David Ward, Director of Worship Ministries

His role includes planning and leading corporate worship, developing worship leaders, publishing resources for private, family, and small group worship, teaching and preaching, and pastoral care. He and his wife have been blessed with five children age ten and under. David has been leading worship and writing songs for congregational singing since 1994. His passion for reformed doctrine, hymn texts, and contemporary worship music led him to begin writing new tunes for old hymns in 1999 and to found ReformedPraise.org the following year to share his songs with others.

David became a Christian at age 12 through the ministry of a summer camp in North Carolina and has always loved music. His first formal training in music was a brief stint in piano lessons around age 11, but he soon moved on to the saxophone which he played in school band all the way through junior and senior high. He discovered jazz at the end of high school and began practicing for hours a day as well as trying his hand at jazz composition. In high school he picked up the guitar to play for campfires, high school Christian fellowships, and youth groups. In college he started learning to play modern worship songs on the piano.

While a student at Rutgers University, David began writing songs for private reflection and worship. He continued to study jazz, taking such classes as jazz theory, but ultimately finished his degree in Mathematics. After working in the software industry for 8 years, David followed God's call to return to school to learn more musical skills that he could use to serve the church with, such as orchestration, composition, piano study, and arranging. While studying at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, KY, the Lord called David and his family to his current role at Redeemer Bible Church to serve with his long-time college friend R.W. Glenn.