-term.
The Schoonmakers desire to pastor a church that will be truly Pentecostal and
yet incredibly relevant to its community. They place a high priority on the
church doing whatever it does with excellence. They want every member to be a
true disciple: active in ministry, filled with the Spirit, and growing daily in
the knowledge and experience of God. Along with this, they believe that without
a firm commitment to righteous living and a true openness to the move of the
Spirit, pastoral ministry is powerless. Pastor Damian believes that every
service should have a time at the altar for prayer and response to the preaching
of God’s word.
