Dr. Daniel R. Hyde, Pastor of Oceanside United Reformed Church

• Pastor: Founding pastor, Oceanside United Reformed Church, Carlsbad, California, since 2000

• Ordained: 2000, United Reformed Churches in North America

• B.A.: Southern California College (now Vanguard University), 1997

• M.Div.: Westminster Seminary California, 2000

• Th.M.: Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, 2010

• Ph.D.: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 2022

• Dissertation: “‘These are the Times’: Public Worship as Manifestation of a New Age of Theo-Politics in the Theology of John Owen” (T&T Clark, forthcoming)

• Fellowship: Associate Fellow in Practical Theology, Greystone Theological Institute

• Books: More than 20, listed at danielrhyde.com/books

• Curriculum vitae: danielrhyde.com/curriculum-vitae

• Also known as: Pastor Danny; Danny Hyde

Pastor Danny is a 3rd generation SoCal native whose eclectic past has prepared him to minister in the diverse culture that is Southern California.

He was born at Long Beach Memorial Hospital and soon baptized in the Roman Catholic Church. He spent his early childhood especially in Cypress, during which time his father was converted through the Calvary Chapel Movement in Costa Mesa. After moving to Redondo Beach and experiencing a broken family, he was invited to Hope Chapel Hermosa Beach (Foursquare Church) when he was 17 and was converted to Christ. Danny played basketball at Redondo Union High School under legendary Southern California coach, Jim Nielsen. After graduating, he attended Southern California College/Vanguard University (Assemblies of God) on a basketball scholarship. It was during this time that he became disillusioned as a young believer leading him on a two-year journey exploring Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism as well as having Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses frequent his dorm—much to the chagrin of his dorm mates! After this, he and his now-wife, Karajean, co-youth pastored at a non-denominational Pentecostal church.

All this led Pastor Danny to discover the riches of the historic Protestant and Reformed Christian faith after meeting a classmate, who introduced him to The White Horse Inn radio broadcast, and through his beloved theology professor, Professor Ronald Wright. It was Prof. Wright who started giving him books by Luther, Calvin, and others.

After graduating from SCC with his Bachelor of Arts (B.A., 1997), Danny completed his Master of Divinity (M.Div., 2000) from Westminster Seminary California. It was during his final semester that many prayers for a Reformed church in North County San Diego began to come to fruition with a Bible study in Oceanside. This led to Escondido United Reformed Church calling him to be the church planter of OURC within Classis Southwest U.S. of the United Reformed Churches in North America. He’s been preaching and teaching ever since as well as supervising our pastoral interns. Ten years later he finished his Master of Theology (Th.M., 2010) from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and even later (!) defended his doctoral dissertation at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Ph.D., 2022) in the Graduate School of Religion and Theology entitled, “‘These are the Times’: Public Worship as Manifestation of a New Age of Theo-Politics in the Theology of John Owen” (T&T Clark, forthcoming). You may view his full academic Curriculum Vitae here.

Danny has written numerous books to help people of all backgrounds grow in the knowledge of Christ. Four good places to start:

• A Christian’s Pocket Guide to the Presence of God (Christian Focus, 2026): a short biblical theology of the God who draws near, from Eden to the new creation.

• Welcome to a Reformed Church: A Guide for Pilgrims (Ligonier, 2010): his most popular book, introducing newcomers to the history, theology, and piety of the confessional Reformed churches.

• This is the Word of the Lord: Becoming Confident in the Scriptures (Christian Focus, 2023): for those allured by the claims of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, this book says you can be confident that God has spoken.

• Grace Worth Fighting For: Recapturing the Vision of God’s Grace in the Canons of Dort (Davenant Press, 2019): commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Synod of Dort with a commentary on its Canons, explaining the background history and why it all matters today.

Check out his Amazon page or his personal page.

His articles have appeared in Tabletalk, Ligonier, Credo, Modern Reformation, Reformed Worship, and Logos’s Word by Word, and he has been interviewed on programs including Reformed Forum’s Christ the Center, Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, and Expositors Collective. Our Resources page gathers them in one place.

He also serves as Associate Fellow in Practical Theology at Greystone Theological Institute, Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology (Winter 2026–27) at Westminster Seminary California, and has taught at Mid-America Reformed Seminary, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, The Davenant Institute, Seminario Reformado Latinoamericano, and Instituto João Calvino.

Pastor Danny is married to his college sweetheart, Karajean, who serves as Director of the Irvine Math Project, and they have four children. Together they enjoy showing the love of Jesus through hospitality in their home, welcoming any and all who need a meal, prayer, and the encouragement of the Word.

Dr. Hyde’s sermons are posted on our Sermons page, with each series gathered in preaching order:

• Opening Up Romans

• Revelation: Jesus Wins

• Opening Up Titus

• Opening Up 2 Peter: Living in Light of the Last Day

• Ruth

• The Heidelberg Catechism

• The Canons of Dort: Our Confession of God’s Grace

To hear him in person, see What to Expect and our Sunday schedule.