Leadership

Pastors

Riverside Community Church is led by a group of elders who together are responsible for its spiritual care, leadership, and overall well-being. The pastors serve as elders alongside the other elders and carry primary responsibility for preaching, teaching, and equipping the congregation for ministry.

Every member of the church has been called and gifted by God for service. As a result, much of the ministry of the church is carried out by deacons and volunteers. Scores of people serve in a wide variety of ways each week—teaching Sunday school, ministering to youth, serving on the praise team, providing meals for those who are ill, praying for people in need, leading neighborhood Bible studies, and much more.

The church also supports a small pastoral staff. These men serve as elders and devote their full-time efforts to preaching, teaching, shepherding, and providing day-to-day leadership for the ministries of the church.

Paul Sommerfeld is the primary teaching pastor and shepherd of the congregation. Together with the other elders, Paul provides overall leadership and seeks to stimulate the spiritual well-being of the church.

Paul’s path to full-time ministry was different than most pastors. For over 25 years, he had a very successful career in IT and training with a Fortune 500 company. Although this was rewarding, his passion has always been teaching the Bible and shepherding people. For most of his adult life, he served in teaching and leadership roles within the church. Since first attending Riverside in 2007, it became apparent to Paul and to many around him that the Lord had been preparing him in a unique way for full-time, pastoral ministry. Paul accepted the call to be our Lead Pastor in June 2013.

He and his wife, Debra, first met in high school and were married in 1985. They have three children, Amber (& Brayton with three sons), David (& AmberJo), and Nathan. Paul’s hobbies include flying, woodworking, and vintage aircraft restoration.

Dan Bohyer began serving as the Pastor of Family Ministries at Riverside Community Church in Nov 2021. His role is to serve and oversee the youth ministry, Mountain to Valley (MTV), as well as serving the broader RCC families through teaching and support.

Dan has his Master’s in Christian Education from Dallas Theological Seminary. He has served in youth and family ministry for almost 15 years and general pastoral ministry for 7 years. Dan has a passion for children and teens to come to know Christ and to develop a firm Biblical foundation in their faith. He is committed to working alongside parents as they seek to shepherd their children and train them in the Lord.

Dan’s primary ministry is his family. He is married to Jennifer and has four children, Cassidy, Hayley, Zachariah, and Matthew. Dan enjoys spending time with his family, good movies, sports, and cooking.