Pastors & Staff
Our Pastors
Jason Minter
Head Pastor
Pastor Jason Minter came to faith in Jesus Christ at the young age of eight in his home church, Olive Baptist Church, in Pensacola, Florida. He felt called into ministry at the age of 19. He earned degrees at the Baptist College of Florida and Columbia Theological Seminary. He is currently studying toward his D.Min degree at Reformed Theological Seminary.
Jason has been married to the love of his life, Rachel, for over 20 years. God has blessed them with six wonderful children. Jason enjoys spending lots of time with his family, reading, playing sports and cheering on his favorite sports teams. Jason has a passion to see the church be God-glorifying, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered and Scripture-saturated.
Danny Chandler
Executive Pastor
Danny Chandler worked at a Fortune 50 company for 21 years and served as an elder at FPC for 12 years before joining the staff in 2018. As the Director of Family Ministries at FPC, Danny was responsible for overseeing the nursery, children’s ministry, youth ministry, college and career-age ministry, and Long-Range Planning efforts at FPC.
Danny earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History (minor in foreign languages) from the University of North Florida and his Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Saint Leo University. He also studied at Reformed Theological Seminary.
Danny married his beautiful wife, Amber, in 1999. They have three children: Morgan, Daniel, and Jacob. They enjoy walking Florida beaches, hiking in the Smoky Mountains, going horseback riding, and visiting and spending time with family. Danny enjoys reading George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, and other Christian authors. He also enjoys writing, singing, painting, drawing, and weightlifting.
Harold (Hal) Thornton
Parish Associate Pastor
Reverend Harold (Hal) Thornton has been an ordained minister for 42 years in the Presbyterian church. He has a BS in Secondary Education (History) from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, A Master of Christian Education and a Master of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, and a postmaster Education Specialist Degree
from The Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia.
He served churches in Virginia, Ohio, and New Jersey. Along with the full engagement in
pastoral ministry, he has always emphasized the importance of discipleship education for all
ages in the churches he has served.
He and his wife Thelma retired to Florida 13 years ago. While retired he and Thelma have been involved in ministry at the First Presbyterian Church of Kissimmee and the Celebrate Seniors
ministry at the Assisted Living Center at the Windsor in Celebration, Florida. They are glad to be a part of FPC Haines City!
Our Staff
Louise McMaster
Volunteer Coordinator
Linda Couture
Head Custodian
Larry Wagaman
Assistant Custodian