Don is a son of the Presbyterian Church, though it was later as a graduate student in philosophy that he began to experience what he later described as a spiritual re-awakening. Those stirrings led him to Princeton Theological Seminary where he majored in philosophical theology under Diogenes Allen. It was not until his senior year at seminary that he surrendered to that which he had long resisted – God’s claim upon his life and call to serve.
In the years since graduating from Princeton, Don has served as Assistant Minister of the Toms River Presbyterian Church, 1970-1974; Administrative Officer of Princeton Theological Seminary, 1974-1979; Pastor of the Ogden Memorial Presbyterian Church in Chatham, 1979-1987; Pastor of the Fanwood Presbyterian Church, 1987-1996.
After twenty-five years of ministry in New Jersey, he was called as Pastor of the Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church in August of 1996. His particular responsibilities include worship and preaching, pastoral care, and administrative oversight of the church.
Don and his wife, Judy, are parents of three grown children, Kathryn Elizabeth, Donald Gordon III, and Matthew James, all of whom reside in California. Since their marriage in 1969, Don and Judy have been partners in ministry wherever they have served. Both have found Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church to be a sacred place filled with very special people through which the Holy Spirit has been working in unimaginable ways.
Don is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (M. Div), Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary (D. Min) and is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Austin College (D. HL). In 2003 he retired as a Chaplain (LTC) from the United States Army Reserves. An early riser Don is into physical fitness, loves to read a wide variety of books and always looks forward to summer vacations for study and travel in Scotland.
