Dan Cook is a visionary architect, developer, builder and the founder of the Building God’s Way (BGW) Network of Kingdom Building Services. He has led BGW through the design of more than 700 ministry facilities with an estimated construction cost in excess of $2 billion. Dan has pioneered a number of innovative programs that have revolutionized the way churches and Christian schools are designed, constructed, maintained and financially sustained. These programs were all founded on Biblical principles of stewardship, relationship and outreach.
The story of BGW dates back to 1972, when Dan established his first construction company. In 1975, Dan became a registered architect and began his pursuit of architectural excellence with a focus on developing cost-effective solutions. The company designed and constructed thousands of projects with an estimated value in excess of $1.5 billion in the western intermountain region between 1975 and 1995.
Dan’s life and his career were transformed in 1986 when he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. The Lord blessed him with a period of hardships that softened his heart to Christ’s love. In 1995, he took a leave of absence from his architectural practice to devote himself full-time to building Christian Heritage School in Riverdale, Utah. This project proved to be a pivotal point in Dan’s life as he watched God do amazing things through the devotion and faith of a small group of people.
Following the completion of this project, Dan began developing the BGW concept through repeated contact with schools and churches who sought his advice. Ministries across the country wanted to know more about this revolutionary process and, in late 1997, Dan made the life-changing decision to give up his secular architectural work and commit the company solely to designing and building Christian churches, schools and colleges.
Since that time, Dan has continued to innovate, expanding BGW into a network of services that includes fundraising, building supply, A/V technology, for-profit integration, growth coaching, financial services, biblical entrepreneurship, funding solutions and more. In recent years, Dan has devoted himself to developing solutions to help ministries adapt to cultural change, reach the next generation and sustain their organizations in an ever changing economic environment. Dan has recently authored a book which is titled “10 Tsunami’s Impacting Ministry.” This book is a culmination of the research that Dan has done to gain a better understanding of this changing landscape, which has also led to the development of innovative and revolutionary new approaches to the way ministry facilities are designed, constructed, funded and utilized.
In 2014, Dan converted BGW into an employee-owned company, ensuring that he will leave a lasting legacy and that BGW will continue building buildings and building lives.
