At the end of the year, Daniel Frederick will be transitioning from his role as Executive Director of The Coffee Oasis, into a volunteer/advisory role. Executive leadership will be transferred to the current Community Development Director, Bryce Clark.

This is big news, so we want to share the why.

Growth Calls for More Leadership

Many of you only know Daniel from his role at The Coffee Oasis. His parents Dave and Cindy Frederick started the ministry by hosting youth in their home. In 2009, The Coffee Oasis hadn’t opened a shelter and had only one location. During that time, the Fredericks also began a little house church in their home called The Refuge.

Daniel stepped into leadership of The Refuge, and in the last 15 years, both organizations have grown substantially. The Coffee Oasis has grown from Kitsap into Pierce County with over 80 staff. The Refuge church has grown from a small house ministry into a church with a larger building and congregation gathering for worship. This leadership growth does not include one of the most important additions in his life: roles as a husband and father of three young children.

This summer, as Daniel was preaching on a passage from the book of Acts, he shared a story of leaders who were in charge of a growing church. With that growth came new needs from the people. There were widows and orphans in the community in need of food. The leaders started to feed and care for them. The church and the number of people in need continued to grow. The leaders came to realize they needed help to feed the people and lead the church well, so they raised up new leaders to help with the distribution of food.

Daniel reflects, “I love Coffee Oasis, but all of this has become too much for me to do in a way that is healthy for me and both organizations.”

Daniel brought that to the board of The Coffee Oasis and they began the process of looking for a qualified individual–someone who loved Jesus, had a heart of service, and great leadership experience. As they were working through this process, Bryce Clark came to the forefront of their minds. Not only has he made a positive impact at The Coffee Oasis in his role as Director of Community Development, but comes from a family familiar with Christian-focused community-based work; they started the international ministry Children of the Nations. Bryce has a great mentoring relationship with his dad, and as Daniel reflected back, this was something he valued so much with his own father, Dave Frederick. 

A Mission-Led Process

As Daniel and the board created an ideal candidate, the board made their decision after a series of rigorous interviews and ultimately chose to raise him up into that position.

Bryce Clark shares his love for The Coffee Oasis and the mission of The Coffee Oasis and notes that stepping into the role as Executive Director will not lead to a change in the mission or direction of The Coffee Oasis.

Bryce shares that, “Most Importantly, whether or not they know it when they come to us, youth will be experiencing the love of Jesus at every one of our locations.”

Bryce shares his professional work experience, including five years as a Program Leader for Crista Ministries at Miracle Ranch. He hired and trained hundreds of people over his time there and every summer would lead a staff of 80 people to care for the thousands of young people who would come to camp. 

The Right Direction

Over the next few months, Daniel will move into an advisory role and will mentor Bryce through the transition. Daniel shares the importance of mentorship during the transition of leadership, “I got to have that with my dad to me and saw that modeled in his life. I get to walk that out with Bryce. You’ll still see me around. You’ll see me at events. You’ll see me popping up to work at Coffee Oasis because we’re really passionate about this and the way it has and will continue to impact the community. You will see me through the end of this year in this role day to day, then just involved in that in a volunteer capacity moving forward.” 

As Daniel reflects on this transition, he shares that, “The last two months have been times of change, but I already feel the stabilizing pull of being centered on “true north” together. I’m very thankful for the board and directors whose hearts and minds are drawn to Jesus and put him first in all their decisions. I truly believe we are headed in the right direction and I’m excited to see what is next as we faithfully continue in the right direction.”

Thank you for being a part of this with us as we continue to restore community together.